Unexpected Big Animal Diving

UNEXPECTED BIG ANIMAL DIVING

WHALE SHARKS AND UNEXPECTED MANTAS

This year's Whale Shark Expedition to Isla Mujeres was off the chart. On a good day during whale shark season we generally see scores of whale sharks feeding at the surface. This summer except for one slightly slow day, we spent everyday in the presence of hundreds of whale sharks! But that's not all. This year, mixed in with whale sharks were hundreds of feeding manta rays. Where they came from and why they showed up this season is anyone's guess but it was wonderful to spend three weeks surrounded by the biggest sharks and the biggest rays on the planet! Lets hope the mantas come back for our Whale Shark Expeditions in 2014. Follow this link to the full trip report and some amazing images: Whale Sharks 2013 Trip Report

BETWEEN BIG FISH EXPEDITIONS

After Isla Mujeres, we embarked on a shark diving road trip down to California. We came home with some great new shark pics for Elasmodiver.com including these images of tope sharks. We also tried to find prickly sharks off of Monterey. Night diving in deep, murky, cold water in the red triangle was a little creepy but its the only known place to shoot this deepwater species without using a submersible. Next year we will try again!

NEW ENGLAND MAKOS, BLUES AND 50+ SPINY DOGFISH SHARKS!

In September, Big Fish Expeditions went to Rhode Island. The seas were sometimes rough (as you would expect in New England) and we had a few boat problems but we all got to encounter blues and makos. And... our experimental chumming on an inshore wreck was a huge success! We had around 50 spiny dogfish sharks show up to the shark feed and managed to get some great images. Read more here: New England Shark Safari 2013 Trip Report

NEXT UP, THE PHILIPPINES!

We are heading off on a scouting trip to the Philippines in October. Hoping this will become a Big Fish Thresher Shark Expedition next year so stay tuned!

MARLINS AND MEXICAN HORN SHARKS

In December we have a sold out trip to dive with striped marlin in Baja. It should be an awesome adventure.

Before the guests arrive, I'll be heading north to Loretto to see if I can find the illusive Mexican horn shark. I've seen their eggs on some of the deeper dive sites around that area of the Sea of Cortez so I know they're around. Perhaps the colder winter water will be the key. Wish me luck!

KILLER WHALES

After Striped Marlins, Big Fish is heading to Sri Lanka to chase blue whales (sold out) and then to Norway to swim with Killer Whales. That trip has been so popular that I am running a second trip in 2015. Space is very limited so if you want to swim with these amazing animals and dive on Norway's pristine reefs, please let me know as soon as possible! KILLER WHALES 2015

BIMINI GREAT HAMMERHEADS

One spot has opened up on our Bimini trip so jump in if you relish the thought of close encounters with enormous great hammerhead sharks. I am heading to Bimini straight from Norway. I'm sure I'll get some interesting looks going into The Bahamas in my snow parka and winter boots :)

MEXICAN SAILFISH

Two spots left on our 2014 Sailfish Trip. Here is a reminder of the epic action you can experience when the sailfish are attacking a bait ball, check out this year's video:

 

WORLD CLASS DIVING AT SOCORRO

Just three spots left on our Socorro trip next March. Socorro is one of the most well rounded destinations that you'll ever have the pleasure of diving. And, its a quick hop down to Cabo to catch the boat. Expect mantas, hammerheads, silkies, galapagos sharks, whales, dolphins, turtles, octos and more. You'll probably see ALL of these species in a week at Socorro. Come see for yourself: SOCORRO EXPEDITION 2014

TIGER BEACH, SOUTH AFRICA, SCOTLAND AND BEYOND...

TIGER BEACH

We have another sold out trip to TIGER BEACH in April. We're booking spots in 2015 already so if you can plan that far ahead we look forward to hearing from you!

