Galapagos

Just returned from Galapagos on the Aggressor I. Incredible trip with many firsts for me.

Six dives at Darwin and Wolf with good visibility at both. Vessel crew was top notch. The long run out to these locations was an experience in itself. Being woke up one night when my camera bag was tossed out of the closet and across the room due to rough seas was a little disturbing.

These two shot with 24mm f1.4

Great whale shark shot, David! That crossing to get out to Wolf/Darwin can be an adventure, but it sounds like it was worth it and you had a great trip. A photo like that makes it all worthwhile!

Beautiful David ! I'll bet the run over was a lot of fun for a Missouri boy. Not exactly Table Rock, huh. Glad you had a successful trip.

Steve

Always a treat to see a whale shark photo. Alex

Stunning picture!

Thanks guys,

The trip up north was an experience. I had a SCOP patch, also eating Dramamine like candy. Didn't lose it, but came close a couple of times. Finally got my sea legs on the last day of the trip.

This particular whale shark was a male. Dive masters were all excited about that as they apparantly are pretty rare. The females are frequent visitors but they hadn't seen a male in a couple of years. The DM's were swimming around under the belly of this poor guy taking pictures of his "privates".

There was a Galapagos Marine Park vessel in the area doing some studies and they were contacted about the spotting.

Impressive images.

Do you put all your models in the same position?

Great shots. I went in the beginning of June and we only saw one baby whale shark at Wolf. None at Darwin. I have never gotten seasick and have never used any meds, but the crossing back from Wolf almost did me in. I started to feel queasy (never quite lost it) and someone gave me some meds. I lay down and got up when dinner was almost over. I couldn't eat anyway. Just managed to get down some mashed potatoes.

This particular whale shark was a male. Dive masters were all excited about that as they apparantly are pretty rare. The females are frequent visitors but they hadn't seen a male in a couple of years. The DM's were swimming around under the belly of this poor guy taking pictures of his "privates".

No wonder the males aren't seen much Poor little fish are the shy and retiring types.

Beautiful images love the exposure on the turtle.

Cheers,

Jim.

wow, great shots!!!! that's just awesome...thanks

Fantastic shots. perfect.

Thank you for some great stuff. Much better viz than the week I was there.

Love the lineup of remoras on the whaleshark!

Thanks for the kind remarks. Makes me feel like I'm doing something right. Technically not the best shot, but there's something to be said for being in the right place at the right time.

The visibility at Darwin and Wolf was excellent. Absolutely ripping currents and washing machine surge that really kept us on our toes (fins)

These spots treated us to whale sharks on almost every dive, schooling hammerheads, Galapagos, White tip, Black tip and Silky sharks. Flights of Eagle Rays, Golden Rays and Mobulas with close to 100 individuals in a group. Pods of dolphins competing with dive bombing Frigits and Boobies for the baitfish. Just awesome !

After those sites, my favorite was Cousin's Rock with the huge walls of fish that blocked out the sun and some rather large seahorses.

Gordon Rocks was a little disappointing with visibility that reminded me of the local quarry.

Water temp was a surprising warm 72 - 75F degrees. I wore a 5mm suit and it was too much. Some folks brought drysuits but that was overkill and one lady tore hers on the barnicle encrusted rocks. Best purchase I made prior to the trip was a pair of Kevlar gloves. Came in very handy when holding onto a razor sharp barnicle with one hand and the camera rig in the other while a 4 - 5 knot current tried to rip the mask off your face.

The whole trip was one big adrenalin rush.

These are great pictures. I'm sorry to say that mine never turned out, but others in my tour group posted their pictures on Flickr. You have to scroll through them to find the underwater shots. These are all from my Quasar Expeditions cruise to the Galapagos Islands on the Lammer Law trimaran.

Nice shots! Looks like you had a good trip.