Sharks in Cozumel

[Guitarcrazy]

We just returned from a week at Iberostar and diving with Challenge Diving. I will do a trip report but I wanted to remark about the abundance of sharks and turtles on this trip. We spotted blacktips on 3 of the 6 days we dove. We saw nurse sharks on almost every dive. We saw multiple turtles on every dive. We have been going to Cozumel for the past 5 years, 2 to 3 times each year. We have never seen sharks and turtles in these numbers. I am hopeful that means the reef is healthy and attracting more wildlife. It was a very enjoyable week.

For those curious, we saw a group of 3 blacktips on Wednesday and Thursday at El Cedral wall. Seem to be hanging at about 100 to 120' both days off the wall in the current.

 

[cozcharlie]

Saw a blacktip at Cedral around 50' feet last week.

Evidently been a couple of bull shark sightings up north btw. Think that was not long after a norte came through so might have had something to do with weather. I didn't see them, but a neighbor and his wife saw what they figured must be a bull shark hanging out in shallow water from their balcony 30 feet from shore. Right after they saw that one they heard someone else had also seen 3 up here on the north end (not sure if from shore, diving, fishing or whatever). Kind of unusual, but given they have bull shark dives on the mainland 10 miles away it is certainly plausible.

 

[ggunn]

We just returned from a week at Iberostar and diving with Challenge Diving. I will do a trip report but I wanted to remark about the abundance of sharks and turtles on this trip. We spotted blacktips on 3 of the 6 days we dove. We saw nurse sharks on almost every dive. We saw multiple turtles on every dive. We have been going to Cozumel for the past 5 years, 2 to 3 times each year. We have never seen sharks and turtles in these numbers. I am hopeful that means the reef is healthy and attracting more wildlife. It was a very enjoyable week.

For those curious, we saw a group of 3 blacktips on Wednesday and Thursday at El Cedral wall. Seem to be hanging at about 100 to 120' both days off the wall in the current.

I am very glad to see this. On our last trip to the island last April, in 10 days of diving we only saw 1 or 2 nurse sharks and none of any other species. We just got our plane tix and hotel reservations for next April.

 

[JFS]

The Beetle Shark is endemic to Cozumel. The only place in the world where you will see it.

 

[cicopo]

First how's Eric? He's a friend & so is his son Eric (junior). I don't see many reports of divers using Challenge. As for the sharks I have seen them on several different trips (The Caribbean Reef Sharks referred to as Black Tips.) I visit in Feb which may give a different result than at this time of year. Most I've seen at once was 9 at Colombia Deep. I usually see a reasonable number of Nurse Sharks too & the place I see them most often is Paso Del Cedral.

 

[Guitarcrazy]

Eric and Eric are both well. This was our second time diving with them. We usually use a different op but we were diving with friends and they chose the dive op this trip. We usually go December and Feb, and this year chose October and December. We are going to try Moorea in Feb. The most we saw was 3 in a group, not nearly as many as you captured. Still, nice to see some different species. Our last trip in Feb we didn't see any, not even a nurse.

 

[Redfoot]

I went last November and had a very similar experience- it was a very enjoyable week of diving. We had some great turtle time on a few dives- huge hawksbills and greens that were content to hang right with us. Very cool!

 

[mstevens]

This was at Palancar Caves a year ago.

 

[El Graduado]

The word “shark” appears for the first time in the English language in 1569, when a report in a broadside describing one was published in London. Before that, other names were used to describe them. The broadside, published by Thomas Colwell, stated “‘Ther is not proper name for it, that I knowe, but that sertayne men of Captain Haukinses, doth call it a Sharke.” The “Captain Haukinses” mentioned in the broadside is none other than Sir John Hawkins, who had sailed to Mexico in 1567 and who had picked up the word while on that trip. However, the word “shark” is not Spanish. The Spanish words for small and large sharks are cazón and tiburón, respectively. They are both derived from the Taino Indian terms for small and large sharks. The English word “shark” is derived from the Yucatec Mayan word xoc (pronounced “shoke”) meaning a large shark. During his trip from Veracruz, Hawkins picked up a Yucatecan pilot and the theory is that this pilot taught the word to Hawkins and his men.

Below is an image of the “Sharke” published in the Thomas Colwell broadside:

 

[Guitarcrazy]

This was at Palancar Caves a year ago.

That is definitely a school, much larger than any of the groups we saw. Wish we were able to see that many and that close.