How time flies when your having D I V I N G fun!

How time flies by.........and what a fun and busy few weeks it has been here in Mancora!!!

In amongst our diving adventures, of which there have been many, we have also had some exciting events take place above the waterline!

Daniel, a PADI instructor from the UK, joined the team a few weeks ago and has fitted right in to the Spondylus Family! Maurice has found a fellow Nudibranch lover in Daniel who has an amazing ability to find them on almost every dive in the smallest of hiding places (a bit like Maurice and his Octopuses in bottles) and takes great photos of them as well so we all get to admire these beautiful creatures.

A few weekends ago Spondylus was taken over by MakinPro film crew! With a camera at every turn above and below the water it was a super fun but intense few days. There were lots of laughs and I am sure enough footage for a very long blooper video but the end result is ... well take a look and let us know what you think!

Back to below the waterline!

In recent weeks we have been running more frequent dive trips to Punta Sal which provides amazing and diverse diving locations. We have even had the privilege of spotting a Green Turtle or two there and observing from a distance their majesty never fails to amaze me.

Pre Diving at Punta Sal!

Punta Sal is a 30min road trip from Mancora with the boat in tow, a pretty drive along the coast line bringing us to the small town of Punta Sal. Once we have stocked up there at the local shop with a few treats for the boat we head a little further North to the the fishing town of Cancas where we meet our faithful boat crew of Hector and his sons who have great knowledge of the best diving spots! Equipment unloaded, set up and wetsuits on we launch and load the Zodiac before heading round to the pier to descend down the long ladder into Hectors 'passenger' boat. Once all aboard our little flotilla sets off South to dive site number one. Using the two boats means that there is plenty of space when it comes time to kit up and hit the water and once we are all already it is one, two , three and over we go! There are lots of rock formations in this area that play host to all sorts of Marine life.....there is a huge diversity of corals, tropical fish, Moray Eels (some of them really quite large), rays and plenty more. 

Back on the surface there is plenty of time to enjoy the stunning location, recharge the energy levels with some snacks and drinks and most importantly changing tanks, before hitting dive site number two. Generally we have been doing three dives here and it always amazes me how moving sometimes only a short distance from one place to the other provides such different dive environments to explore. The day is rounded off with a very welcome and delicious lunch on the way back where everyone gets a chance to exchange their tales of the deep blue sea!

All SMILES on the boat trip out!

Regardless of how many times we do this trip there always seems to a different highlight moment ....on one of our trips we saw three sleeping Sea Lions totally oblivious to our passing floating on the surface, flippers in the air, really quite a comical and rare sight. Another trip provided us with lunch for 10 people without a fishing line, net or harpoon in sight. Floating on the surface was what appeared to be a plastic bag. As we approached to recover it it turned into a huge fish that had been decompressed and had just surfaced.....it definitly was not going to swim again and our onboard Marine Biologist assured us that it was very fresh......it made excellent ceviche and chicharon!

So it is over and out for now.....more adventures coming soon. Happy Diving Everyone!

Maurices statement of the Month:  Red water is really warm! ( Let me explain... we have had over the past few weeks a current come through bring with it lots of Red Plankton... not only does this make the water an eery red colour but it also has the tendency to be several degrees warmer than the surrounding water! So technically he is correct)

Following the Turtles!

Know where to go and when and you are guaranteed some amazing dive experiences.

I have just got back from the best lunch break ever!!!

After hanging up the ‘Gone Diving’ sign we jumped in the car and 30min later Maurice and I along with Shaleyla, ecOceanica’s turtle expert were on the beach at El Ñuro, kitted up and ready to go. Safety checks completed we were soon diving with the some of the worlds most majestic of creatures.

It did not take long to spot the first, huge Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) coming to investigate us...and it really was huge! Swimming around us it took its time to size us up before going on its way. Before long we were surrounded by turtles of various sizes along with plenty of other fish and marine species.

