Gorda Banks

Historically we find humpback whales as we head from the Gulf of California to Magdalena Bay. As we cruised along on this calm, sunny day several sightings were made of these amazing animals as well as pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins. As the guests spotted a shark off our port bow, Lynn our Expedition Leader, announced these were perfect conditions to put a diver in the water; I couldn't agree more. Sharon, Chris (our second mate) and I waved goodbye to our guests who would continue their whale watching while we attempted to find the seamounts located at Gorda Banks. Finding the spot was a little difficult. There were a great number of fishing boats that are also aware of the seamounts' attractive force on large marine fish such as jacks, tuna, and sharks. After finding the mount, using a handheld GPS and a depthfinder, we anchored our Zodiac. Then Chris and I submerged ourselves in the amazingly clear, blue water. Lowering ourselves to the top of the seamount is thrilling since there are no visual landmarks to tell us where we are. We must rely on our gauges to confirm the depth, and anxiously await the appearance of craggy rocks on the sea floor to emerge from the deep blue. At 121 feet in depth, our time at the bottom is limited, so I work fast to catch as many images as possible on the digital video camera. As luck would have it, a large angelfish approached me. This fish appeared to be a dull gray-blue in the distance but quickly become the vibrant flame orange color characteristic of a clarion angelfish. What a treat! This species is rarely seen in the Gulf of California farther north than Cabo San Lucas. To see this fish emerge from the depths was amazing. It swam around in front of me, eyeing me cautiously and then slipped back into the deep. Back on board the ship it was very exciting to share my experiences with the guests, and footage taken of the wonderful organisms that are to be seen at that depth.