Now my favorite part about the ladies dives is not just diving with the girls or the chocolate chip cookies I make or the girly music we play….no its that the boys onboard dress in drag….and guess what they like it!!! Check out the photos!!!

FYI Next month we are letting the guys join us on our dive…we are calling it Ladies Night, ladies get half off on the charter price and they get to get into the water first! We are going to be doing the 5 Wreck trek Drift….so Guys catch us if you can!!!

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Spotted dolphins as juveniles don’t have spots right away, they develop them as they get older and grow. So as you can see in the photos we had a pod with babys and their mommas…super cute. What amazed me was how interested they where in us. They were playing in the sand and swimming in circles around us.

I truely enjoyed swimming along these beautiful creatures!

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Whale Sharks: Silent Deepwater Horizon Victims?Whale Sharks in Mexico

They feed by skimming the surface of the water and they ingest almost anything they find there. If what they swallow kills them, they sink silently to the bottom of the sea. This past week, several juvenile whale sharks were spotted within 4 miles of the origin of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Since some of these animals are “site specific” in their behaviors, wherever they were “hanging out” before the original blowout is where they will try to return – only this time, it is feared that, if they considered the Deepwater Horizon rig to be their home waters, then their return will be to their deaths.

The week before, a group of about 100 whale sharks were spotted off of the coast of Louisiana, but in an area where there was, as yet, no oil. What is most upsetting about this issue is that no one knows if the whale sharks along the U.S. coast and those along Yucatan’s coasts are part of the same migratory groups. In fact, no one – anywhere in the world – knows for certain what the migratory patterns of their whale sharks actually are!

Now, and with Mexico in the lead, scientists are getting serious about tracking the largest fish in the world. Since whale sharks not only skim the surface of the ocean to feed, but also dive to great depths, those in the Gulf of Mexico are at risk for death from poison and from suffocation. Finally, while researching this story, we learned another shocking piece of information. The World Conservation Union lists the whale shark as having become a vulnerable population. Yet, the U.S. does not list them as endangered or threatened, and hunting whale sharks in U.S. waters is legal! We are still attempting to decide if that knowledge is heartbreaking, infuriating, or both.

If you’ve been thinking about visiting Isla Holbox to see the whalesharks, don’t put it off any longer! Here are a few places that will help you plan your trip: Holbox Whale Shark Tours

The next dive trip we went on was the Carribbean Reef Shark dive. This was pretty intense, I have never been that close to sharks feeding before but Matt was there to calm my nerves. Cristina dressed herself up in a chain-metal suit and proceeded to handle the sharks like they were pets…it was crazy. What she does is puts the shark into a trance-like state called tonic immobilty by rubbing the sharks Ampullae of Lorenzini (or what is known as pores on their nose that are connected to a sensory system).  The shark is then able to be held and moved around for all to see. I think by giving these divers an up-close look at a shark without “fear” that it will bite will give divers eaze around sharks on their next dive…also hopefully will bring appreciation to all shark species and they will do their part to help us conserve these beautiful creatures. If you are at all interested in learning more about sharks, my friend Brendal is your girl…she gives a PADI presentation on Shark Awareness. Its an awesome class with great information (contact me and I will get you in contact with Brendal).

The next day Cristina treated us to one of her favorite types of diving…Cave and Cavern diving. We went out to Ben’s Cave located in the Lucayan National Park. Ben’s cave contains stalactites and stalagmites (which only can form in air), and the water consists of a freshwater lens floating on underlying sea water. It was a totally different style of diving for me.

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I enjoyed my 29th Birthday on vacation…and this really was the best bday present EVER!!! If you are a diver you MUST go on this trip!

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