The last day ... more Manta encounters!
Diving from the Nautilus Explorer:
- Directions from Tampa: We dove from the Nautilus Explorer - see http://www.nautilusexplorer.com/
- Conditions on the day of my visit: Sunny.
- Personal Notes: First dive of the day a small group of us went in a bit late ... good thing too, because a nice chevron manta was a bit playful. At one point, for some unknown reason, he did a loop in the water after passing over me. For a moment there, I thought I was going to get crashed into. But he finished out his roll - unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to get it on film.
The other two dives involved a lot of other divers in the water. During one dive, we saw a juvenile manta that looked like he was spooked by all the divers ...
Videos!
My Codecs Page so you can get what you need to see these.
Roca Partida |
1.8 MB Another video showing the abundance of schooling fish on one side of Roca Partida.
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2.0 MB This video only hints at the encounter we would have with this Manta on this day, as it circled ever closer, eyeing us, and playing in our bubbles ...
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1.9 MB Another shot, showing the manta swimming over me this time, and into my bubble stream. You can even see him slow a bit as he gets close to my bubbles ...
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2.3 MB This clip starts with a couple of close passes, showing my hand on the manta's belly. Then he passes by and makes a turn back to me, to do it again (this clip was edited to remove some of the faults in my camera work).
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1.9 MB Here is the manta circling around to allow my friends Kelly and Jamie to give him a little belly rub.
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1.8 MB Most likely no zoom, this shows the manta looking at me and then turning to pass over me and allowing me to rub his belly. What you do not see in this clip is, as he finished his pass over me, he did a quick loop - at one point, as he was coming back down out of his loop, I almost thought he might hit me, as he was headed straight for me. But he leveled off and then continued to Kelly ...
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Pictures!
Roca Partida |
I'm pretty sure this is only one of many photos I have of this particular manta. |
I don't know what was going on here - maybe he was trying to avoid an outstretched hand from someone he didn't like. |
Another fly over ... |
A couple of Wahoo. |
A decent ID shot of a Manta. |
Dive data for dives on this day:
Dive |
Site Name |
Max Depth |
Minutes |
Water Temp |
331 |
Roca Partida |
104 feet |
66 min. |
73 F |
332 |
Roca Partida |
78 feet |
58 min. |
73 F |
333 |
Roca Partida |
99 feet |
46 min. |
73 F |
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