Cenotes and Whale Sharks 2010, Mexico, trip thread

Hey Eli, welcome back. Looks like the good stuff continued. Sandrah saw all the shots and says we really have to see if we can make the trip next year...

On the fourth day, the wind had come down, but the swell was up, which made the sharks a bit tougher to locate while in the water (in essence, you had to do a water-polo goalie move to get up high enough to see them and try to intersect their path). That didn't stop us from having more QT with the sharks though. Evelyn also had a less-than-friendly encounter with a remora which snuck up behind her and bit her on the finger! None of us had ever witnessed such cheeky behavior from a remora before (I have video which I will post as part of a montage later).

Backlit whale shark, with two more in the background.

Lachy gazing up at a smaller shark.

Our final day found us with many fewer sharks in the water, but by this time we were so whale-shark saturated (in a good way!) that any time with them was just a bonus. The killer remora also returned, chasing Evelyn out of the water, then coming after Marty, Lachy, Julian and me. It was a persistent little devil: despite our best attempts at shooing it away/karate chopping it in half, it was out for blood. Thankfully, it finally went away (hopefully inhaled by some voracious predator), and we were able to concentrate on the sharks again. I also saw a passing sailfish (way cool!), though was too distracted trying to get the others to see it to get a picture.

We ended up taking the boat in a bit early that day and stopping on the way home at a nice little reef that Rogelio suggested. It was better than most of us expected: in addition to parrotfish and other reef fish, there was a turtle, barracuda, and nurse shark. A relaxing ending to a fantastic trip!

What really made the trip in addition to the sharks were the people; everyone was extremely friendly and a pleasure to be in the water and on land with. As with the other Wetpixel trips I've been on, I made friends that I hope to keep in touch with for years to come!

Viva el tiburon ballena!

-Eli

Hey Eli, welcome back. Looks like the good stuff continued. Sandrah saw all the shots and says we really have to see if we can make the trip next year...

Thanks Drew! I'd love to go again next year, hopefully we can be on the same trip! Say hi to Sandah for me!

Great update and awesome images Eli! Thanks for sharing!

I just posted a whale shark poo photo essay on my website:

http://echeng.com/journal/2010/08/14/whale...-a-photo-essay/

No poo -- just video of sunball:

[vimeohd]14142555[/vimeohd]

... and one of my favorite splits from the trip:

I just posted a whale shark poo photo essay on my website:

http://echeng.com/journal/2010/08/14/whale...-a-photo-essay/

Ha ha Nice!

Aerial footage sample:

[vimeohd]14143341[/vimeohd]

Here's a little video montage I put together from our leg of the trip (make sure to stick around after the credits roll for a rare look at the behavior of a rabid remora):

[vimeohd]14247944[/vimeohd]

Dr Fiscus and I just got back from Cancun, we played with the whale sharks, dove Cozumel and cenotes.

The whale sharks were awesome, there were at least 50.

Eric it seems our paths cross a lot, we missed each other in Dominica and now Cancun. Well maybe next time.

Elmer

Dr Fiscus and I just got back from Cancun, we played with the whale sharks, dove Cozumel and cenotes.

The whale sharks were awesome, there were at least 50.

 

Eric it seems our paths cross a lot, we missed each other in Dominica and now Cancun. Well maybe next time.

 

Elmer

Wonderful trip with eyu and his family.

Cenotes were spectacular and the whale sharks were neat - and plentiful. Here are a couple of my photos.

Andy

Andy,

Wonderful cenote shots, the vis was like forever.

Elmer

I really like this thread - been wanting to go to the cenotes for a while

How did you all find shooting in them? Easy diving one you're neutral?

Very excited, will be there next June w00t.

*Hey, I made it to lionfish *

I really like this thread - been wanting to go to the cenotes for a while

How did you all find shooting in them? Easy diving one you're neutral?

Very excited, will be there next June w00t.

*Hey, I made it to lionfish *

Diving the cenotes was easy - we just followed the guide - stayed neutral and far enough above the bottom that we stirred up almost no silt. I used my Tokina 10 - 17 with my flashes on TTL - opened up the f-stop a little - and was really happy with the results. Check out my cenotes gallery on my website - www.oceandoctorshots.com - lots of decent shots. I will admit that if one was not being guided around - and one was not outside the USA - a cave diving course would have been required but the cenotes we did were pretty idot proof for any experienced diver - follow the rope and guide and only one way in and one way out - and no tight spaces.

Enjoy.

Andy