Guadalupe closure, nautilus options

[living4experiences]

I agree about the incident. From what I’ve been able to gather it was a bit of a freak accident and they reported it right away. I am not in the dog pile group. Unfortunately we all know a lot of times people need someone/something to blame. I am concerned that nautilus may end up being the scapegoat here.

Socorro is a dream destination for me. I’ve got about 50-60 dives at this point. I feel pretty comfortable underwater.
My partner is newer and is around 20 dives and still needs some buoyancy and air control.
I don’t think we would be able to get enough dives in between now
Maybe we could move it out another year and buckle down on some diving experience.
How much experience would you recommend for Socorro?

IMO, as far as numbers, your 50-60 dives should be okay. But it depends on the type of diving you've done. I would not recommend this trip for someone with 20 dives. My first trip, I had roughly 250 dives and I was put into the group with the least number of dives. Everyone else on board had 500 to 1000+ dives.

This is deep blue diving with strong currents at times, not only horizontal, but up-currents and down-currents that can pull you down or launch you like a rocket upwards, and you need to be able to control that. I was launched from 70 feet to 40 feet in an instant.

Buoyancy control and good air consumption is also a must. You'll also need to know how to deploy your SMB. It's not uncommon that the group gets separated, and you and your buddy will pop up to the surface alone, and the spotter boats come to pick you up. Entry is by backroll from the skiff, everyone all at once, and you should be comfortable with a negative entry. A reef hook and/or gloves with help you get stable on the rocks in the current and they are sharp to grab with bare hands. If you're prone to seasickness, take the necessary precautions because it's a long haul there and back.

November is THE BEST month to go for the conditions, the marine life, and the boat ride to the sites. May is not a good month. Terrible viz and rough sea conditions the entire trip. One of my worst dive trips ever.

 

[Drea13]

IMO, as far as numbers, your 50-60 dives should be okay. But it depends on the type of diving you've done. I would not recommend this trip for someone with 20 dives. My first trip, I had roughly 250 dives and I was put into the group with the least number of dives. Everyone else on board had 500 to 1000+ dives.

This is deep blue diving with strong currents at times, not only horizontal, but up-currents and down-currents that can pull you down or launch you like a rocket upwards, and you need to be able to control that. I was launched from 70 feet to 40 feet in an instant.

Buoyancy control and good air consumption is also a must. You'll also need to know how to deploy your SMB. It's not uncommon that the group gets separated, and you and your buddy will pop up to the surface alone, and the spotter boats come to pick you up. Entry is by backroll from the skiff, everyone all at once, and you should be comfortable with a negative entry. A reef hook and/or gloves with help you get stable on the rocks in the current and they are sharp to grab with bare hands. If you're prone to seasickness, take the necessary precautions because it's a long haul there and back.

November is THE BEST month to go for the conditions, the marine life, and the boat ride to the sites. May is not a good month. Terrible viz and rough sea conditions the entire trip. One of my worst dive trips ever.

Great info, thank you. You confirmed that Socorro may be a few more years out for us. On the bucket list for sure!

 

[emoreira]

This came out in DIVE Magazine :

Isla Guadalupe permanently closed to shark diving

Great white cage diving hotstpot Isla Guadalupe has been permanently closed to tourism by the Mexican Government.

divemagazine.com

 

[scubadada]

Guadalupe shark-dive ban made permanent - Divernet

The ban on caged shark diving at remote Guadalupe Island off Mexico, which has frustrated the great white shark divers and liveaboard operators who would

divernet.com

 

[Eric802]

Well that sucks.

 

[drrich2]

Sad to see this. While some idealists may cherish the idea of keeping the public away from some natural areas/species, it can be very beneficial to a species' survival prospects for people to find ways to monetize it.

Australia and the salt-water crocodile, Papua and their sharks, one of the best things you can do for an animal in trouble is make its continued survival in numbers lucrative.

I had a conversation with someone awhile back on how natural selection favors fitness to survive in one's environment, not necessarily the kind of smart/strong/tough/fast/independent 'fitness' some of us might think of. My example was to compare the wild grey wolf with a domestic descendent, the pug. A wolf is superior to a pug in most any measurable way, and yet which would you think more likely to show up as threatened?

Now that this market has been barred from practice, and given that the Socorros already have a rep. for being rather busy, from my past reading of others' trip reports, I wonder whether we'll see a great focus on Sea of Cortez liveaboard diving?

 

[mcohen1021]

Why isn't anyone asking the question as To why did the animal die and what did the operator due to contribute to the animal's death?

 

[scubadada]

Why isn't anyone asking the question as To why did the animal die and what did the operator due to contribute to the animal's death?

From the divernet article cited in post # 14:

In October 2019 a great white died after getting its head stuck between cage bars, struggling to free itself and ending up decapitated. Nautilus, the operator involved, maintains that after carrying out many thousands of cage-dives safely since 2003, it had never before come across a shark repeatedly charging at a cage in such a way.

 

[Jake 10]

also

The first incident came in October 2016 when a juvenile white shark appeared to have been injured after accidentally entering a surface cage and having to force its way out. The scuba instructor in the cage was unhurt.

October 2019 a shark bit through a line supplying air to divers in a cage submerged at 10m. The four divers escaped uninjured but it proved difficult to extricate the shark although, as with the one in the 2016 incident, it was eventually able to swim away.

In June 2022 the Pacific Fleet liveaboard Socorro Vortex hit a reef off Socorro while the captain and crew were reported by guests to have been asleep, as reported on Divernet. The collision also resulted in a fuel spill.