Eli Martinez

July 8, 2024

Day One Score... Crap Weather - 1, Whale Sharks - 0

Eli Martinez

July 8, 2024

July 8, 2024 - Day One

We got weathered out, sadly. Hurricane Beryl, which recently passed through the area, has taken a toll on the Yucatan. The hurricane blew through early Friday morning, causing a lot of wind damage: mostly broken branches, some roadside signs, and a few windows. But we are still dealing with the aftermath of the storm.

The ocean swells from the passing storm are making our life out on the ocean complicated. The hurricane is long gone. Texans, especially those in places like Houston, are dealing with it now.

Today I was thinking... we have been running our whale shark expedition every July for the past 20 years, and we have never had a weather day until this year. We have never had to cancel a day on this trip, which is amazing.

Someone might remind me of one, but I don’t remember any. We have had bad weather before, but we were already out there when the storm arrived to kick us around.

This is the first, and I hope it will be the last weather day we will experience. I feel bad for our guests, as they all want to be out there looking at these amazing sharks, but nope, we are stuck on land.

We are all making the most of it in our own ways. Isla truly is a paradise, and if you are going to be stuck somewhere, this gorgeous island with a perfect beach is the place to be stuck.

Thankfully, the forecast looks like this will be a one-day deal, and tomorrow it will be game on to get out there to find those sharks… And find them we will!

To read about this years trip, please visit our whale shark trip report…

TRIP REPORT

Eli Martinez

July 15, 2022

Final Day and Final Thoughts!

Eli Martinez

July 15, 2022

We ended our trip here on Isla Mujeres with a bang! We headed out in a lumpy sea. Sadly it was bumpier than I would have liked it to be. I was hoping for a calm, slow rolling sea, like our day one. But nope, we had some strong winds, which kicked things up a bit.

That is nature, and not much we can do about that. Despite the bumps, the sharks had been found pretty quickly, but unfortunately, we got there late. There were a lot of boats around them, and after a couple of jumps, we decided to get out of the area to try and find a spot with some shark action and fewer boats.

It didn’t take long. We found an area with not as many sharks but much less boat traffic, so we decided to try our luck with the sharks here. It was a win… we had a lot of good encounters, and it was a lot of fun.

One by one, the tourist boats left until it was just our two boats and a bunch of whale sharks. It was a magical way to end the trip. We spent our remaining time left with one shark. The shark was super relaxed, it would coke bottle on the surface, then swim down deep for a minute or two, then it would return to the surface and begin coke bottle feeding again. Coke bottling is what we call it when the shark stops swimming and stays in one spot, to suck feed.

It is the best interactions when they do that.

So our two boats took turns swimming with this shark for over an hour. It was absolute MAGIC! Finally, the shark stopped feeding, swam down, and disappeared. The few of us in the water swam back to the boat, all of us on cloud nine. Just on fire!

I was about to climb up on our boat when I turned around and see… the shark had resurfaced. It followed us to the boat as if she was saying, “Hey, where did you all go?”

Damn, if I do not get emotional when things like that happen to me, to us.

It is sometimes truly overwhelming, we still have so much to learn about these animals.

We finished the day with a fun snorkel on a reef near Contoy island. That is always a great way to say goodbye to this very special place.

Thank you guys for reading, and to my friends who joined us out there, thank you so much for making this trip and this week so flipping amazing… a big hug and safe journeys home.

Hope to see you all again and soon.

Eli Martinez

July 10, 2022

Day One Was Fun... Love Dem Sharks!

Eli Martinez

July 10, 2022

Canon 5D M4, with an 8-15MM fisheye, in an Aquatica housing - my settings were 1/400, f9, ISO 800

Day one off Isla Mujeres for whale sharks is in the books.

It was a really good day, and the conditions were amazing. Thankfully there was quite a few sharks out here, maybe around fifty whale sharks. It was not the hundreds that we normally see out during this time of year. But it is early in the week, and I am predicting that the number of sharks will keep increasing over the next few days.

