CROCS ARE THE NEW SHARKS!

ARE CROCS THE NEW SHARKS?

It was inevitable that sooner or later I would start running crocodile trips. Collectively, crocs, alligators, caimans and gharials have that same primal allure as sharks, and what they lack in sleekness they make up for in sheer prehistoric gnarliness!

Our first crocodilian trip will be next August to Chinchorro, Quintana Roo, Mexico to encounter American Crocodiles. Chinchorro is part of a marine biosphere. Consequently, it is one of the few places in North America where there is still a relatively abundant population of crocs. Because the islands are 20 miles off shore, there is no river run off so the water in the lagoon where the crocodiles live is clear enough for in-water encounters. And, its not just going to be crocs. The expedition includes a mangrove to find and dive with West Indian manatees and we're even planning a morning chumming for sharks. For more pics, a  great video by Pelagic Life and all the logistical info, follow this link:American Crocodiles of Chinchorro Banks

THREE AWESOME BACK TO BACK TO BACK EXPEDITIONS

Over the last few weeks I have led trips to Socorro Island, Tiger Beach and Cat Island. All three trips were hugely successful. Read on for all the highlights:

SOCORRO AND ROCA PARTIDA EXPEDITION

At Socorro we had manta encounters and more sharks than I have ever seen in the Revillagigedo Archipelago. This year the weather cooperated and we were able to dive Roca Partida. The schools of hammers, ledges filled with photogenic whietip sharks and enormous yellowfin tuna schools swimming around that lonely monolith made this trip extremely special. Read the Socorro 2013 Trip Report for more images and reports from the trip.

ANOTHER AWESOME TIGER BEACH EXPEDITION

Tiger Beach was full of sharks from start to finish with countless lemon sharks and four tigers at once on the most memorable dive. We also had a pod of 20+ spotted and bottlenose dolphins come and play with us for hours and some great opportunities for killer split frame shots at the back of the boat. Follow this link for all the good stuff: Tiger Beach Trip Report.

A RECORD BREAKING OCEANIC WHITETIP EXPEDITION

The oceanic whitetip shark expedition to Cat Island was so sharky that against all I have said about trying to run new trips, I am going back again next year :)

We had somewhere around 15 oceanics on our best dive plus we saw a blue marlin, some mahi mahi, and dusky and silky sharks. Cool pictures and more about the trip here: Oceanic Whitetips 2013 Trip Report

ONWARD TO AFRICA

Next week, Big Fish Expeditions is heading to South Africa. This is my first shark safari in southern Africa and I couldn't be more excited. We have the possibility to see around 14 species of sharks. Some of these I have not photographed before so if all goes well there should be some new species pages added to the shark and ray database on Elasmodiver.com over the next few months.

This is a land based trip so assuming I can find a wifi connection, I'll try to load a new shark onto the Big Fish Facebook Page everyday of the trip. If you want the images to show up in your Facebook Feed, please go here:  BIG FISH EXPEDITIONS ON FACEBOOK  and give us a like!

BASKING SHARKS, WHALE SHARKS THEN BLUES AND MAKOS.

After two weeks in South Africa I'll have just enough time to get home to Canada before heading off again to swim with Basking Sharks in the Inner Hebredes in western Scotland. This is another exciting new trip that should result in some great opportunities for big animal images. I'm hoping for encounters with puffins and gray seals underwater too so expect a full report when I blog again (probably in July) or come with me on the trip! There are two spots left on the basking shark trip if any tropical divers out there think they can handle donning a 7mm in order to swim with the second biggest fish in the world. Go to the basking shark expedition page or email me for details!

After that, we're in Isla Mujeres for an entire month of whale sharks. Only three spots left now so please jump on those quickly if you want to swim with an even bigger fish than a basking shark: whale shark diving adventure

And finishing up our summer season we're heading to Rhode Island to shoot makos and blue sharks before the Gulf Stream moves away from the coast taking the sharks along with it. This will be another experimental trip that includes a day of chumming for dogfish sharks on the inshore wrecks. As always, I'll let everyone know how we do!

ONTO WHATS BUBBLING:

BACK TO THE BEACH!

In October I'm leading yet another great trip to dive with Tiger Sharks at Tiger Beach. Join me on theTiger Beach Shark Safari for more epic tiger shark encounters.

STRIPED MARLIN ACTION
And then in December I have a brand new striped marlin expedition to Baja. This is another great billfish encounter that everyone should try before they hang up their fins. Join me this December for a unique Striped Marlin Expedition.

