Clipperton Expedition Day 10

Our final day in Clipperton. Bittersweet. We all want to stay but we all want to get back in time. The winds are picking up, though here by the island the boat rocking and the warm breeze feels good after dives, the boat will be going against the waves and current the entire way. It's best for everybody to start making our way back. 

We did our final two dives. The coralscape is stunningly beautiful. Except for Alex none of us wanted to risk going down with a macro lense. We all know how all the whale sharks and dolphins wait for that moment. It didnt happen though. No dolphins, no whale sharks, no tiger sharks. Many many eels, cheeky and daring eels. Had my eel encounter again, thanks to Juan was saved. I was trying to point at a lobster in between two coral heads when I felt both my fins being pulled back full force, as I started rising the eel was charging at my face. 💙 He remained below and went right next to the lobster. I kicked up and cleared his way. 

At the end of our second dive, as our safety stop was a little longer we spotted a 5foot Silver tip circling around us with curiosity. I pointed my camera and took a few shots, hopefully they came out, he was too far and uninterested in the camera flash. He disappeared to the blue. Then came two 5-6ft silkies. Still too far for pictures. No signs of hammerheads. 

The best part of the last dive was the brown boobies knowing it was our last dive. They had to know. No other dive had they been so close and so on us. We came out to them hitting our cameras and even flapping their wings on our heads. :) It's the funniest thing to watch them nose dive into the water, then popup like a cork and stick their head in to look you straight in the eye. Ted was saying he never lost us the entire dive cause the birds were following our bubbles the entire hour. 

We finally got a group shot of everybody on the boat deck right after the dive. We had to do it twice and still one person was missing in each. Hehe. Divers! 

As we pulled anchor at 1230pm and started moving away on this overcast day the boobies all came out of the island to say goodbye. They waved us away for 35 minutes and then the dolphins started jumping around the boat. A beautiful final image of the island as it disappeared into the horizon behind us.

We will now be on our way to Socorro in search of mantas, sharks and dolphins. Why dont they make their way to Clipperton? Remains a question. 

Our favorite activity is sharing our images followed by watching films. We have thousands of images to go through. The seas are a bit too rough for eating much of anything, some waves like a roller coaster ride as the bow faces the sky then the water in a full speed splashy landing. No sleeping on the sun deck tonight. A bit too daring even in my standards. 💙 

All is well. Rest is in our immediate future in preparation for our manta dives in Socorro. 

Thank you for reading my experiences and please leave a comment if there is anything else you'd like to know that I havent covered. Stay in love with nature and our big blue wonder. 💙🐬💙