The New Year Begins!

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Photographing sperm whales. Image by Jean F. Dobois

It is Monday, and the new week, to a new year has officially begun. So for all of you that have kicked it off with New Year Resolutions, we wish you all the best with them - We hope you achieve them all. 

For those of you that did not create any NY resolutions - good for you, for not wanting or needing to start the year out that way. 

I always kick off the year with new goals. I set travel goals, business goals, personal goals, and weight goals. In my past, some goals I accomplished, some I did not, especially that weight goal of mine. That one always seems to fall short, damn it.

But, this year, I do hope to fulfill my NY goal list. It just means more fun and a much more fulfilling year once I do., and my wetsuit will fit better. lol

Diving with a blue whale. Image by Graeme Purdy

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Photographing green anaconda. Image by Daniel De Granville

One of my more important goals is to stay connected with you all via newsletters, blogs, and vlogs. I seem always to start out strong, and by the time our summer season arrives, the blogs get further and further apart. 

Travel life can be taxing on a storyteller's soul. Of course, travel is where we thrive and find the stories that we share. But, some days are just emotionally draining on your soul.

So sometimes when you reach the end of the day, and you are have nothing left to give, you just do not feel like document your day. I have been there so many times. Some days are just emotionally draining on your soul. But reflecting, I need to remember that this is where the heart and soul of a story lies, in those moments.

photographing humpback whales. Image by Pat Ford

However with the craziness of our new global realities, I am no longer taking our ability to travel and see the world for granted. With how regulated many places are, I will be documenting everything, everywhere we go, and I will be sharing a lot more with you all. And - I invite you to keep me in check if I start slipping. Call me out on that shit please.

But I promise I will not this year. I have been really wanting to document an entire season from start to finish, I have never done that, but this year I will make it happen.

Anyway, the year has begun and the work starts. We do not begin our travel season until January 30, so until that time, I will be sharing past stories, from previous adventures that I have yet to share.

Until then…

Wishing you guys a beautiful start to the new year. I hope it is filled with a lot of love, light, and adventures!

Photographing a spectacled caiman. Image by Juca Ygarape

Travel Day... Goodbye Dominica, See You Next Season!

August 18, 2021 - 9AM in Texas! I made it home. Well, most of the way home. I met up with my family in Houston, we are roading tripping the rest of the way.  My flight home was a painful one. I ended up booking flights on Kiwi.com which got me home through the crappiest flight plan possible. Four stops and all with super tight connections that had me sprinting from gate to gate. I also had to grab my bags at each stop and recheck in, going through security check points as well. That was painful, but thankfully I have TSA, so it made it easier. I recommend doing that if you do not have it yet. It is worth it if you travel more than once a year. 

 It was exhausting, but it made the 12 hours of travel pass quickly, and it made me appreciate myself and my journey much more. I mean, these are first-world problems. With all the real problems going on around the world, it makes my travel issues fall hard in comparison, so I am good.

What an adventure Dominica was… just wow! This trip exceeded my expectations, and it was everything I hoped it would be and more! Sperm whales are magical animals and true ambassadors for the whale species. I have spent time in the water with other species of whales, which are all special in their own way, but sperm whales are insanely amazing. 

Grey whale off Baja Mexico.

Grey whales are unique in that they willingly will swim up to boats and ask for interaction. However, the moment you jump in the water with them, they will swim away from you. I am not sure if this is true across the board or just how these whales off Mexico are conditioned? They do not allow people in the water with them either way, so it is hard to find out if they do. My belief is, they would enjoy it, or at least the juveniles and the females would. We are out there during mating season, and the females are incredibly flirty. So it is possible that they might want to interact with us if we got in. However, the males would probably be protective of the females and force them to move on if their behavior is anything like the humpbacks.

Female humpbacks often accept divers, but their male escorts will often move the females away from us. Putting themselves in between us, and the female and calves, and then swim off with them. My guess is an attempt to show the females they are brave and strong suitors.

Mom and calf humpback off Tonga. A male suitor in the back ground keeping an eye on me.

