Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Here little Whale Shark . . .
MY. OH. MY. - To say that Thursday last week was a magical day with the Whales Sharks would be an understatement. They were literally everywhere you looked. Estimates were that there were about 200 or so in the general area and that might be a low figure. We easily had at least five Whale Sharks around the boat at any given time. You almost had to be careful not to step on them when you jumped off the boat. And it was interesting to see how they reacted to people from day to day. There's no doubt in my mind that they're aware of your presence (as well as that of the boat). On Wednesday, everything was a fly-by as the Whale Sharks were constantly on the move scooping up the clear fish eggs upon which they feed at the surface. But on Thursday, and this may have had something to do with the full moon, they were moving more slowly, didn't care if you were around them, hung around, and it was simply special. On top of that, we had Manta Rays in amongst the Whale Sharks on Wednesday and Thursday (didn't see any Friday but they had them Saturday). I've got pix up on line on SmugMug. This is the general folder and then choose any (or all) of the galleries - 10 shots in each - to see what we've seen. Here's the link: ISLA MUJERES DAILY TOP 10 PIX.
WE ENJOYED TH EUNDERWATER MUSEUM TOO - It's got 500 sculptures made out of pH-neutral concrete and is called "Silent Evolution" because it will evolve in to a reef over the years. But I still find it very interesting to explore to see not only the statues themselves, but the coral growth and the fish that have taken up residence. Some of the shots are in the SmugMug link above.
CENOTES WERE OK BUT A LITTL MURKY - The rain we had the beginning part of the trip murked up the surface of the cenotes a little bit due to runoff but other than that, things were fine. As I've said before, I realize some people find them mystical and magical but to me, there rocks that don't harbor any fish and they don't change. So once is enough. But I'll go back again this week with Group #2.
THE TRIALS OF TRAVEL - We've certainly had our share of trials and tribulations on this trip. We had weather issues the first few days of Week 1 which caused us to lose a day of diving and forced us to re-sked some of the other days to get all the Whale Shark days in. We sent the Week 1 group home on Saturday and I spent four hours at the Cancun Airport awaiting the arrival of the Week 2 group . . . with the exception of two people who had their flight canceled. In fact, canceled twice!!! Their original flight got canceled Friday night so they were able to re-book and then THAT flight got canceled Saturday morning. Luckily, they were able to get in today so will start diving with us tomorrow. Right now Monday-Wednesday looks great weather-wise but Thursday looks like maybe some more rain and Friday's a tossup. So you never know with these things and that's why (shameless plug) it pays to travel with someone who knows the ins and outs of the place you're visiting and will deal with there hassles and inconveniences. In more simple terms, that's why I get the big bucks. (Don't I wish).
FIRST TIME WE'VE DONE BACK-TO-BACK WEEKS ANYWHERE - This is an experiment for me because there was such high interest this year in this trip (a total of 27 people) and since I don't like to run "big" groups, it made sense to do this as back-to-back. It definitely alters my perspective a bit and has already given me some ideas about how to handle our back-to-back Yap Immersion trips for next year.
WHALE SHARKS ARE CALLING - We dove MUSA today with the Week 2 group (a couple of nice turtles but the viz was NSG) and will be going out to the Whale Shark area in the morning. Keep an eye on Facebook (both the Reef Seekers and Ken Kurtis pages) for daily updates and top 10 pix.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
MY. OH. MY. - To say that Thursday last week was a magical day with the Whales Sharks would be an understatement. They were literally everywhere you looked. Estimates were that there were about 200 or so in the general area and that might be a low figure. We easily had at least five Whale Sharks around the boat at any given time. You almost had to be careful not to step on them when you jumped off the boat. And it was interesting to see how they reacted to people from day to day. There's no doubt in my mind that they're aware of your presence (as well as that of the boat). On Wednesday, everything was a fly-by as the Whale Sharks were constantly on the move scooping up the clear fish eggs upon which they feed at the surface. But on Thursday, and this may have had something to do with the full moon, they were moving more slowly, didn't care if you were around them, hung around, and it was simply special. On top of that, we had Manta Rays in amongst the Whale Sharks on Wednesday and Thursday (didn't see any Friday but they had them Saturday). I've got pix up on line on SmugMug. This is the general folder and then choose any (or all) of the galleries - 10 shots in each - to see what we've seen. Here's the link: ISLA MUJERES DAILY TOP 10 PIX.
WE ENJOYED TH EUNDERWATER MUSEUM TOO - It's got 500 sculptures made out of pH-neutral concrete and is called "Silent Evolution" because it will evolve in to a reef over the years. But I still find it very interesting to explore to see not only the statues themselves, but the coral growth and the fish that have taken up residence. Some of the shots are in the SmugMug link above.
CENOTES WERE OK BUT A LITTL MURKY - The rain we had the beginning part of the trip murked up the surface of the cenotes a little bit due to runoff but other than that, things were fine. As I've said before, I realize some people find them mystical and magical but to me, there rocks that don't harbor any fish and they don't change. So once is enough. But I'll go back again this week with Group #2.
THE TRIALS OF TRAVEL - We've certainly had our share of trials and tribulations on this trip. We had weather issues the first few days of Week 1 which caused us to lose a day of diving and forced us to re-sked some of the other days to get all the Whale Shark days in. We sent the Week 1 group home on Saturday and I spent four hours at the Cancun Airport awaiting the arrival of the Week 2 group . . . with the exception of two people who had their flight canceled. In fact, canceled twice!!! Their original flight got canceled Friday night so they were able to re-book and then THAT flight got canceled Saturday morning. Luckily, they were able to get in today so will start diving with us tomorrow. Right now Monday-Wednesday looks great weather-wise but Thursday looks like maybe some more rain and Friday's a tossup. So you never know with these things and that's why (shameless plug) it pays to travel with someone who knows the ins and outs of the place you're visiting and will deal with there hassles and inconveniences. In more simple terms, that's why I get the big bucks. (Don't I wish).
FIRST TIME WE'VE DONE BACK-TO-BACK WEEKS ANYWHERE - This is an experiment for me because there was such high interest this year in this trip (a total of 27 people) and since I don't like to run "big" groups, it made sense to do this as back-to-back. It definitely alters my perspective a bit and has already given me some ideas about how to handle our back-to-back Yap Immersion trips for next year.
WHALE SHARKS ARE CALLING - We dove MUSA today with the Week 2 group (a couple of nice turtles but the viz was NSG) and will be going out to the Whale Shark area in the morning. Keep an eye on Facebook (both the Reef Seekers and Ken Kurtis pages) for daily updates and top 10 pix.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
