of marine life, including Galapagos and silky
sharks, tuna, schooling hammerheads in the depths
below, wahoo and lots of whitetip reef sharks in
the “shark condos” along the east side of the rock.
These eroded holes in the face of the wall may be
occupied by as many as eight to 12 sharks, which
are very approachable here, unlike in other areas
of the world. Big schools of creolefish and jacks
populate the moderate depths seaward of the rock,
and through this throng swim Galapagos sharks
and large yellowfin tunas. Diving to 80 or 90 feet is
usually enough, although the hammerheads tend to
be deeper when the water is warm.
Roca Partida is the epitome of action for many Socorro
adventures, and it would occupy paragraphs of praise
in a typical trip diary. However, this is not an aquarium,
and Mother Nature determines the pace. Our trip to
Roca Partida was fairly tame, and four dives were enough.
Of course, tomorrow might be off the charts, but we’ve
decided to head back to give The Boiler another try.
D
ay 6:
Back to The Boiler,
San Benedicto Island
Having made the choice to leave Roca Partida and
steam overnight back to The Boiler for our final day
was a bit risky, but sometimes the planets align. Some
of the group wanted to stay at Roca Partida, knowing
their chances for hammerhead sightings would be
better there. We did have the best shark action of the
trip there, between the shy Galapagos sharks and the
ubiquitous whitetips in their shark condos along the
pinnacle. I was conflicted because during my afternoon
dive those who had instead opted to go whale watching
were treated to a male that put on an energetic show
of pec slapping and even breaching. So for whales, too,
the odds may have been better at Roca Partida, but we
hadn’t seen a mother and calf yet, just young males, and
they were not allowing a close approach. It was great
to see their spouts on the surface and to have heard
them singing on so many dives though. The thought of
getting close to a whale in the 150-foot visibility nearly
tipped the scales to a second day at Roca Partida, but
the next day at The Boiler confirmed it was the right
choice, or so we’ve now convinced ourselves.
We pulled into the anchorage at The Boiler at first
light and discovered we would have it to ourselves. This
was a huge boon as there are now six liveaboards in the
area, and the sites are not propitious for huge throngs of
divers seeking proximity with a small and finite number
of big animals. I chose an 8-15mm Canon fisheye lens
on a full-frame 5D Mark III and hand
held a single flash. Earlier in the week
I had been shooting a 16-35mm and a
24-70mm hoping to fill the frame with
marine life that I assumed might be a
little skittish, but as this was the last day
I decided to take a chance on the fisheye,
hoping for the very close encounters that
would make such a lens work. Fortunately
I chose wisely: The mantas were
exceedingly cooperative.
Sometimes we work from inflatable
boats as we did at Roca Partida, but
when conditions are right the captain
drops the hook and trails off to allow for
giant strides off the rear platform. The
crew ties a descent line to the top of the
rock at The Boiler, and we’re able drop
directly onto the site. There was no current, so I began
my first dive by swimming to the east side of the rock,
the side most often subject to current; there, out of the
early morning shroud of darkness, came the first manta.
There was another diver seaward of me, and that’s
enough to keep some mantas from coming any closer.
Sure enough, the ray looped around and slipped beyond
the edge of my visibility.
I waited along the top of the rock at about 30
feet, and soon it rematerialized. It was extremely
mellow and very engaged. I swam very slowly, and it
came closer and closer until we could swim parallel,
synchronized at no more than two feet apart, my
full-frame fisheye full of manta. Vertical, horizontal,
rectilinear, circular, with divers, without divers,
with ball of sun, without ball of sun, jacks in the
background, Boiler in the background — this manta
delivered it all. For 30 minutes I had the best manta
interactions of my career. Right lens, right place, right
animal, and the day had just begun.
The second dive was even better. Now there were
74
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spring 2014
