... swimming with Mantas ... and more ...
Yes ... the price was right ... special half price for DOP and friends ... €100 for 2 dives not including lunch ... fair enough ...
So as i woke up at 6am ... i quickly had some tea and prepared some lunch for myself ... took off around 6.30am and arrived before 7am near Norberto's hut right next to Tiago's. As i waited for Norberto to turn up and ask about the price i had to find a spot where to release my bladder as i forgot to use the bathroom before i left the house ... but at the harbour its easy to find a spot especially in the darkness of the early morning.
As i returned from behind the huts i noticed Norberto preparing the boat ... he is easy to notice ... short with long blonde burnt hair over his shoulders ... like a sea wolf. He recognised me right away as he had seen me on the pickup driving through the roads and quickly welcomed me in Portughese and English ... before asking he made it clear that he will charge half the price and so made it easier for me as i asked if i should load 2 cylinders for myself ... which i did. The diving kit i could pick up from the assorted kits he had but he told me that he is going to the DOP diving section for the Oxygen emergency kit and asked if i want to pick up the kit i used there ... ah fantastic that suits me very well ... turns up he has the keys to the place as well ...
As we entered the DOP diving section i quickly grabbed all the stuff i had left there the evening before and placed in a box while Norberto vanished inside the bathroom ... must have forgot as well to use the bathroom as home ... as we grabbed the Oxygen and my kit we made way back to the jetty some 3minute drive and joined all the others that were preparing stuff for the trip ... it was me and Martino (Italian guy who is a volunteer at DOP), a German tourist (a prick), another German couple, 3 Portughese guys friends of Norberto (1 diver and 2 apnea), a portughese young couple, and a German lady who seems to be around Norberto all the time.
As we took off Norberto was all over the place ensuring that we got all we needed ... instructing the Portughese guys what to do and how to assist him ... one of the apnea guys must have been a young skipper as Norberto quickly directed him to the navigation control on the top level to drive us out of the harbour ... quiet reserved guy who clearly knew what he was doing ... apart from the obvious navigational gear he was wearing ... sailing and boating is a fashion statement in its own right ... mhux bhali bil flipflop u shorts tal football ... t-shirt tas-CPD.
2minutes off the jetty we had to return back as Norberto forgot his own wetsuit and so we recovered it from the hut and started our 3 hour trip to Princess Alice Seamount or Bank, some 45 nautical miles away.
The outgoing trip was enjoyable as the sea was calm and Norberto was on the upper level of the boat next to me and 3 other persons ... he's a lively guy and so its never quiet wherever he is ... apart from the fact that he's quite a sea character pointing stuff out and looking out for anything
extraordinary ...
At this point i realised that in our hurry to leave at the DOP diving section I forgot to bring the fins and thought better to tell Norberto who had a solution in no time ... as i expected ... basically either himself or the other skiper will have to stay on the boat ... so an extra pair of fins was always available ... pheww ... would have waited for someone to get out and use theirs.
The 3hour trip didn't seem to take long as we were all looking forward to it ... and in no time we were pushing in anchor on top of the mount ... Norberto was shouting for all to get set and as i sat waiting for the others to get done he looked at me and said ... 'Wot u wait for?' and i told him for the others ... and he funnily said ... 'If lazy they won't see Mantas ... go have fun' ...
So as i prepared to wear the fins i realised that these were no normal fins ... they were apnea fins ... massively long and with no boots ... so what the hell i can't let the Mantas waiting. During the briefing we were divided into groups ... ye right ... and told that usual dive profiles are all the way to the bottom ... shallowest 36m and then up the shot to meet the mantas from 20m +
As i jumped in i realised that there was no current ... half moon according to Norberto ... he was right. I swam to the front of our catamaran and grabbed the shot to the bottom ... my buoyancy was neutral with this thick suit even though i had some 6 kilos ... so again i grabbed the shot and pulled myself down to the bottom ... looked around ... and nothing ... let me go to this incredible natural formation ... a SeaMount in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean ... Kms deep ... yet this mount rises to 36m from the surface ... incredible sea life around it as well as nutricious stuff swelled up from the ocean bottom as it rises to the top of the mount ... no wonder Mantas stick around this area.
