January 26, 2022 - The month is freaking gone! Damn, where does the time go?

So this week, I got fired up to write, I wrote a blog earlier this week, but decided to write another one. I do love writing.

I also was going to cut a new video blog, for the second part of our 2021 anaconda diving trip. Check out the first one if you have not seen it.

However, I was inspired to share a video from last season’s Baja shark trip. So I will be cutting together a short vlog from our 2021 mako and blue shark trip instead - which will be out on Friday or Saturday (hopefully Friday). - NOTE; I apologize, I was not able to cut a video these past two days… got tied up prepping to leave to Mexico. But planning to get some great stuff this season for you guys.

Our first trip for the 2022 season is for makos and blue sharks off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Historically, I have run this trip as a three-day expedition; however, I am running this years trip as a five-day. I am pleased about this because it gives us more time to see if we can encounter more wildlife, and right now, Cabo is on fire; whales, orcas, mobulas, and lots of sharks.

It is just alive and going off, and I am very excited about seeing what we might find out there.

Last year we had a really good trip, with surprise visitors on our final day out there.

SPERM WHALES!

We were chumming for sharks when we saw a lot of blows in the distance. Once we figured out what they were, we ditched the chum and took off after them. We ended up spending the rest of our day swimming with a family of sperm whales.

An extremely close encounter with a massive sperm whale. Image by Roberta Manchino

Unfortunately, the visibility was not the best, the water was green and murky. The encounters were a bit intimidating because you could not see the whales until they were less than 20 feet away from you.

Even though the vis sucked, it was epic… we had sperm whales! At the end of the day we were all exhausted, our nerves were shot, but so very happy.

Anyway, I am looking forward to the trip, and the unknown, and the magic, and the fun with our guests… and of course the sharks. Plus, Cabo is always a fun town to hang out in after a day in and on the water.

After our mako trip, we leave Cabo and head North to San Carlos to Magdalena Bay for the annual grey whale migration. Mag Bay is one of my favorite places in the world to visit. The wildlife here is all-time great.

San Carlos is a sleepy little fishing town, with really nothing going on most of the year. Tourists flock here during grey whale season, and that was it. When the whales left, the locals would revert to fishing, and the town would go quiet again.

Of course, when tourists started visiting Mag Bay for the marlin migration, in the wintertime, the town exploded with tourism again. But there is twice as many people there for marlin season, then the grey whale season. The amount of people wanting to swim with the marlin is something that still surprises the locals.

Anyway, the area was initially made famous for its friendly grey whales. The greys migrate here to breed, socialize, and pup, then they head off to where ever it is that they go for the rest of the year.

The whales here are so much fun, they will swim up to the boats, ask for face rubs, and they will do it over and over again. It is such a fantastic feeling having a wild animal like this come up to you and want you to give them a rub.

The experience is truly magical; there is nothing like it in the world. This expedition is possibly one of the most underrated trips that we offer. Because people just do not understand how EPIC an encounter like this truly is.

Anyway, I will be posting a lot while I am in Cabo, and it will slow down when I am in San Carlos because the wifi sucks. But that is ok and part of the experience. Sometimes it is nice to unplug for a bit and just get lost in nature. Mag Bay is one hell of a great place to do that too.

Oh yeah, while I am there, I will set up my camera traps again. A couple of years ago, I brought a camera trap out there to try and find a good spot for coyotes. We found a great site, not only for coyotes but also for bobcats. So I will set the cameras up again and see if the cat action is still good.

I am addicted to those amazing looking wild cats.

If it is, then I will bring a more sophisticated camera trap set up in the wintertime when I return to try and capture high res stills of these Baja wild cats. (more on that project later)

Bobcat scent marking in front of our camera trap. We managed to record three different cats at this spot.

Well, that is my update for today, I need to get back to packing for the trip and I think I have carried on for a while.

Get ready for more than s few posts over the coming weeks, our season is about to begin, and we get to go back out to do what we love… all day, every day!

Thank you for reading.

“I am the Shark Whisperer.”
That phrase was floating through my head today during a morning jog.

“Eli the Shark Whisperer.”

It’s a label I’ve heard many times throughout my career. And even back when the media buzz was loudest, I never liked it. Never believed it. Never wanted it.
In fact, I freaking hated being called that.
Because deep down, it never felt true. It made me feel like a fake.

Image by Juan Oliphant — Image by Juan Sharks

The truth is, as much as I know and understand shark behavior—especially the species I’ve had the privilege of working with closely—I really don’t know much about sharks. They are, and likely always will be, a mystery to me.

I have been blessed with sharing countless hours with sharks, especially lemon and tiger sharks, and I have been allowed extended glimpses into their lives; which has allowed me to learn things and behaviors about these animals that few get to see, or understand. But even with that, the idea that I am, or was, some sort of whisperer, makes me laugh.

The thought that anyone could be considered a shark whisperer is a silly idea to me, because there are over 500 different species of sharks.

Each one is unique — different personalities, different behaviors, different instincts.

Unless you’ve spent meaningful time with every single species (and no one has), claiming some kind of mastery over them all is... well, it’s just not real.

And let’s be honest — these are wild animals.
Even with the tigers I’ve spent years diving with, I never once felt comfortable. I never fooled myself into thinking I could cozy up to them like a pet. I’ve always known that if I screw up, there’s a real price to pay. That reality keeps me sharp. It keeps me honest.

From Ripley’s Believe it or Not, annual book.

I have seen a few other people out there being called the same thing… and maybe they are? A few shark pros I know have been diving with the same sharks for 20 plus years, and know their sharks intimately, they for sure are deserving of that kind of title.

They have a deep understanding of their sharks, and for that, I do give them props - I have mad respect for them. But just like me, they lack experience with other species of sharks, and probably, just like me, may find that name uncomfortable.

Don’t get me wrong, I truly appreciated that people would say that about me. Because it meant they respect my work - and it is a good feeling when people see what you have done, and show some love.

I think at our core we all want to be appreciated for our life’s work, but to be called some kind of master, just never sat well with me, because I knew that I wasn’t.

Anyway, as we move forward, I am sure I will see future news stories, with new “Shark Whisperers”, - all with amazing images, trying new things and sharing new behaviors with us.

Which is the way it is supposed to be - Passionate Shark Divers, should always be moving what we know about sharks forward, and someone NEEDS to continue carrying the torch; showing people the beauty of sharks and what sharks can be like.

Who knows…maybe, just maybe, a shark diver will show up, that truly is a real Shark Whisperer, and they will be able to come in and finally get a tiger shark to lay down on their lap, or the ultimate, roll a white shark.

Now, that is a person that I would love to dive with and learn from. But until that day comes, the world is stuck with the one’s that we have… including a fake one like me.

The 2022 Travel Season is About to Begin!

I AM THE SHARK WHISPERER???