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Sept. 6-13, 2003
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 California Meets the GalapagosThe Sea of Cortez features an almost Galapagos-like experience to divers. You can see large pelagics there like manta rays, schooling hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, as well as many different species of marine mammals such as sea lions, dolphins and whales. Being pelagic, or open ocean ranging, these fish are present at different times of the year in varying amounts, depths and places. It is not a coral sea; water temperatures get into a cool low-70s in the winter. Most of the sites are rocky with spots of coral here and there, but small sea fans and other growth are present as well as colorful starfish. The real attraction is the awesome amounts of fish life. It simply teems with huge schools of fish; large Chancho Surgeonfish, Blue and Gold Snapper, Triggerfish, Moorish Idols, bright blue butterflies, and huge, ugly Scorphinfish. Some are Caribbean - like Cubera and Red Snappers, some Pacific - like Pufferfish, Hawkfish and Bonito. Many of the fish found there are panemic, although similar to other varieties, they are not found elsewhere; Baja Angelfish, small Mexican Barracuda, colorful Mexican Hogfish, Giant Blue Damsels, Panama Graysbys and many others. I have never seen so many morays, particularly Green Morays, but also pretty Jewel and Stripped Morays. Other critters like octopus, lobster and crab are also present. So even though I didn't see any pelagics due to the storm, I never tired of the endless varieties of sea  life.The fish simply overwhelm you with their amount and mass. It was not unusual to be surrounded by huge schools of them. At the Lapas Tres freighter wreck I was surrounded by a school of thousands of Mexican Barracuda as I swam out on the sand flat. Gliding weightless in the water, I became part of the school, watching and letting them integrate me into the shape of their group, swimming and forming around me effortlessly. The sea lions were mostly friendly and curious of divers, doing a safety stop with them was great fun. At Los Isolotes, a small group of islands north of Espiritu Santu, there is a colony of them and you could dive or snorkel and watch them glide around you. We were warned to back off if a big male barked at us or blew bubbles at us. They see bubbles as an act of aggression, not easy for divers to cease blowing! Gliding into the archway at Los Islotes I swam through a cave to the other side, bright with sun, sand and colorful fish. I came upon a lone sea lion at the bottom of the dark entrance. Bathed in shafts of blue light, it was stunning in its peacefulness as it dozed on the floor of the cave. My favorite sites were Los Islotes and El Bajo, a seamount northeast of Isla Partida, in the middle of the Sea of Cortez. El Bajo is where Hammerhead Sharks come to congregate in great numbers. Luke does rebreather dives there to tag them and study these interesting and fairly harmless creatures. It is a deeper dive, starting around 70' and easily going to 135' or more and swept by currents, which vary frequently in their intensity and direction. You can do whatever depth you are comfortable with. Since it is deeper, and cooler, there was a large variety of coral life, as well as huge populations of the ever-present Green Morays and other fish. We also saw a great number of rays there on one dive. Unfortunately I didn't see any hammerheads, even though on the last day my dive buddy did! Continued on page 3 |
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