Diving Gato Island

[Dan]

In last week of December 2022 and first week of January 2023, we went diving around Gato Island, Malapascua, with Evolution & Infiniti. We saw Cat Shark, Scorpionfish, Golden Mantis, Black-saddled Toby in the underwater tunnel and as we went to the other side of the tunnel, we saw resident Whitetip Reef Shark, Broadclub Cuttlefish, Yellow-lipped Sea Krait, hard to see tiny Frogfish, Juvenile Rockmover Wrasse, Squat Shrimps, Sap Sucking Slug, Batangas Halgerda, and Spanish Dancer with eggs. Great place for SCUBA diving!

 

[Johncn]

Thanks! Great pics, and we'll be there in a couple of weeks. Will put Gato on the list.

Have been talking to divers we have met here in the Philippines who said that most of the threshers have moved from Monad Shoal to Kimud Shoal, which is much smaller and shallower.

This was confirmed to me in person two days ago by a marine biologist from the Philippines Large Marine Vertebrates research lab. I met her in Southern Leyte. She said that this puts more divers in a smaller area to view the threshers in Malapascua, as well as opens it up to non-Advanced divers. So, she recommended getting the earliest boat possible for the best experience. She also is there now (I think) hoping to work with dive shops to set up some remote GoPros at depth at Monad to verify what sharks are currently using it. Rumors from traveling divers we have talked to (and some videos and posts here) suggest more use by tiger, and oceanic white tip / other sharks at Monad rather than the threshers in recent months.

Anyway, your images are GREAT. Really appreciate the info!

 

[Searcaigh]

Nice one Dan.

I think your black tip is a white tip though

 

[Dan]

Nice one Dan.

I think your black tip is a white tip though

LOL Good catch! You pay attention to details! Thanks for pointing it out! I thought I typed it correctly: Whitetip Reef Shark, as shown in the description.

Argh, dang it! My fingers weren’t cooperating with my mind. It’s not easy to fix the typo in the video. I just let it slide.

 

[Dan]

Thanks! Great pics, and we'll be there in a couple of weeks. Will put Gato on the list.

Have been talking to divers we have met here in the Philippines who said that most of the threshers have moved from Monad Shoal to Kimud Shoal, which is much smaller and shallower.

This was confirmed to me in person two days ago by a marine biologist from the Philippines Large Marine Vertebrates research lab. I met her in Southern Leyte. She said that this puts more divers in a smaller area to view the threshers in Malapascua, as well as opens it up to non-Advanced divers. So, she recommended getting the earliest boat possible for the best experience. She also is there now (I think) hoping to work with dive shops to set up some remote GoPros at depth at Monad to verify what sharks are currently using it. Rumors from traveling divers we have talked to (and some videos and posts here) suggest more use by tiger, and oceanic white tip / other sharks at Monad rather than the threshers in recent months.

Anyway, your images are GREAT. Really appreciate the info!

Yep. It’s easier to see the Thresher Sharks in Kimud Shoal now than previously.

@matt_reed also posted here about the presence of Tiger Sharks in Monad Shoal

Malapascua - not just Thresher sharks

During a recent series of deep dives in Malapascua, we've had consistent sightings of Tiger sharks, Bull sharks and Blacktips. Pretty amazing stuff. Amazing photos by Marissa Eckert of Hidden Worlds Diving Marissa also got amazing Thresher pics on the classic shark dive - check out her...

scubaboard.com

 

[diveUAE]

Great videos, thank you for reminding me about some fantastic dives from Malapascua.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Wow, nice!

...why don't my videos look this good?

 

[Carlos Danger]

In last week of December 2022 and first week of January 2023, we went diving around Gato Island, Malapascua, with Evolution & Infiniti. We saw Cat Shark, Scorpionfish, Golden Mantis, Black-saddled Toby in the underwater tunnel and as we went to the other side of the tunnel, we saw resident Whitetip Reef Shark, Broadclub Cuttlefish, Yellow-lipped Sea Krait, hard to see tiny Frogfish, Juvenile Rockmover Wrasse, Squat Shrimps, Sap Sucking Slug, Batangas Halgerda, and Spanish Dancer with eggs. Great place for SCUBA diving!

What video gear did you use? Looks awesome!

 

[Dan]

Wow, nice!

...why don't my videos look this good?

I set my GoPro 10 to 4K 30FPS, auto white balance & color to vibrant, used video light whenever the lighting was limited, adjusted the white balance, brightness & contrast during video editing.

 

[Dan]

What video gear did you use? Looks awesome!

GoPro 10 with 3000 lumen Sea Dragon video light & Backscatter 55mm micro lens for Macro.