We have had the same captains for our trips for the past 12 years. Captain Gabby and Rami greeted us at the pier this morning and asked Mari where Sophia was, she pointed her out, they did not recognize the young lady before them. She started coming out with us on our whale shark trips when she was 5 years old, she is now 16 years old. Because of covid, it has been two years since they have seen her. They were blown away. Captain Gabby got a bit teary eyed. It was so sweet.

Super happy with the day we had today, our captain told us that the shark action the previous weeks had been super slow. But that is nature, you never know what she is going to gift you with. Thankfully we arrived at the right time… and if this week goes the way I think it will, it should be a good week.

Today, it is official…when I jumped in the water with the sharks this morning, that made 18 years of swimming with the whales sharks in Mexico.

18 years!!!

We started running these trips back in 2005, and here we are all these years later, still out here, and still enjoying the hell out of it. I really love being in the water with these animals, it is still a lot of fun to me. That has not changed, and I don’t think it ever will.

Ok, headed to bed, just thought I’d share a little bit of our day’s adventure, and a couple shots I captured. There is a lot of food in the water so the vis and the images are a bit dirty, but that is why the sharks aggregate together in these kind of numbers. Lots of munchies and crunchies to eat.

Day two tomorrow.

Until then… good night my friends.

Eli Martinez

July 9, 2022

Arrival Day... Whale Sharks off Isla Mujeres Begins!

Eli Martinez

July 9, 2022

Today is arrival day… a new adventure begins. We are on Isla Mujeres Mexico to swim with whale sharks and if we are lucky manta rays. I am looking forward to this week and the magic we will all hopefully experience.

Last nights sunset. Isla Mujeres does not disappoint.

We have been running this trip every summer since 2005. So when we hit the water tomorrow morning it will officially be 18 seasons that we have been running this experience. 18 years of whales sharks, is pretty cool. It is often the same sharks that return to this spot year after year, so I am hoping to see if I can recognize any of the individuals that come here. It is really difficult because they all look the same. One whale shark I can easily recognize is one we have dubbed Rooster, he has a shredded dorsal fin, that looks like a roosters comb.

WOW, 18 years. So much has changed since we first started offering this trip. It was really raw and wild back then. We first ran these trips out of Holbox, Mexico. Back then there was only three or four hotels on the island. Now, there are at least 30 to 40. So much has changed. I remember, trash was a problem on the island back then, I wonder what they do now?

We changed island locations about 12 years ago when the whale sharks started spending more of their time in the Caribbean sea vs the Gulf of Mexico. Which was fine by me, I prefer the sharks in blue water vs. the green water, plus the blue water is warmer than the Gulf. It can be a bit chilly.

Anyway back to today…

I picked up our friends this morning from the Cancun airport and brought them to the island. Arrival day is always a bit hectic, but thankfully it ran really smoothly - No ones flights were delayed, and everyone’s bags showed up when they got off the plane. When I arrived at the airport, everyone was already through customs and waiting outside, made for a fast pickup and smooth transfer to the island.

We drove to the ferry terminal, chatting it up, and getting to know each other a little better.

We have some returning friends on the trip and a few new faces. It is always fun meeting new people and seeing old friends when they show up on our trips, it often feels more like family reunions rather than wildlife trips sometimes. Today was one of those days.

Anyway, its late… I am going to keep this short as it is 11:50 at night and we have to wake up at 6:40am for a quick breakfast at 7 and then out on the boat at 8. I am hoping for a great day with the sharks.

Day One begins!

More tomorrow… thanks for reading.

Eli Martinez

December 26, 2021

Thank You 2021 For Your Magic!

Eli Martinez

December 26, 2021

I am trying to figure out how to tell the story of our year. It was so good, and we were able to experience so much magic and beauty out in the world. I am filled with gratitude because of it. The first place I will start is with our guests who traveled with us this year… THANK YOU so much. Especially after the craziness, we all experienced last year. You guys traveling with us means everything. We get to do what we do because of you, and we don’t take that for granted.

