Malpelo diving: the treasure island!

ADVERTORIAL EDITORIAL

Listed as a world heritage site, the Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary is not only a meeting place for the most emblematic Pacific sharks. Admittedly, large hammer banks are often interposed between the divers and the surface, the Galapagos sharks reign everywhere masters, silky arrive by the hundreds in the rainy season. But beyond the sharks, Malpelo is also the scene of another diversity: that of infinite numbers, excessive sizes, incredible shapes, amazing colors and species galore! Malpelo a shark sanctuary surrounding a desolate rock? Yes, of course, but much more than that ... Accompany me, I will introduce you to this island with many treasures ...

Along for the adventure

Thursday 27 June 2014, we leave the hotel, Panama, early in the morning. For four hours, the comfortable bus of 45 places chartered by Coïba Dive Expeditions rolls to the West. Through the primary forest, we follow the Pacific coast of Panama. The villages are becoming increasingly rare and when we arrive in Puerto, in the afternoon, we have the impression of having arrived at the end of the world. The Yemaya is moored in a muddy estuary, against an old heap of reformed rust! Not really a tourist marina, but that's good. The place, authentic, already smells the adventure!

A crossing without history

After a short stopover near Coïba Island, the MV Yemaya weighed anchor at 3 in the morning and we set out on a journey of almost twenty-six hours. The goal is to reach Malpelo at sunrise and enjoy all day to dive.
On board, the day is punctuated by meals taken together on the upper deck, away from the sun ... or rain. A cold breakfast is followed by a hot breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. As an accompaniment to meat or fish, meals always include fresh vegetables and daily salads. On the Yemaya, it seems that we eat constantly, and we eat well!

At the ocean theater:

For this first, go to the Nevera, a hammer cleaning station. Four minutes later, we joined our spot, located on the west side of the island. Negative launch in case the current is more important than we thought. On the surface, the water is at 28 ° C. We quickly cross the thermocline to 25 meters. The temperature has dropped a few degrees but an integral combination of 3mm is perfectly enough to protect us. At 35 meters we rock against the rock and wait, watching our fins. The island is home to a large colony of green moray eels that spend most of their time swimming in open water. There is everywhere and it is a real balancing act not to disturb them by jostling them.
In front of us, the cleaning station is in full action. Black-nosed butterflies (Johnrandallia nigrirostris) and red damselflies (Holacanthus passer) work on rainbow jacks (Elagatis bipinnulata) and leather groupers (Dermatolepis dermatolepis). Eagle rays in tight formations fly over us.

I think it's been a long time since I saw such an active cleaning station when the first hammers appear. One, then two and five. The rest of the bench is there too, but it's so dark we can not see it. One Galapagos, then two, quietly parade, majestically, a swarm of jacks working on their tails. He is the lord of the place. Then comes a silky shark, more nervous, more alert than its cousins. I have the impression of being on the balcony, at a representation of "L'Océan", and that this one presents to me by turns its most beautiful jewels. For a first, it's a magnificent first!
As we go back up, the brightness decreases again. We surface under a torrential downpour. The sky is black and the visibility does not exceed a few meters. Fortunately, Felix, our pilot, followed our bubbles as we went up swimming to sea to avoid the surf edge, surface. In Malpelo, you must always take into account this changing weather and pull the signaling parachute as soon as possible ... otherwise you will not be spotted on the surface.

Malpelo, the temple of biodiversity:

In turn, we will discover "Los mosqueteros" and "d'Artagnan" where thousands of bigeye trevallies (Caranx sexfasciatus) gather in a huge ball. In the evening, they will separate to go hunting.

