DIVE LOG DECEMBER 25 ISSUE 415

The amazing cephalofoil on a hammerhead makes them one of the most sought after photographic subjects under the waves.

and out of the viz. At times, we had fifteen or more within sight, and many came close enough to get a shot of. The Galapagos Islands certainly lived up to its reputation of being the hammerhead shark capital of the world, I saw more on this trip than I ever had before, probably by a multiple of ten. We didn’t get the wall of hammerheads that I see photos of, but that’s being a bit ungrateful, as the hammerhead encounters here were excellent. Further around the island we came to a point where there was a bit of current on a sharp corner. This proved to be the

spot for oceanic blacktip sharks. These two and a half metre whalers seemed to enjoy the jostling push the current gave. Often, six or more were buzzing around the point. I’d only ever seen photos of these sleek sharks before and was quite impressed with the beautiful markings up and down their sides. Many showed signs of mating in the recent past as they had healing wounds and scars visible. King angelfish were rife, flitting about everywhere as they looked to clean the larger species. I also managed to spot a couple of small juveniles hanging close to the wall of the

San Cristobal has a seal colony in the middle of town. Amazing!

No trip to the Galapagos is complete without seeing the resident giant tortoises.

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DiveLogAustralasia #415 December’ 25

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