With the uncertainty of 2020, we were not sure we would be able to continue traveling, and doing what we do - thankfully the world started opening up, and we were able to visit a few places. We still had a few trips that had to be postponed until 2023 but we were grateful that most of the places we had planned to visit remained open. I plan to cut together an end-of-season video, something I used to do annually. The last one I created was back in 2019. Those videos are always fun to put together, and I am looking forward to working on one again. But what to do and how to do it?

I am thinking it will be ready around the middle of January, which is in a couple of weeks. Damn it is weird saying that already. For now, I will share a few short stories with some of my favorite images captured on some of our trips from this season. The wildlife we experienced was so good, and the photo and video opportunities the animals gave us were priceless.

The grey whale season was really good this year. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what image to share in this blog, because we did have a lot of opportunities, as the whales were so interactive with us. There are no words to describe the feeling of having a wild and free whale swim up to the boat and ask a human for a face rub. The fact that these very intelligent species have forgotten, or chosen to forget that they were once hunted to the brink of extinction in this very Bay, says a lot about these animals and their perfection. So I chose this bubble blowing whale for my share on this blog, even though this is not my most favorite capture of the trip, its my second favorite. The whales do this to clean out their baleen, getting rid of mud and other muck that might clog them up when they scrap the ocean floor for food.

Coastal bottlenose dolphin off the Baja coast. This was during our summer pelagic trip seeking out orcas, whales, mobula rays, and whatever else Baja offers. These adventures are full of surprises and so much fun, you never know what you are going to see when you are out there. Some of the fun is the topside action; breaching whales, mobula rays and of course dolphins. When I was capturing these images of these dolphins, I had to keep messing with my settings because these dolphins are so dark, I was having trouble capturing their details. I really thought I was seeing things, normally bottlenose dolphins are a grey color, and these guys are more of a dark grey when they are underwater, however, when the sun touches their skin, they look more black in color. Such beautiful animals.

One of the highlights of our year is having the opportunity to swim with these guys. I love how things have changed so much with how these animals are seen. There is still a lot of work to be done to change the publics perception, and maybe I am naive in this thinking, but I am holding onto hope that we one day will change how we see these animals. I will do my part to change that. We have been running these trips for 7 plus years now and I am always looking for ways to try and capture different images of the crocs, since the images are always pretty similar looking. I got lucky with the very top image of Gambit chasing a hang bait. I was originally trying to capture an image of Gambit coming up for a breath of air, with her eyes, just above the surface, but when she started chasing the bait, I managed a few shots that I really liked. The above pic of Gambit walking over some logs was pure luck. It created a very different look for my normal croc images.

There are no words on how to express our sperm whale expedition this season. It was easily one of the best trips we have ever experienced. It was a very emotional trip for me, just overwhelming. We had many days where the sperm whales wanted to play and interact with us. That is truly the stuff that dreams are made of. Trying to pick my favorite image from this trip was difficult, as the whales gave us so many opportunities to capture great images. The above image is not my best from the trip, but easily one of my favorite moments.

The back story; A pod of whales were swimming off and I decided to try and catch up to them to snap a few photos of the group. While in pursuit, this young moody female saw me swimming after them, she stopped swimming, turned around and swam towards me. She was clicking her sonar hard at me and then hit the brakes, opened her mouth wide open and scream/clicked at me. I don’t speak whale but I got the message loud and clear. She wanted me to back off and I did as she commanded. The experience is one I will always cherish and never forget.

Our anaconda diving expedition is always a great experience. Brazil itself is just one of the greatest places on the planet to find diverse wildlife. When I am there it feels like I am kid in a candy store, its just magical. During our two weeks there, we encountered 3 different female anacondas, all of them around 5 meters, if not bigger. One of the females had finished eating a capybara, or a marsh deer, and had a huge lump in her belly as she will be slowly digesting her meal over the next couple of months. The meal should sustain her for at least 6 months - if not longer. You can see a shot of her on my Blog header pic, love that shot of me with her. Image by my buddy Daniel.