At "Aquario", it is a very different species that we spot: radish snappers (Lutjanus aratus), large fish of nearly a meter and more than 15 kilos gathered in a bench that exceeds in size all that that I have already seen. I try to go under them to make a low-angle shot, but to 40 meters, it is clear that swarms of fish are still and always lower than me ... and my mix Nitrox 32 does not allow me to continue to go down. This bench is able to darken the light of day and to disturb the water as its density and the quantity of the droppings are important ... Incredible! Unimaginable! Not to mention that it will soon be joined by another bank counting several thousand skipjack of the eastern pacific (Sarda chiliensis)!
We have accompanied this gigantic ball so long to all the depths, that we reach our reserve of air and begin the ascent. Suddenly, a gigantic shadow masks sunlight. A whale shark over 10 meters has just passed over my head towards snappers. The animal seems to open its mouth and swallow the faeces of the bench. We set off in pursuit with great flippers. But the animal phlegmatic, nonchalant, disappears in the turbid water with a blow of tail. Happiness, it suddenly comes out of the shade and swims in our direction!

At "La cara de fantasma" we discover a bench made of hundreds of barracudas. The bench moves on the surface, where the water is clearer, and I propose to my two companions, Sten and Javier, to swim to meet him. Totally wild, the sea creatures of Malpelo are not frightened by the presence of divers who can approach them with complete peace of mind. This gives rise to wonderful encounters and beautiful pictures and video sequences.

Hammers in Malpelo?

In the afternoon, we try our luck at "El Bajon", a deeper site, about 36 meters, frequented by Galapagos sharks. Well we took it ... Seven or eight large specimens are attracted by the sound of a crushed plastic water bottle in the expert hands of Sten. They never go more than ten to twelve meters away from us. I am like in the balcony and I film, without seeing the time pass. But soon my computer reminds me that I'm not a fish and the minutes start to accumulate. We will not be able to stay much longer ... So we decide to go back and visit another, shallower site. I still have 110 bars, it's more than enough.

Go for the "Nevera" and its cleaning station, only fifteen meters away. A few minutes later, I am once again facing the blue, I film rainbow jacks in full cleaning, when a hammer appears on the outskirts of my field of vision and passes in front of me, two meters away. Have you ever been told that you should not hold your breath while diving? But that's what I did. Otherwise, my hammer could have flown without warning! He is soon joined by a second, a third, then a good ten of them. Despite the shallow depth, the nitrogen accumulates and I start to accumulate minutes of plateau. Do not joke with that ... The first box is more than 48 sea hours! In other words, there is no box available in case of a serious accident and anyway, I do not want to risk compromising the stay of Yemaya customers. Reluctantly, we leave the drop and start to go back to the open sea, surrounded by dozens of hammerhead sharks ... An unforgettable sight, even for the most jaded, which is certainly not my case!

A shadow hovers over the sanctuary of humanity

In Malpelo, nature hates emptiness. In Malpelo, all the benches are bigger. In Malpelo, you never do the same dive twice and all the meetings are possible. Whether it's sharks or other marine life, wildlife is multiplied to infinity. But the traffickers are prowling and this explosion of marine life is extremely threatened. Read the insert on illegal fishing! On the other hand, the creation of the Malpelo Marine Park is not an end in itself and financial and material means should be made available to the Colombian Army, the National Natural Parks of Colombia or the Malpelo Foundation. The international community must realize that Malpelo is a universal heritage and that its preservation requires a collective financial effort and a coordinated fight against illegal fishing and the damned shark fin trade around the world.

               H2O TRAVEL
Since 2007 and its first expedition at the Sardine Run, the goal of H2O Expedition is to accompany groups of divers to destinations with rare dives. Rare by the encounters that can be made, rare by their location off the beaten track, also rare by the virginity and biodiversity of the sites. H2O combines them with extraordinary land extensions, meeting unknown cultures, forgotten peoples, grandiose landscapes or unique situations. For the third year in a row, H2O Voyage will take divers aboard the Yemaya on one of the mythical sites, the famous Marine Corridor Conservation East Tropical Pacific, the "Mount Everest of diving": MALPELO, thus fulfilling the dream many big lovers. If you want to live these privileged dives in a unique place, contact them now to be of their next cruises, on which there are still some places:
10 to 22 March 2015,
from 11 to 23 May 2015. Contact Julie by phone at 02 41 24 69 05 or by email jtrillot@h2ovoyage.com                 

Text & images: Patrick Masse