A NEW PREDATORS IN PERIL EXPEDITION IS IN THE WORKS

Then at the end of the year, there's blue whales in Sri Lanka, Orcas in Norway and Great Hammerheads in Bimini. But, before I run those guest trips, its time to put some of my air miles to good use. In November I'm flying all the way down to Punta Arenas to look for another new catshark species. This one is called a narrowmouth catshark and (like most small deepwater sharks) there are virtually no images of it. So, I'm meeting up with Eduardo Sorensen from Oceana Chile to see if we can find and document one or two while there are still some left. It will be a complicated trip involving us flying tanks and weights all the way to the end of the Americas and then braving the Humboldt Current for as long as time and finances permit.

After the catshark dives in Southern Chile, I'll be traveling with my partner Laura up the coast of Argentina to record as many endemic Argentinean elasmobranches (sharks and rays) as we can find. I'm sure that it will be as exhausting as it is rewarding. More on this expedition as it approaches.

2014

Next year get ready for more new trips as well as some of the classics from years past. Apart from the American crocodile trip to Chinchorro, there are at least two more exciting new big animal trips that I am working on. Please keep an eye on the website for more info but for starters, how would you like to swim through an emerald ocean filled with friendly white whales?

See you down there,

Andy Murch

SWORDS AND HAMMERS

SWORDS AND HAMMERS

Our January Sailfish Adventure to Cancun, Mexico delivered some epic encounters. Here is a fun little video with some of the action:

Check out the rest of the sailfish trip report and images here: Sailfish Adventure 2013.

BASKING SHARKS

Next stop is Socorro for some quality time with giant mantas and then Tiger Beach, Cat Island for Oceanic Whitetips and down to South Africa. All sold out trips which is a great endorsement for Big Fish Expeditions!

Still a couple of spots left on the Basking Shark Adventure in Scotland. No doubt the water temps have scared a few shark divers away from this encounter but this will be an amazing trip with basking sharks, grey seals, puffins and who knows what else, so if you want to dive with the second biggest fish in the sea, get in touch! Here are some pics from last season:

The July Whale Shark Expeditions are all sold out so I've decided to add an early August trip for anyone else that wants to go. The Isla Mujeres summer aggregation is the largest recorded whale shark gathering in the world. Personally, I am more than happy to have to stay in sunny Isla Mujeres for one extra week of whale shark diving! :) Whale Shark Diving

RHODE ISLAND MAKO & BLUE SHARK WEEKEND

Then in late August we have two back-to-back Mako and Blue shark weekends with Joe Romeiro up in Rhode Island. The first weekend is sold out but I have some room on the second weekend. Between trips I'll be staying in the area and shore diving for torpedo rays and new skate species so anyone that is coming on the trips is welcome to join me on that off the beaten path quest if they have extra time.

STRIPED MARLIN EXPEDITION

After Rhode Island I have a second Tiger Beach Adventure in October and then.......(drum roll).... Big Fish Expeditions is heading to Baja to chase Striped Marlin. This will be a similar trip to the sailfish encounter but with larger and stripier billfish. Pacific marlin/baitball diving is a little more hit and miss than diving with sailfish so as well as chasing marlins we have a great back-up plan. Check out theStriped Marlin Diving Expedition page for more info.

GREAT HAMMERHEAD ADVENTURE

And last but far from least on the new trip front, in February 2014 we're heading to Bimini for 5 days of diving with Great Hammerheads. I planned to run a hammer trip this year but there were certain logistical issues and ethical concerns that I wanted to deal with to make this trip the best it could be. Everything has come together nicely for next year and I'm glad I waited because this is going to be agreat hammerhead trip as well as a great deal! Bimini Great Hammerhead Diving

MARINE LIFE PICS .COM

In other news, a few weeks back I was on a magazine assignment in the Ryukyu Archipelago in southwestern Japan. It was an interesting trip with scalloped hammers, unusual sea snakes and lots of fish that I've never seen before. The highlight for me were these hummingbird bobtail squid. Bare in mind that these little guys are about the size of a pea :)

These images and around 10,000 more of my marine life pics can now be found on a new website that I just loaded onto the world wide web. Feel free to check out the new site and give me feedback:MARINELIFEPICS.COM

There's a corresponding Marine Life Pics Facebook Page that you can 'like' if you want to know what has been added to the website each week.

One more thing, lots of people have asked me for more info about the 2015 Antarctic Trip but I haven't had time to load a page yet. I'll get on it soon! That's it for now.

See you down there,

Andy Murch