We also encountered a fourth anaconda, but sadly this 5 meter snake was dead. She had tried to make a meal out of a wild hog, but these guys travel in family groups and as the snake was trying to eat it, the rest of the family swooped in and attacked it until it finally let the hog go. Sadly she did not survive that attack and died. After we found our dead snake, we encountered another big girl basking on the river bank. We spent the next two hours with her, which was a lot of fun. The above image is one I really liked showing not only the snake but our group swimming with her. LOVE this image.

Marlin season off Magdalena Bay Mexico was filled with every emotion you can think off. The reason is the weather made it challenging this year. We got our asses kicked around by the seas. But damn was it special. From blue whales to humpback whales, we experienced some epic magic out there. The marlin were a bit of a challenge to find in the beginning of the trip, only because they were so far out and with the weather we had trouble getting to the good spots safely. Once the conditions smoothed out, it was game on. Epic baitballs, and a lot of amazing encounters. Mouth open shots of marlin are not easy to capture, I have struggled to capture the perfect one. I am getting close and the shot I captured this year is one of my favorites, until we go back next season and do it again!

Tiger Beach was all time great this season. There were so many tigers, on both our trips this year. We normally run one in October and one in December. The December trip is a combo Tiger and Great hammerhead trip. The hammerhead part of the trip was great, but Tiger Beach was all time! This year, we were gifted with a massive school of horse eyed-jacks which made for amazing photo opportunities. I spent a lot of time trying to capture images of a tiger swimming into the school, this one was my favorite of the session.

I am left with moments and memories floating through my heart and soul. Thanks again to the beautiful people who joined us out there and for making these trips amazing. Our final images in our blog are from my phone. Just a few captures of the people and places that helped make these trips special. Until 2022… thank you again and thank you for reading.

Love you guys!

Eli Martinez

July 19, 2021

Day 4 Was a Bust... It Happens, Just Sucks When it Does.

Eli Martinez

July 19, 2021

July 17, 2021 - We have returned from our final day at sea, and sadly it was a bust. Storms rolled in last night, and with it, rolling swells made it difficult to get to the animals. We spent the morning out there, trying to find mantas and whale sharks but finally admitted defeat and called it a day.

On the way home, we stopped by a popular snorkeling spot near Contoy Island to play around a bit - that was our only water time today. Overall it was a really good trip. Not the craziness I expected here, with 100 plus whale sharks, but amazing surprises still. Isla's ocean life is fantastic.

This year marks our 17th season for whale sharks. So wild knowing, I have been visiting the sharks here for the past 17 years. And I still love it. We will make some changes for next season and limit the number of people per boat so that we can increase our water time even more, which will be fun—looking forward to setting it up and planning it out.

Of course the day was not a total bust, the clouds were amazing and we took advantage of nature’s beauty to try and capture as much of that sky as possible.

Thanks again to our wonderful friends who joined us out here. You guys are awesome. Now, all that is left is to celebrate tonite and pack our gear for tomorrow's travel day.

Next stop for us… Banco Chinchorro's crocodiles! Yeah.

Eli Martinez

July 16, 2021

Day Two... A Fun Day at Sea!

Eli Martinez

July 16, 2021

July 15, 2021 - Day two with the whale sharks was WOW! We had a really good day at sea, and it was much calmer than the previous day. We still haven’t seen the hundred-plus sharks, but it was fun. I am guessing around 15-ish sharks today... The numbers are building. Yesterday the visibility was amazing, with beautiful clear blue water, but we don’t want that. To find the large gathering of sharks, you need murky blue water filled with fish eggs and plankton. That is where the magic happens.

By the end of the day, we found that water, which was awesome. The water was thick with eggs. That means the sharks will be making a b-line for the area. Tomorrow should be good with a lot of sharks feeding. My prediction is that by Saturday, the whale shark action is going to be EPIC!!! We will see - hopefully, we will have some fun stories to share.

