Just a brief report as the pics of the seals say it all! This was a wonderful wildlife encounter affirming a feeling of true kinship with these beautiful animals!
We used of our dive club's favorite boat for diving with seals at the Isles of Shoals: the 45-foot Lady Patricia, Capt Bill's Charters out of Portsmouth, NH.
Deep Sea Fishing Charters from New Hampshire
Ten club members had the whole boat, which could probably accomodate twenty divers. It's a very roomy and stable boat.
The first dive was among the seals around Mingo Rock and Duck Island, two small steep pinnacles that barely poke above the surface.
The seas were pretty calm, current was moderate and water temps were from 60F above the thermocline to 50F at 100'. The predicted rain showers held off and the sky was bright enough for some decent pics. Air temp was a real pleasant 75 degrees with a light wind blowing.
Besides seals, another nice feature of this site is the steep slope on the south side of Mingo that has some impressive rocky drop-offs and crevices on the way down to 100' where the bottom levels out.
Then, like having two dive sites in one, the second half of the dive can be spent with the seals in the 20 to 30' depths along the northeast side of the islands.
That day, there were plenty of seals and all divers had nice encounters with them, including one gal who had a herd of six around her! As she swam back to the boat on the surface, a seal tagged along right behind her fins!
Of my several trips to this site, all with seal encounters, this day was particularly memorable in how docile and curious the seals were and how closely they approached!
The second dive was on a site with no seals on the lee side of Appledore Island, about a mile away. Some huge schools of maceral were seen, but not much else. Next time we'll ask to stay at Mingo for both dives!
Captain Bill was super, as usual, in letting us have extended dives of 90 minutes or more if we chose, which several of us did. This was his only charter for the day.
Pics of the seals and boat follow. Hope you enjoy them!
Dave C
On my ascent, I was first approached by a seal at 45':
Some Aquabatics:
At about 30', sitting quietly brought them in very close, often within two or three feet like this:
He quickly got bored with me apparently:
This might be a different seal on a slow fly-by:
That day the seals were very curious and unafraid! A moment later, he gently bumped his nose into the lens port!
In the surf zone, gliding by for a look:
The 45-foot Lady Patricia (Capt Bill's Charters), anchored at the second site near Appledore Island; the most spacious dive boat I've been on:
We used of our dive club's favorite boat for diving with seals at the Isles of Shoals: the 45-foot Lady Patricia, Capt Bill's Charters out of Portsmouth, NH.
Deep Sea Fishing Charters from New Hampshire
Ten club members had the whole boat, which could probably accomodate twenty divers. It's a very roomy and stable boat.
The first dive was among the seals around Mingo Rock and Duck Island, two small steep pinnacles that barely poke above the surface.
The seas were pretty calm, current was moderate and water temps were from 60F above the thermocline to 50F at 100'. The predicted rain showers held off and the sky was bright enough for some decent pics. Air temp was a real pleasant 75 degrees with a light wind blowing.
Besides seals, another nice feature of this site is the steep slope on the south side of Mingo that has some impressive rocky drop-offs and crevices on the way down to 100' where the bottom levels out.
Then, like having two dive sites in one, the second half of the dive can be spent with the seals in the 20 to 30' depths along the northeast side of the islands.
That day, there were plenty of seals and all divers had nice encounters with them, including one gal who had a herd of six around her! As she swam back to the boat on the surface, a seal tagged along right behind her fins!
Of my several trips to this site, all with seal encounters, this day was particularly memorable in how docile and curious the seals were and how closely they approached!
The second dive was on a site with no seals on the lee side of Appledore Island, about a mile away. Some huge schools of maceral were seen, but not much else. Next time we'll ask to stay at Mingo for both dives!
Captain Bill was super, as usual, in letting us have extended dives of 90 minutes or more if we chose, which several of us did. This was his only charter for the day.
Pics of the seals and boat follow. Hope you enjoy them!
Dave C
On my ascent, I was first approached by a seal at 45':
Some Aquabatics:
At about 30', sitting quietly brought them in very close, often within two or three feet like this:
He quickly got bored with me apparently:
This might be a different seal on a slow fly-by:
That day the seals were very curious and unafraid! A moment later, he gently bumped his nose into the lens port!
In the surf zone, gliding by for a look:
The 45-foot Lady Patricia (Capt Bill's Charters), anchored at the second site near Appledore Island; the most spacious dive boat I've been on:
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