As i hit the bottom i could see the endges of the mount and how it falls to depths ... amazingly tempting if i had my tech kit on ... swam around and could notice some big fish swimming in all directions when i noticed a massive sting ray scimming the bottom ... running away from the other divers who descended loaded with cameras and flashes.
After some 5 minutes at this depth i saw no point remaining building up deco and wasting air so started my ascent along the lines as i noticed other divers descending and stopping half way probably scared of the intensity of this deep area ... imagine from the boat above you can see no land in any direction for the last 2 hours ... so we're completely out in open sea ... anything can hit us ... if only ... heheheee
As i started my ascent avoiding dviers on the way i wondered away from the shot as there was no current ... and yes by the way ... the fins are fine ... they feel part of my legs ... cool fining in such fins ... and so i wondered where the hell were the Mantas ... and how will this work? when do they pass through here? and will they stop or keep on going? so the whole issue wasn't clear and i never asked either.
As i lonely was ascending i saw shadows above ... nearly forgot i was expecting Mantas ... lost in my thoughts ... and realised that massive Mantas were coming close ... must have been 2m each as they effortlessly came closer. I initially attempted to inform the other divers taking shots of common mortal fish ... to come immortalise these Gods of the seas ... but then what the hell they will realise ... stop shouting this is not a rebreather hose ... nobody will hear you ... chase the Mantas!!!
I didnt chase them of course as they came closer and closer ... could stretch my hands and touch them ... and the most amazing part is that they don't go away ... they're here because they heard the commotion and came for company ... and so they will kept on circling and circling around me ... then around us as the other divers pointing thier cameras joined in ...
These mantas are also referred to as devil fish or giant devil ray (Mobula mobular) which is a species of eagle ray. They are most common in the Med but obviously found in the eastern atlantic and off the southwest coast of Ireland and here in the Azores.
3 more mantas joined in ... then 5 more ... and then some 5more ... lost count as i could only see them all over the place swimming gracefully in smoothly curved directions forming a circle or figure of 8. Interesting to note that some 5 trigger fish ... relatively small compared to the mantas ... must be something like 15 to 20cm in length were also around ... but similar to their behaviour in Sharm El Sheikh ... they become territorially protective of whatever they put their mind that something is theirs ... and apparently they do so with the shotline ... and every shotline they find ... so as soon as any Manta goes close they quickly follow it ... allow to pass buy ... and then quickly race behind it and nibble it on the tail ... which makes the thing run and sprint off ... funny yet the trigger fish make me want to hit them. As a matter of fact these bitches in Sharm they are notorious for attacking divers' fins or even divers' extremities and they beak is quite parrot like ... so it hurts. In mid sea i noticed one of these pests getting close to me ... so i quickly turned round to face it and check wots up ... ara nannti Giorgia ta ... ahrab l'hemm ... and quickly got scared off ... please!
Swimming around so close its amazingly fascinating ... at moments when they're so close i could see half a dolphin on each side of the manta ... its like God grabbed a sweet dolphin ... split it in two... and made a catamaran-like fish out of it ... cause the sweet eyes and mouth are very similar.
Images and videos are not mine but of 2 divers i befriended during the trip ... and agreed to share ... which was perfect for me. These next 2 shots are me in fancy looking fins ...
While this short video is again me as they go past me ...After some half-hour playing around and still 120bar in my cyclinder i decided to surface and end the first dive ... primarily cause i needed a break and was doing the same stuff over and over ... but most of all because i had the fins of that apnea guy who most probably was dying to go down ... so its only fair.
At the surface i met Norberto who was also preparing to get on the boat and so we exchanged some words as he also was excited even though he must have been here plenty of times. As we sorted the kit and helped others to climb back onboard the apnea guys jumped in and could easily reach the mantas as very often they're at 1m depth just above the divers. At one point the apnea guy was shouting at sea and could see Norberto scrambling above ... wot is it I asked ... he sees whale ... no way ... i grab my mask and jump in just as Norberto is still looking for his mask. Thing is that a week before Jorge Fontes had seen a sperm whale here while with Norberto as well ... and so Norberto assumed its back.
As we swam close to it ... i was mesmerised to its sheer size and calm movement ...
I had to pause here as it was something completely unexpected and breathtaking ... some others joined in but the ones that were diving were too far away and never realised ... were quite gutted they missed it. It was gone in a jiffy even though we could see here blow away at a distance but we were anchored and couldn't/wouldn't move because of the other divers.
