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Isla de Guadalupe, Mexico |
(Click on any photo to open a larger version in a new window, or, go here for even more photos.) | ||
 The Solmar V anchored at Guadalupe Island |
Isla de Guadalupe is a small island, measuring about 22 miles long by 5 or 6 miles wide, in the Pacific Ocean. It lies about 160 miles off the central coast of Baja California. Guadalupe Island is almost uninhabited by people, save for a very few fishermen. It is known to biologists and divers as a haven for Guadalupe fur seals and northern elephant seals, as well as the best place in the world to see great white sharks. We boarded the Solmar V in Ensenada for the 18 hour ocean voyage to the island, arriving about 6am the following morning. As we ate breakfast the crew set up the shark cages, and I think we were in the water by 8. Minutes after the first bait was set out and moments after getting in the cage, I saw my first white shark! From that point on, everytime I got in the water I saw multiple sharks. There were as many as five white sharks around us at once! At this time of year (August-September) virtually all of the sharks seen at Guadalupe are medium-sized males. In October the larger female sharks show up. It is unknown why the sharks congregate here. Some researchers assume it is because of the thousands of pinnipeds living at Guadalupe, however, I have only heard of one instance of observed predation there by white sharks. All but one of the sharks we saw were approximately 11-12 foot long males. On our third and final day at the island a "little guy" showed up. At about 10' long he was noticibly smaller than the other sharks, and he was much more aggressive. Whereas the bigger sharks would often slowly circle the bait, knowing it wasn't going to swim off and therefore waiting for the best time to grab it, the little guy kept dashing in and attacking the bait; he was obviously inexperienced. His aggression may also have been trying to "prove himself" and hold his own in the dominance hierarchy (white sharks have a dominance structure based on size, among other things). |
 Great white grin |
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 Shark cages in use |
 Missed the bait | ||
 Watch a short video of a shark chasing the bait |
 We called this guy "Bitehead" |
 A second shark sporting battle scars |  The "Little Guy", stuck between the two cages |
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