This ocean is beautiful at the moment, it´s got everything we have patiently been waiting for over the past 6 months. Clear, warm water that is full of some of the most fantastic creatures.
The visibility is amazing in most places. This is a term we use to guess the distance we can clearly see into the distance. Last week, off the beach at Mismaloya, I could see for 100 feet! Crazy good. I can clearly see my divers and they can clearly see everything I am pointing out. The same story was to be told at Majahuitas and good old Los Arcos has 70 foot plus. It also means that all you snorkelers can now see all the fish too.
Los Arcos has had many sightings of dolphins over the past few weeks, and the manta´s are out and about. Dolphins are enjoyed by everyone and are fairly common while the manta´s are not seen so often, so are a special sight for people to watch. The two words I use to describe them are charismatic and mega. Where ever you are diving in the world, swimming with a manta makes it a great dive. They are graceful creatures who fly around the ocean at great speed using seemingly little effort. Manta’s are totally harmless and often enjoy swimming amongst people. If you get lucky, you can see them leaping out of the water, and that really is a sight to behold.
Manta rays are huge creatures and can have wingspans of 30 feet, but the average span is about 20 feet and they can weigh up to 3,000lbs. When they get to around 14 feet in wingspan, they are ready to breed. They give birth to live young, who are themselves not small, being around 4 feet in span and weighing in at 20 – 30lbs! Fortunately for mum, they only give birth to one or two at a time.
There is still a lot of research to be done on manta´s and many facts to find out. This is not an easy job as they are near impossible to keep in aquariums to study as they are so big. Only 4 are held captive in the world at the moment.
Something else we have seen this week is a sea otter. I didn´t know they made it this far down, as they like cold water, but this little fella did. We were with some friends at Burros, where the guys were surfing and I was falling in the ocean a lot. I didn´t mind though as I got to spend more time in the water with this little sea otter, who was with us for a couple of hours, playing and enjoying some company. He seemed to be all alone as we didn´t see another one there all afternoon. I had never seen one before, but hope they have decided to relocate as they are so cute and playful.
The visibility is amazing in most places. This is a term we use to guess the distance we can clearly see into the distance. Last week, off the beach at Mismaloya, I could see for 100 feet! Crazy good. I can clearly see my divers and they can clearly see everything I am pointing out. The same story was to be told at Majahuitas and good old Los Arcos has 70 foot plus. It also means that all you snorkelers can now see all the fish too.
Los Arcos has had many sightings of dolphins over the past few weeks, and the manta´s are out and about. Dolphins are enjoyed by everyone and are fairly common while the manta´s are not seen so often, so are a special sight for people to watch. The two words I use to describe them are charismatic and mega. Where ever you are diving in the world, swimming with a manta makes it a great dive. They are graceful creatures who fly around the ocean at great speed using seemingly little effort. Manta’s are totally harmless and often enjoy swimming amongst people. If you get lucky, you can see them leaping out of the water, and that really is a sight to behold.
Manta rays are huge creatures and can have wingspans of 30 feet, but the average span is about 20 feet and they can weigh up to 3,000lbs. When they get to around 14 feet in wingspan, they are ready to breed. They give birth to live young, who are themselves not small, being around 4 feet in span and weighing in at 20 – 30lbs! Fortunately for mum, they only give birth to one or two at a time.
There is still a lot of research to be done on manta´s and many facts to find out. This is not an easy job as they are near impossible to keep in aquariums to study as they are so big. Only 4 are held captive in the world at the moment.
Something else we have seen this week is a sea otter. I didn´t know they made it this far down, as they like cold water, but this little fella did. We were with some friends at Burros, where the guys were surfing and I was falling in the ocean a lot. I didn´t mind though as I got to spend more time in the water with this little sea otter, who was with us for a couple of hours, playing and enjoying some company. He seemed to be all alone as we didn´t see another one there all afternoon. I had never seen one before, but hope they have decided to relocate as they are so cute and playful.
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