Spinner Dolphins Escorting the SCUBA Divers to Their Dive with Singing Humpback Whales Feb 18th

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Our 2 tanks advance charter was the perfect day to shake things up after a long holiday weekend. We had certified divers and Dive Masters in training this morning on the Sea Hound. With calm winds and plenty of sun we headed  around the East side of Oahu for 2 drifting adventures.

As soon as Capt. Sophie pulled the boat into the channel we were welcomed by a pod of spinner dolphins, putting on a show for us, dancing, spinning and splashing away. After a 20 minute boat ride towards Hanauma Bay the group was ready to begin our first drift dive at Skimmins Ledge. With a max depth of 62 feet we began gliding over fields of beautiful hard corals and very populated schools of fish. Below we came across puffers, turtles and several different types of eels. After a 44 minute drift the group swam out into the blue for our safety stop while listening to whales singing lullabies.

We spent no time on our surface interval relaxing, we were on a chase! Capt. Sophie turned the boat around and we headed towards 3 very large humpback whales breaching right out of the water. These must of been the guys who were so talkative during our safety stop. After 40 minutes watching these huge creatures tail slapping and splashing around we began to gear up for another drift into the Sea Cave.

Conditions where perfect today for a double drift, and especially with such a good dive  site as the Sea Cave.  With a maximum depth of 59 feet the group made their descent under the boat and follow me through a large tunnel that opened into a cathedral of  a cave. This place is special, no overhead environment  with plenty of light shining into the cracks and ledges which hide white tip sharks and sea turtles. An extremely large hermit crab was spotted by one of our Divemaster students as well!

Soon the group was out of the sea cave and back to drifting down the wall, on our way we spotted a cute little octopus and hung out in large schools of pennant fish, synchronized in their movements. After a 46 minute drift the group was back on the boat talking about the best Wednesday of the month!

Drift on divers, drift on!

W: Bradley (instructor) Mark (instructor) Sophie (captain)

CONDITIONS: Sunny, mid 70’s*F Air, 75*F water, visibility 100+ft

DIVE PROFILES: Skimmins Ledge: 62ft max depth, dive time 44 minutes. Sea Cave: Max depth 59ft, dive time 46 minutes.

MARINE LIFE: Octopus, Hermit Crab, Pennant Fish, White Tip Reef Shark, Moray Eel & Green Sea Turtles!