With an adrenalin flush i returned to the boat and had my apple & carrot as the other clients had their lunch ... which by the way was a chicken burger ... imma insomma.
I had no idea what kind of whale it was but definitely not a dolphin and could see the pointed head with sort of grooves below the mouth and a white bottom side and white stripe on the fin. Looking at whale charts on board and confirming with Norberto who is an unofficial cetacean expert ... we concluded that its a Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and must be a male approximately 8m long ... massive i would say.
Before an hour went past Norberto was already asking divers to prepare the second cylinder as he did not want to be long before the 2nd dive. I was the first in again with the 1m fins and prepared to go to the bottom again. As i descended i looked around me and could not see any mantas but still i was determined to go deep first and then obviously ascend slowly where hopefully the mantas will be waiting again ... this time i dropped vertically instead of going to the shot rope as i could see the shot on the bank ... and i could also see the top of the mount and so it was quite nice dropping there and then and swim towards the anchor. As i swam i decided to go by the side which slopes down to depths instead of swimming on its surface top ... and could see the darkness below ... but came across a big grouper ... slightly smaller than the one i had seen and had a tete-a-tete with the other day when diving with the DOP team. As i arrived close to the anchor and could see that other divers have descended that way a shoal of massice Acciol swam up from the depths ... must have been close to a 100 of them ... as they swam past and could see flashes from the divers' cameras shine on their scales ... they give a sense of power as they swim past in such numbers. As i turned to look at the anchor i noticed the big sting ray still roaming around ... this is me right off the edge of Princess Alice bank ...
As i reached the anchor i could notice that the shotline was violently trying to rip of the anchor off the rocks ... the wind must be picking up and the wave movement is increasing. I slowly climbed the shotline to find the German couple attempting to get deeper but the wife was stuff scared as she wouldn't leave her husband's hand ... who i noticed was looking down wondering what the rock at the mount looked like ... poor guy ...
Just like clockwork the Mantas were circling above ... amazing ... so cute and so big ... they need company ... so i was there swimming amongst them ... getting close trying to look into their eyes ... and the idea i mentioned of half a dolphin was daunting, scary, but at the same time so real ...
Forgot to say that between the dives i could feel a headache developing but obviously pursued to do the 2nd dive. Thing is that while i was busy at depth and even playing around with the mantas i completely ignored what was now a terrible and splitting headache ... no idea what caused it ... but i decided to stay a shorter time in the shallows and as soon as the other divers ascend to chase the devils ... i surface.
As soon as i surfaced i was welcomed by Norberto who had already finished his dive and helping divers to board the catamaran which was now going up and down to the 2m waves. I could see the preoccupation in his eyes as he asked me how many divers are coming up. Well i had a headache and the boat jumping up and down was not really the best threatment. Several divers came to the surface but the final two took ages as they probably decided to consume all the 200bars of air they had in their cylinder at 5m. The mantas obviously remained around and so they had no hurry while Norberto was about to hear his hair off ... the sea was really rough and the wind was increasingly getting close to a gail force.
Picking up the anchor and couple of more buoys was hard work for the boat people but as soon as the last diver was out of the water Norberto was already driving off ... the engines which had been switched on for 20 minutes to give divers a clue that we need to leave, roared off for the journey back ... didn't look good.
The wave size went up to 5-6m and the catamaran was struggling to keep abreast of what was hitting it. I sat on the top tier as before and held strongly to the stainless steel frame while we broke through each wave at a slower speed and at a higher impact.
It rained several times ... we got washed up with splashing waves at least 5 times ... and it got dark ... by the time we got back to Horta ... what was supposed to take 3 hours as the outbound trip ... took a gruelling 6 hours ... i was exhausted and cold to say the least ... and as soon as we got to the jetty i quickly rinsed my stuff and took off home.
As i got home i prepared a warm bath, grabbed a packet of crisps and brewed a hot tea with biscuits to sip during the bath ... it was just lush ... i needed it so much.
I swithced on the TV out of habit as layed on the bed and fell asleep instantly ... woke half way through the night to push a blanket a the wind was picking up ... but left the window open ... wanted to enjoy the use of the blanket ... and slept again ...
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