Pelagic blue sharks are in a steady global decline due to the increased demand from the shark fin soup trade in Asian countries. So I knew organizing a blue shark dive was going to be very risky. In the three days I had set up for this trip, there was a strong chance that we may not see any sharks. So far, we have been batting a thousand when organizing our Shark Diver Magazine sponsored trips, we had delivered the sharks we promised. For this trip however, there were a few sceptics out there. Many people did not believe we could pull this one off. But I was confident we could find them. When preparing for the trip, I set it up at the right time of year for the best chances of finding blue sharks in the cool Southern California waters. I also sought out help from an operator that had an excellent tract record for finding and diving with blue sharks as well.
So on November 12, Chasing Sharks Expeditions, set out for our three day adventure. Our guests arrived on Thursday night for a meet and greet with the others going on the trip. We unloaded our gear, had a few beers and a dock side barbecue, grabbed our bunks and settled in to our new home for the next three days. We left the LA Harbor at 6 AM on Friday morning, and four hours later, we were chumming Avalon Banks, just 7 miles off the coast of Catalina Island. In October 2002 I set out on a day trip for blue sharks out of San Diego. It took almost eight hours before our first sharks arrived. It was eight hours of "watching water" for a total of three, two foot long blue sharks and one, three-foot mako. It took so long for the sharks to arrive, we only had one hour of diving left in the day before we had to leave. It seemed like a lot of work for so little reward. So for this trip, I was expecting a long wait before the first sharks would arrive...Happily, I was wrong.
Our first group of sharks arrived only two hours later! Three small blues payed our chum slick a visit, and they stayed with us all day! The swells however, were rather large and the current was a tad strong, so we did not get to do much diving . But by night fall the current and the swells died down, and the sharks were still hanging around our boat. Well, not our first three visitors, they had been replaced by two, five-foot sharks and three, four-footers. I stayed up late watching water, making sure the chum buckets were full and the sharks were still swimming around. Saturday finally dawned after a restless night. I was worried that I would wake up and the sharks would be gone. Again, I was happy I was wrong.
We woke to four blue sharks that were still seeking out the reward to the treats they were smelling. We also woke to what seems to be a typical morning out on the Pacific ocean, with heavy rain clouds and an overcast gloomy sky. I though our diving was ruined for the day. Again I was wrong, the sun came out and the seas died down to a slow roll, we had 100 plus vis, and the sharks were out in full force. The diving was EPIC! Two, five-foot sharks and one, four-foot blue shark stayed within touching distance of the divers all day. Which is great for those "in your face" shots, (I love those!). Professional photographers, Andy Murch and Andy Sallmon, and many of our guests and friends got great images and video for the upcoming issue of Shark Diver Mag (thanks guys). Everyone had a blast diving with what has got to be one of the prettiest sharks in the ocean. Blue sharks are amazingly graceful and have a stunning indigo blue dorsal surface that is absolutely beautiful to look at. Especially at night when their colors contrast with the dark ocean water. Late in the day, a six-foot mako shark graced us with its presence. It zipped in, checked us out from the distance then zipped out...total superstar cameo appearance.
Along with the diving, this was also a working shark diving holiday. We brought on board two blue sharks, to tag and document. One was a three-foot, eight inch male, the other was a four-foot, six inch female. We measured, documented the sex and any distinguishing marks and parasites, and then tagged the sharks. Hopefully our sharks will be able to live out the rest of their days without anyone retriving their tags. Normally, fisherman are the ones who report the tag information, once the shark is caught, finned and killed.
At dusk, we reluctantly said goodbye to our pelagic blues. The diving had been fantastic and most hadn't had enough. But the idea of finding horn sharks in the kelp beds along the shorelines of Catalina Island were too tempting. What made leaving hard was, as we were pulling up the shark cage and the chum buckets from the water, a new blue shark showed up to play... an eight foot beauty!
We snapped a few shots of our new friend, said goodbye and set off in search of more sharks to play with. I sat back elated, watching the sunset as we motored off to our new destination, reflecting on the past two days events, happy knowing that our guests got the sharks we promised. I just sat their smiling, thinking to myself,
"I just love being right".
