It’s That Season Again!

Hello scuba fans! Yes, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted but were back. And guess what else is back? The first Nortes arrived this week with 3 days of port closures – and with them, the first spotted eagle rays of the season appeared!!! It’s October, one of the slowest months of the low season (it’s also my birthday) and so the crew and I went on a special birthday dive today. It was extremely windy when we left the marina, but the port was still open. After a very bumpy 45 minute ride, we reached our first destination, Maracaibo. The goal was to shoot lion fish and make ceviche. We rolled into the still-warm water (82F). The visability was excellent (100′+), the currents gentle, the famous Maracaibo Arch was lush and beautiful, and there were lots of hungry lion fish just waiting to be speared. We surfaced 35 minutes later to even STRONGER winds, and a closed port. The trip back north was much longer and bumpier – nearly 90 minutes – and after reaching Las Palmas (very close to the marina) we geared up, rolled in and 5 minutes into the dive, along came two juvenile spotted eagle rays. I haven’t heard of any sightings yet this season, so these two were quite a surprise. My photos aren’t great (they glide against the current much faster than I could ever swim with it) but we were so excited I just had to get a couple of shots. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday gift from our beautiful Cozumel Diving Paradise.

The impromptu, post-dive birthday party ensued at the dive shop, where the crew and I shared chicken, cerveza, dive stories and alot of laughter. Enjoy the photos. I’ll keep trying to get better ones, but in the meantime, come on down here all you snow birds, warm up a little this winter, and let’s get wet!

The Three Musketeers

Birthday Girl and her Dive Team

The Whole Motley Crew

A Rare Find – Polka-Dot Batfish

The gauntlet was thrown down.  Sandro (his photo is on the bottom) found one of these rare Polka-dot Batfish at San Clemente and I challenged Pumbaa to do the same on a recent dive – and darned if he didn’t do it!  This species of batfish is quite rare, but if you’re a patient and alert observer, you can find them hiding in sandy bottoms, seagrass beds, coral rubble and even mud from North Carolina to Florida’s panhandle; the northern Bahamas; and the Yucatan Peninsula.  Batfish live anywhere from the shallows of the shoreline to as deep as 230 feet.  A bottom-dweller, this strange-looking creature isn’t designed to move quickly to chase its prey; instead it ‘walks’  crab-like on it’s pectoral fins along the sea floor.  The dorsal fin is more like a spine and it acts as a lure to attract food within striking distance of the batfish.  They only grow to 15″ maximum, but most are smaller and feast on shrimps, small crabs, worms, molluscs and juvenile fish.  The polka-dots serve as camouflage and the batfish usually looks like it is covered by warts; but, they are actually small nodules called tubercles.  If they sense a diver is near, they may bury themselves with sand, so be patient and go slowly, and you too may get a photo like one of these.  Thanks to our good client Yuval Tamari for sharing your great photos (the first 3 shots in this post), and thanks to Sandro and Pumbaa, for knowing how to find these elusive critters!

Wow, take a look at these gorgeous turtle photos!

These beautiful shots of a Loggerhead turtle were taken by Sandro on April 25 while diving with the Nichols family at La Francesa Reef.  These are 2 of the best photos I’ve ever seen.  Apparently he was so calm, he let Sandro close enough to take these pictures without using telephoto!  Loggerheads are one of 3 different kinds of turtles found in Cozumel (the others are Hawksbill and Green turtles).  This sea turtle lives in all but the most frigid waters of our oceans.  Loggerheads are the largest of all hard-shelled turtles.  Adult males can grow up to 3 feet long, and weigh 250+ pounds.  Mature females often return to the place where they hatched to lay their own eggs, sometimes covering thousands of miles to get there.   They can be recognized by their reddish-brown shell, massive head and strong jaws.  They are primarily carnivores and can be seen eating jellyfish, conch, crabs and even fish; but occasionally they will eat the flora too. Unfortunately,  these turtles have been an endangered species since 1978 due to pollution, trawling, and development of their nesting areas.   We hope you enjoyed these pictures and learning a little about this lovely creature.

Sandro’s New Friends

Here are 2 of Sandro’s new Turtle friends – both babies and both oh-so-cute!  Great shots Sandro!

