Yesterday we dived Kicker Rock, our second visit there as 2 days before we had our snorkeling trip. That was an incredible so the dive had a lot to live up to.
It was another early start, we left the boat at 7, far too soon but some times the water taxi arrives immediately other times we can wait 30 minutes or more. Obviously yesterday it came as soon as we called.
12 of us clambered onto the dive boat, 8 divers 4 snorkelling, as the dive site is known to have some strong currents we stopped on the way for a quick check dive to ensure we were all carrying the correct amount of weight, if you aren't then you are unable to get underwater and can drift off in the current on the surface. Not what any dive guide wants at the start of a dive. Soon, correctly weighted, we were back on the boat, slowly cooking in our wetsuits as we approached Kicker Rock.
Over the side we splashed, cool water feeling wonderful, the 4 of us and our guide dropped slowly down the steep wall of the rock, leveling off at about 18m we swam along eagerly peering out Into the water. Visibility here is good but not the gin clear you sometimes get in the tropics, the ocean currents which make the Galapagos waters so nutrient rich ensure the water is full of micro organisms which are the start of the food chain, which of course supports the bigger animals we are all so keen to see. Yesterday we could see about 20m, looking down into the abyss it just got darker, the cliff dropping far deeper than we could see. Looking outwards things just fade into the fog at the edge of our viability.
We swam along, large shapes just visible in the gloom, as we turned around the corner into the gap which cuts the rock into 2 the water got shallower and we were able to settle onto a sandy bottom and hold on against the current. Then they arrived, first one then several unmistakable shapes circling above us, in and out of our vision but always there, hammerhead sharks have an incredible silhouette!. We slowly moved on, sharks always around but not always visible. There were, of course, many other fish, the odd turtle and sea lion but this dive we weren't there for them. We settled on the edge on an underwater cliff. Hammerheads cruising past out in the deep water, some above, some below, slightly mennissing, but in reality no risk to us at all, humans do not figure oh their menus at all. They generally eat rays and other fish much smaller than us, pinning them down with their hammer to allow them to bite off chunks. They apparently also feed at dusk.
With dive tanks low we surfaced, another big tick on the wish list, diving with hammerhead sharks.
An hour or so later, the boat took us to the low end of the rock, here the water is shallower with a bottom at about 16m. We dropped into a shoal of small fish called Salema, literally millions and millions, from above they hugged the wall and spread as far as we could see in both directions, bulging out from the wall and dropping from about 5m deep to the bottom . The shoal bulging and pulsing like a single living thing, so densely packed it was Impossible to see between them. As we swam towards them the shoal parted to allow us to enter and them reformed behind us, we were in a fish bubble, a space about a meter all round us completely fish free until you reached the fish wall.
Sometimes the rock wall appeared, free of fish, then vanished again, sometimes we burst back into clear water and sunshine for a brief moment before moment before being swallowed again. Inside the bait ball, for that in reality is what it is, one huge fish take away, it was quite dark, move too far from your buddy and the fish move in between you leaving you alone in a fish bubble.
Around the outside of the shoal stalk a multitude of predators, several kinds of sharks, tuna, sea lions and shoals of barracuda patrol the edges, above is guarded by terns, pelicans, boobies and yet more sea lions, all there to harass the shoal and prevent it moving off. All these predators wait their chances before suddenly shooting into the shoal in the hope of catching dinner. From inside all you see is a flurry of fish as they quickly part then the flash of which ever animal is hunting as it whizzes past. The top cover hunters waiting to try their luck with any fish trying to escape upwards. It was incredible waiting inside for the next creature to come shopping, not knowing if it would be a white tipped shark or sea lion. The bigger predators just barged right in, scattering fish like leaves, the tuna targeting those out on the margins, hoping to catch one away from the safety of the shoal, zooming in like arrows with a huge burst of energy, the birds bursting in from above with wings swept back after a kamikaze dive which would kill them if they misjudged the depth and hit something solid.
To say we spent 45 minutes sitting in a shoal of fish doesn't describe our dive at all, but that is what we did, an experience like no other. There is something to be said for safety in numbers, we didn't see one successful attack, perhaps we put predators off but living in the middle of a bait ball seems quite a good idea if you are low down on the food chain.
Later, back on the boat, we ate supper on deck as the sun went down, still not quite believing what we had just seen. Between us we have a lot of photos and video which will take Heather a while to sort out but no doubt there will be a bumper addition on her YouTube channel.
Was yesterday better than the 360 tour?, Hard to say I will just leave it with the fact they were both brilliant days out. Both left us speechless, the sharks were better on the dive but we so enjoyed our time snorkelling with the sea lions. We would have been lucky to have done either one of the trips but the fact we went on both makes us really jammy.
Tim