SOUTH AFRICAN SHARK SAFARI

Then we fly back to Cape Town to dive with more shark species than you can find on any other dive trip that I know of. One spot just came open so please let me know if you want to dive with great white sharks (cage diving), makos, blue sharks, sevengill sharks, spotted gully sharks, pyjama sharks, leopard catsharks, yellowspotted catsharks, brown shysharks, puffadder shysharks and natal shysharks. Then there's penguins, fur seals and a game drive to see elephants, cape buffalo, cheatahs, rhinos and all the other terrestrial animals that Africa is famous for. Don't miss this action packed WEST CAPE SHARK SAFARI

Then we have our very unique SOUTH AFRICAN SARDINE RUN AND WILD COAST SHARK SAFARIand then its time to fly back to Scotland to SWIM WITH BASKING SHARKS.

SALMON SHARKS

In July we're going to Alaska to dive with Salmon Sharks and to snorkel with the salmon as they head upriver. One spot left! SALMON SHARK EXPEDITION

MEXICAN CROCODILES

And then we head back to Isla Mujeres to SWIM WITH WHALE SHARKS. I'll have my drysuit with me in Mexico so that I can zip up to Churchill, Manitoba to lead our new BELUGA WHALE EXPEDITION and then fly straight back to Cancun to lead the MEXICAN CROCODILE EXPEDITION. My good friend Rodrigo Friscione just came back from Chinchorro Banks with some fantastic shots and reports of great crocodile encounters. I can't wait to get down there and run this trip!

TWO KILLER NEW TRIPS ON THE 2014 SCHEDULE!

CALIFORNIA MAKO SHARK SAFARI

Don't get me wrong, New England is a great place to dive with blues and makos but there are lots of other destinations to dive with them too. For a change of pace, next year Big Fish is heading to sunny California where the water is blue and the sharks are plentiful!

As well as free diving with blue and mako sharks we will be scuba diving around some of Southern California's Channel Islands where we can find Pacific angel sharks, horn sharks and a number of other shark species. This is going to be an amazing adventure: four days on a liveaboard chasing sharks in the sharkiest state in the USA. Join us there! CALIFORNIA MAKO SHARK SAFARI.

MEXICAN BULL SHARKS

Each November, many large bull sharks congregate off the beaches of Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Many of them are pregnant females that stay in the area until early March and then head into shallow bays to pup before disappearing until the next season. By late November the bulls have reached their maximum strength; sometimes up to 20+ bull sharks on a dive.

This is a thrilling encounter that will impress the most jaded shark diver.  Join us next November in Playa del Carmen; the playground of Mexico: 2014 BULL SHARK EXPEDITION

MEET THE TEAM

A few years ago I ran my first trip to Tiger Beach. It was such a fun trip that I decided to run it again the following year and I added a whale shark trip. Three years later, Big Fish Expeditions has 18 different trips on the schedule and there are more on the way!

Its been an amazing adventure and I will continue to lead most of the expeditions but I'm very happy to announce that Big Fish has some new Expedition Leaders to share the fun with. Meet the team: BIG FISH EXPEDITIONS DIVE TEAM

See you down there,

Andy Murch

The Shark Tour Blogs: San Diego Sevengill Sharks

Sevengill Sharks in San Diego

September 25, 2009 by sharkdiver

Sevengills in San Diego

24th April 2009

We have just left San Diego but we will definitely be back! San Diego is one of the sharkiest cities in North America period.

To recap, we arrived just over a week ago to storm like conditions and had to sit around frustrated while the waves pounded the shore line. After a couple of days the weather abated and we were able to get out with our good friend Walter Heim who found us some beautiful blue sharks to shoot. See our previous blog Blue Dogs off San Diego.

Walter’s friend Dave Hinkel (Owner of Blue Abyss Photo) was also on the boat and he was kind enough to give us some pics of us in the water with the blues.