There is a distinct range of emotions one feels when looking into the eyes of a Turtle as it swims towards you. The start is excitement at seeing such an amazing creature, then in creeps a little bit of reservation as it seems to head straight for you its size becoming ever bigger. As I look into the eyes of these majestic creatures however it is a sense of awe that overpowers me.

These majestic reptiles can swim 1000's of kilometers to breed, can live for more than 80 years, and can reach sizes of up to 1.5m long and an average of 68 – 190 kg and have populated our world seas and oceans for approximately 60 million years. What is there not to respect about that?

Sadly turtles, including Green Sea Turtles are on the endangered list. Young Sea Turtles already face a vast number of natural obstacles littering their way to adult hood but it is the increasing threats caused by humans that are driving them to extinction. We consume their eggs and meat (illegal in Peru since 1995), make luxury items from their shells, throw debris (mainly plastic) into our oceans that turtles ingest or become entangled in, artificially light beaches preventing nesting, contaminate our seas and oceans with chemicals and oil ...need I go on?

Spondylus is very lucky to have a Turtle 'playground' on its door step. El Ñuro one of the most important developmental sites for Green Turtles in Peru with some of its inhabitants staying year round. However we do not take this privilege for granted! ecOceanica (www.ecoceanica.org) is a non-profit organization aiming to preserve marine life in Peru and in 2010 they started the El Ñuro project as part of their Marine Turtle program. The aim of this program is to evaluate and monitor long term the aggregation of Sea turtles in El Ñuro. So far they have tagged 110 different turtles and they have recaptured many of them proving their residence in El Ñuro. In this incredible site there are not only juvenile turtles but also adults that weigh more than 100 kg! These adults make the conservation of this site even more important because of how valuable they are for the entire population. We are very proud to be working alongside Shaleyla, president of ecOceanica, and collecting as much information as we can about these amazing creatures on our regular dives with them. Excitingly Shaleyla is now also seeing the focus of her project from a different view point as she learns to dive with us and will soon be a Certified PADI Open Water Diver.

So back to today’s dive.... why where there so many more Turtles than on the other occasions I have dived in El Ñuro? The answer it would seem is time of day! Normally our dives take place in the early mornings when sea conditions and visibility are at its best! Our underwater friends however seem to feel that lunch time is a more respectable time of day to come out and 'play'! Which brings be back to the start of the Blog. It’s all about knowing your dive locations, know when and where to go and there are great dive experiences to be had!

If only every lunch break could be like that.....

Maurice’s dilemma of the week: Whilst on a similar dive to today he found himself, camera in hand, with a large turtle swimming straight towards him. Should he take a photo or enjoy the moment? What do you think he did?? (Answers in the comment box please!)

The Abundance of Marine Life!

Though Peru is not yet a hot spot on the Scuba diving map I find it hard to understand why!

The biodiversity and volume of Marine live here is immense. With more than 1,000 species of fish, 1,400 species of mollusks and 300 species of shell fish registered in Peru alone the sea is teaming with life. That is without mentioning the many species of Whales, Dolphins and Sea Lions also found swimming off our shore.

The Humboldt Current

The Humboldt Current, also known as the Peru Current is what makes this stretch of the Pacific the most productive marine ecosystems of the world. Flowing from the tip of Chile to Northern Peru it is the world’s largest upwelling current meaning that it brings the cool, nutrient rich water to the surface where it in turn can support an abundance of marine life. This is occurring off the coast of Peru year round.

Pregnant Seahorse

With such a vast array of life it is easy to understand why our dives over the last few months have been so fulfilling. Though we are a long way from registering all 2,700 species our count increases with every dive. In the last week we have spotted Pipe fish for the first time as well as Guitar and Trumpet fish. Maurice also swears, though I am not so certain, that he saw a Napoleon Maori hiding in between some rocks at Peña Alta. Frequently we observe Porcupinefish, Seahorses, Octopuses, Groupers, Butterflyfish, Emperor Angelfish and Sergeant Majorfish. Particularly noteworthy this week was the pregnant Seahorse we caught on camera and on my most recent dive not one but two Moray Eels poking their heads of their hiding place.