Last of the Spotted Eagle Rays

Here are a few photos of the last Spotted Eagle Rays of the season, which comes to a close soon.  We will miss them – until they return in November.  Happy Viewing!

Green Moray anyone?

Just one of the many green moray eels we’ve seen in the last week of diving – it’s glorious!

Cozumel Diving-a really splendid toadfish!

While diving at Cantarelle, this little guy poked his head out to see the eagle rays too!

Blue Magic Scuba Christmas Party – 2010

See the staff of Blue Magic Scuba celebrating Christmas 2010.

Turtles -did we say turtles ??

Dove on Palancar Bricks and Cedral Wall today – must have seen 8 to 10 different turtles, lots of fish, small spotted drum, and a couple of rays.

Lion Fish Tournament Results

They are beautiful creatures indeed....

but oh so deadly to our Caribbean reefs.

Greetings, all you divers and Lion Fish Hunters!!!

Well, here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for- the results of the 1st Annual Blue Magic Scuba Lion Fish Tournament. During the tournament period, February 1 through June 15, Blue Magic Scuba captured 132 lion fish.  This is actually quite distressing.  Each month we captured more than the previous month, signaling a true invasion of this voracious eater and prolific breeder which does not belong in this part of the world.  As far as we know, none of our native species finds this creature a ‘tasty meal’ yet.  And so, the population continues to grow.

There are four prize categories for the tournament, and the winners are as follows:

The prize for the largest lion fish goes to Barbara Hill of Silver City, New Mexico.  Her find was a whopping 274 grams.  She will receive a 5-day, 2 tank dive package at Blue Magic Scuba.  George Duncan was the runner up with one weighing in at 235 grams.

Because there was a 3-way tie for second prize – the most lion fish caught in one day – we had to do a special drawing for this package.  Congratulations to Chris Bowman of Wake Forest, NC!  He wins a 3-day dive package with Blue Magic Scuba.

The prize for the most lion fish caught during the tournament period, (Feburary 1 through June 15, 2010) was won by Michael Burke of Houston.  Michael spotted, and we captured, 9 lion fish during his 6 days of diving with us.  Michael will receive a $500 gift certificate to the local dive shop of his choice to buy ‘cool’ scuba gear!

And the Grand Prize Drawing – 4 nights at the Fiesta Americana and 3 , 2-tank dives goes to:  Leslie Creighton of Dallas. This was a totally random drawing.  All you had to do was spot one lion fish that the dive masters caught, and you were automatically entered in the drawing for this prize. The more fish you spotted and captured, the more times your names was entered and the more chances you had to win.

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has come to dive with us since Blue Magic Scuba was founded nearly 2 years ago.  And to those of you who  took an interest in helping us find and capture the Lion Fish –a HUGE thank you from everyone one in Cozumel who relies on divers like you for their livelihood.  Also, I would also like to thank my dive masters – Pumbaa, (the Lion Fish King); Gabriel; and Sandro for continuing to look for, and capture, this menace.   As beautiful as they are, these creatures are poisonous, are devastating to the Caribbean reef system, and they aren’t so easy to catch anymore!  But, we have great employees and the Three Muskateers did a terrific job (none of them got a bad sting either!).

Even though the tournament has ‘officially ended’ I know that my staff will continue to hunt and capture lion fish.  Please understand that our dives are not about just searching for these fish.  But while looking for other beautiful, interesting creatures when diving in Cozumel, all of our divers and dive masters are bound to find at least one – large or small – and if at all possible, we will  keep it from causing any more destruction.  Our Marine Park is doing it’s part to encourage the ‘hunting’ of them; and I believe all of the dive shops in Cozumel should be doing everything they can as well.

Again, Congratulations to our winners – you did a great job!  Remember you must claim your dive packages before November 30, 2010. Thank you again to all of our divers and supporters, we appreciate all your loyalty and help.   All of us at Blue Magic Scuba hope to see you again soon in our warm, tropical Caribbean paradise!

All Our Best,

The Staff at Blue Magic Scuba

Joyce, Sandro, Pumbaa, Gabriel, Jorge, Alvaro, Francisco and Mercedes