After boat diving with Walter we heard that there had been a broadnose sevengill shark sighted in La Jolla Cove. We have always wanted to dive the cove so we arrived early and kicked out to the kelp forest cameras at the ready. We didn’t really expect find a sevengill shark but we had also heard that the cove is a good spot to find horn sharks so we were excited either way.

The forest is a fair distance from shore and as we wound our way back to the beach, looking under ledges for horn sharks, a curious sevengill suddenly materialized out of the kelp and did a quick circle around us. If you don’t know your sharks you could be forgiven for not understanding how unlikely this encounter was. Looking for horn sharks and finding a 7ft sevengill is like looking for nickels on the beach and digging up a diamond ring. Local divers that dive the bay every week may see a sevengill once a year or so if they’re very lucky. I don’t even know how to describe our luck in seeing a sevengill on our very first shore dive!

The shark let me get a couple of snap shots. Nothing particularly great and I couldn’t get in front of him no matter how fast I swam but at least we were able to record the moment.

I think Claire was in shock through the entire minute long encounter. She told me later that she was torn between shooting the shark and modeling for me to give my shots a sense of scale. As usual she did a great job.

After that we were hooked. We returned to the beach and switched out our tanks and dove straight back in but the illusive broadnose sevengill had given us our moment of contact and we spent the next three dives at the cove shooting horn sharks, banded guitarfish and shovelnose guitarfish.

The horn sharks made great photo subjects. We were able to shoot them hiding in crevices and swimming over the brilliant green sea grass beds that waved back and forth in the surge.

The banded guitarfish were the same species as the ones that we shot in the coral reefs in the Sea of Cortez. It is quite surprising that they are able to tolerate such temperature differences. Shooting them in kelp made a nice backdrop instead of coral but I now have so many banded guitarfish shots that I really have to start deleting some off my hard drives.

The other guitarfish that we encountered, the shovelnose, is usually a very skittish subject. I have tried to shoot this species at the beach and they invariably explode out of the sand in a puff of silt and swim for the depths before I can get anywhere near them. We were a long way off shore when I found this one in the kelp forest and I think it was a little surprised to see me. Even so, I only got one shot off before it returned to its senses and headed for the hills.

Between dives we drove over to the Marine Room which is a snorkeling spot named after the restaurant of the same name. This is the best place on the planet to find leopard sharks but it was a little early in the year for the leopards to congregate in big numbers and I could not see more than some shadows in the distance – just one more reason to come back to San Diego.

We also tried a night dive at La Jolla shores in search of angel sharks but after an epic surface swim and a long, freezing cold night dive we returned to the shore empty handed. That isn’t such a big deal as we are heading up to Tajegis Beach near Santa Barbara soon. Tajegis is a good spot for angels but a bad spot for surge so if we are lucky enough to arrive there when the weather is cooperating we will get one more kick at the can.

We had planned to slowly work our way up the coast to San Francisco but the forecast for shore diving is not good so we have decided reverse everything and get to San Fran as fast as we can and then slowly work our way back down to San Diego before cutting across to the Gulf of Mexico to start our east coast leg.

Another development that we just couldn’t pass up; we have decided to squeeze in a trip to Catalina on the advice of Ron Clough who conducts the California Shark and Ray Count. I have never seen a Pacific Torpedo Ray so Ron (who’s advice has always panned out in the past) gave us the skinny on where to reliably find pacific torpedos:

“Torpedos are at Catalina Island, Casino Point. Go deep, 70-90 ft. out toward the corner buoy on the left hand side, as you stand on the stair case facing the ocean. I’d give you a 99% chance. Also, look forward to great vis there and some great shots. Hope I get a chance to dive with you.” With advice that detailed how could we resist! So, we are cutting the Grand Canyon off of our itinerary (it’s just a big hole in the ground anyway) and penciling in two days at Catalina.

Our east coast shark diving itinerary for May is starting to fall into place so if you’re anywhere between Texas and Florida come out and say hello.

For the sharks,

Andy murch