Our different dive locations obviously support different communities of organisms and as we get to know each one better we are recognising the patterns and individuality of each. El Ñuro, with its busy fishing pier, is especially unique with its colony of Green and Olive Ridley Sea Turtles. While we frequently have the privilege of diving with these endangered Turtles at this location Maurice’s recent spot of a large solitary sea Turtle at our Organos dive location was definitely noteworthy and out of the ordinary.

Come and see this all this for your self with us!!

Maurice’s word of the week: Octopi – Though I fear I may have mislead him…. Though Octopi is frequently used and accepted the wonders of the WWW has informed me that Octopuses is grammatically more correct based on the fact that Octopus derives from Greek not Latin.

The First few weeks!!

On the 28th of July Spondylus Escuela de Buceo opened its doors for the first time to all those wanting to explore beneath the waves of the Peruvian Sea. As the first and only Scuba diving school in Mancora, and in fact the only PADI dive center in Peru, we have been turning a few heads and igniting interest with tourists and locals alike.

Though there have been the few bumpy moments all new businesses experience, the one thing that has not failed us in the last few weeks, in fact, has exceeded all our expectations, is the diving! Divers, ranging from highly experienced to first timers, return from their dives with beaming smiles and stories of the diversity of life that they have seen. Even Maurice, our PADI dive instructor and business owner, who has dived in many exotic locations around the world, has rated some of his recent dives as “his best ever!”.

We have made friends with the family of Sea Lions who live at one of our more adventurous dive locations, the Oil Platform. The youngsters now regularly come down to play with the divers as they explore beneath this immense structure. Teaming with life, the visibility here is proving to be consistently good and there even seems to be a certain amount of magic about the location. Caught on our underwater camera is the moment that Maurice discovers a piece of equipment that he had dropped the day before and had considered lost to the depths balancing precariously on one of the rigs beams. The mumbles of his excitement through his regulator are really quite amusing, even more so his dive buddies confusion as to why a metal rod balancing on a beam should be the cause of such a high level of excitement when surrounded by stunning sea life.

Most surprising is how rewarding our shallower beach and in particular pier dives have been. In recent weeks the density of fish life has been quite remarkable. Turtles, Sea Horses, Sting Rays, Octopi, Porcupine fish and Moray Eels are just a few among our many sightings at these diverse locations. My own recent dive at El Ñuro confirms this as my favorite dive spot!! A calm sea, sunny day and lots of Turtles waiting for us to enter their under water world what more can a diver ask for?

In the few weeks we have been open we have welcomed lots of divers to the Spondylus family, some trying diving for the first time, others becoming certified with us and many many more joining us to explore the local dive spots. We have visited an ever growing number of hotels and businesses and conducted lots of free dive trials in local pools.

In amongst all of this we have even had time to fit in an `clean up dive´! Though Maurice is always committed to collecting anything that should not naturally be adorning our beautiful sea bed, on this occasion he was joined by a team of willing volunteers and they spent a productive morning `under water garbage collecting´. There `loot´ was definitely large if not lucrative but our happy helpers seemed content with their reward of coffee and a cleaner sea, for which we are very grateful!

Our discovery of dive sites continues, only this weekend whilst out in aquandylus (our lovely little boat) with freinds and honoury Scuba dog, Chaska, watching whales and dolphins play in the waves we found a new location, South of El Ñuro, that can be described as an underwater labyrinth with lots of rocky crevices to explore. So watch this space....there are lots more diving adventures to come!

Maurices Spot of the Day: A baby Squid!! (Secretly I think that he wanted to bring it home and keep it as a pet!)


www.spondylusgroup.com/diving
escuela@spondylusgroup.com