Day 2 Aboard Deep Blue: North Seymore Island

Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Galapagos, Ecuador
We awake on the second day to a early 6AM dive, followed by a gourmet breakfast and a second dive after that. During the afternoon, we do a land excursion to see Blue Footed Boobies, Iguanas, Turtles and other birds.

My dive partner Luca experiences problems with his equipment. He is frequently about 15 to 20 feet above me during the dive. This is not only a difficult place to see him (as I can not turn my head that direction without turning my entire body), but it is also the worst place for me to swim to if I need air in an emergency. A diver should never go up in a hurry. Going to the side or down is fine, but up is a problem. The instructor informs Luca that he needs to stay near his buddy, but Luca does not change on the second dive. Instead of taking photos, I take a step backwards and make sure that I am diving safe. Luca´s backup regulator malfunctions prior to the second dive and he is forced to dive with only one regulator. If my equipment malfunctions underwater, I must take turns breathing his regulator. I am not comfortable with the risk thus far on this trip and decide to dive closer to another diver.
On the second dive, just after swimming with a few White Tip Sharks that were about 6 to 8 feet long, we got into a strong 2 to 3 knot current. I grabed a hold of a rock with another Russian diver and hold on with all the strength that I have. Luca was not close enough and got separated from me and washed away. One of the reasons that Galapagos diving is so advanced is because of the various currents on many of the dives. This current came about sudden while the group was swimming across a channel in deep blue water. The Russian and I were the only two that managed to get ahold of a rock and not get washed into the blue. The other divers disappeared into the blue water behind us. The Russian and I gave the signal to buddy up. We waited in the current for a couple minutes, but it did not let up. We watched various fish fly by us. It was pretty fun. We eventually decided to let go of the rock and drift into the blue water. The Blue Water can be very dangerous because you have no references of where you are. You can´t see down to the bottom, you can see to either side and if you can see up, it is often deceiving. In this situation, it is important to focus on your depth and available air and control and gradual ascent. The Russian was very experienced. We communicated hand signals effectively, stayed together and ascended to the surface meeting up almost immediately with our Zodiac boat to take us back to the Deep Blue. 
All dives in the Galapagos are done via inflatable zodiacs. I believe the zodiacs provide easier maneuverability in the currents and quicker access to divers in the water. By the end of the trip, I loved the Zodiacs.

The afternoon land trip turned out to be one of the most interesting trips of our tour. We got to experience blue footed boobies, tons of iguanas, sea lions up close, frigate birds, red footed boobies and galapagos doves. The blue footed boobies were really cool showing us how they do their mating call and seeing them in action. All the divers started getting closer at this point. 

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