The sperm whales, however, showed us such fantastic behavior, and when they felt social, they all wanted to interact with us. A few of them came in close enough for us to touch. Of course, we did not. We all wanted to. I mean, who doesn’t want to touch one of these beautiful, friendly potato heads. But we were all respectful of the rules and did not. We just enjoyed the encounters and soaked up every single moment with them. 

The socializing whale encounters did not happen every day. Most days, the encounters with the whales were brief. The whales were in feeding mode and all business, and their time on the surface was limited. They spend an excess of 45 minutes underwater hunting down deep for diamond squids and giant squid. They would surface and rest for ten minutes, then drop down and do it again. It wasn't easy trying to figure out where they would emerge and when.

When they did finally surface, it was a race against time. The boat would motor over, and we would drop in for a chance at seeing and photographing the whales, as it or they swam past us. They are usually alone when they hunt. Those encounters were brief, but still fun, and what most of our time with them consisted of. 

Of course, the best was when the whales were done hunting for the day and then began calling each other to sleep together or play. That is when the magic happened and what we all were hoping for. When the whales do this, it is some of the greatest moments you will ever experience with a wild animal. 

How they call to each other is with clicks and sonar, as well as breaching. They do not breach often, but they use it as a way to get the attention of the whales in the area. Letting each other know that it is time to play or sleep, or notify them to change directions.

It is hard to describe what you feel when those moments happen. Imagine being in the water and having a pod of eight large whales swim right up to you, stop in front of you, and begin rolling and playing around each other - all of them looking at you. They were all clicking away, trying to talk to us; damn, I wish I understood what they were saying. Moments like that are pure magic and forever engrained in my memory.

One of my encounters with the whales. Image by Hunter Ledbetter.

So overall, it was a fantastic experience and a magical two weeks at sea. It was not always easy, and the whales were not always there. We spent twelve days at sea looking for whales, and we found them ten days, with three solid days of socializing. We experienced bits of social behavior on a few other days, but not for very long. All I know is I am leaving this island dreaming of next season and the amazing surprises these remarkable animals have in store for us. 

Thank you guys for reading.

And We are OFF... Mexico Bound!

My ladies not happy travelers that I am popping surprise images.

And we are off! We walked out the door this morning at 6 AM, bleary-eyed and disgustingly tired. Our uber waiting for us to take us to the airport and catch our plane ride to Cancun. We had to fly to Mexico City first, and now we are sitting at the airport in Mexico City, waiting for our connection to Cancun. Travel days are always exhausting, especially when its a long trip. We were up until 2 AM, getting everything ready. A lot of last-minute packing going on; Clothes and dive gear, and all the camera gear we bring. It is a lot… All part of our circus world.

Gabriel taking advantage of the layover.

Long trips are always tough on me emotionally. Thankfully this one is also a mix of family time - the SDM crew is joining me out there for our time in Mexico. Mari, Sophia, and Gabriel are joining me for three weeks, so it will make my time out there nice. But, of course, there will be some added headaches having them with me as well. “Sometimes family is just too much family”, as my son David once said. But still, it will be nice having home with me. Tonite we will be staying at a hotel close to the airport in Cancun to wait for a couple of old friends who will join us for a few days of beachside relaxation and debauchery. They are coming out before our first group arrives for our whale shark expedition off Isla Mujeres, Mexico to have a bit of fun and catch up on good times.

Of course, while we are hanging out and reminiscing I will find windows to take advantage of my time in paradise and go looking for wildlife. I mean, what is the point of coming to a beach paradise in the Yucatan if it isn’t to find exotic animals? Drinking and lying around a beach just does not do it for me, I need to get off the beaten path and see what is crawling or flying around. I do look forward to my before sunrise wake-ups to see what animals are up to. That is what I live for.

I can’t wait!

Of course, we just got the news that our flight is delayed three hours. So… the waiting continues. Until tomorrow night, guys, hopefully, it will be with some new animal pics for you.

Officially our flight is now a three hour delay and the circus animals are making the most of it.

As always, thanks for reading!