As I mentioned, we had about 15 different sharks; they were all feeding and slowly swimming around, gulping up gallons and gallons of egg-rich water. I recognized the shark we had on our first day. It was coke bottle feeding, staying in one spot, and was again very tolerant. It is so much fun finding the same sharks out there each day. It means a lot to me, knowing these sharks return to these waters day after day and year after year. It means that the area is still healthy enough for the animals to return, and that is a very good thing.

Ahh, so back to the feeding shark. I love those coke bottling sharks; they are the ones you dream of encountering. They stay in one spot, suck feeding near the surface. They will often spin in a slow circle as they feed. I stopped swimming and just waited patiently nearby for the shark to spin in my direction. If you get too aggressive and swim at them, they will swim off and find another spot where they can continue feeding without feeling threatened. I was rewarded when it turned in my direction and opened its big mouth, allowing me to snap away. My settings were 1/320, f9 ISO 800. Those seemed to work alright for me today.

Overall it was fun, and I am happy we have two days left. It gets me fired up for whatever tomorrow brings us...

As always, thank you for reading my friends. And for those of you that comment, I do appreciate them, thank you so much for that.

Eli Martinez

July 15, 2021

Day One... Whale Shark Adventure Has Begun!

Eli Martinez

July 15, 2021

July 14, 2021 - Shit wifi has not allowed me to share as much as I had hoped, and I also have not had much to share. Holbox was a bust for wildlife. I managed to snap a few songbirds and a flying nightjar, but it was crap for flamingos. They were not there yet; only a few were around, not enough for a real shot at photographing them. I saw them, and I got a few photos of them flying by and some proof of life images of them, but that is it. I was disappointed; the spot was nothing like we experienced three years ago. There were so many around, and they were close. But that just means I need to go back and try again.

My perfectly imperfect crew. Love these guys.

Holbox was nice, though, hanging out with some of my best friends, catching up on old times. Sadly I was not 100%, I recently got my vaccination for covid, and I developed a sore throat the following days after and lost my voice. So for two days, I was not able to talk, which was frustrating. Then I got Montezuma's from eating something bad or the water, and I was out for the count for a night. But thankfully, it is all done, and I am rocking now.

I am sure that is more info than you guys wanted, but that is part of the travel life, and sharing is caring. lol

On the 13th, we left Holbox and traveled to Isla Mujeres. We picked up the guests who will join us for the trip, along with a big circus of friendly faces. More friends and family are coming to hang out with us on Isla. Right now, it is around 20 friends and family members that came to Isla to hang out with us that have nothing to do with our whale shark trip. They just wanted to get out of Texas and California and get away - so they are all here, hanging out while we work. I love these crazy peeps.

So back to the whale sharks. Today was day one of four days of our whale sharks and manta rays diving trip. THE conditions were tough! We had rough seas, and the ride was extremely wet. A few of our guests ended up getting sick, sadly, but that happens.

On top of that, we only had one whale shark, which is extremely rare; usually, we see more than 100 plus sharks on our first day. But ok, I am not spoiled, at least the sharks are here. One of the things that didn’t help - last night we had a big storm move through, and the rain pushed a lot of the food down, so the sharks were down low and hard to find.

It was fun though, we made the most of it and spent as much time as possible with one amazingly tolerant shark. We really are just spoiled; after 16 years of running this trip here, seeing only one shark does not happen. We are used to seeing hundreds of sharks every day. But it was a great reminder to me to appreciate what nature offers you… which means, if you see one shark, you have had a great day.

It felt so damn good to be back in the water with them again. After 16 years of running this trip, I still love it. And reports are that the weather is getting better, and the water is supposed to be calming down, so hopefully, we will have more sharks show up for us. After a day like today, it gets me fired up to see what surprises nature has in store for us, because every day is different.

The adventure has begun!

Thank you for reading.