An escape to Mexico’s remote Revillagigedo Islands offers a sorely needed lesson in embracing the unexpected.
Source: A Liveaboard Journey through Mexico’s Remote Revillagigedo Islands
Whale Shark with Dolphin Duo; Share Dots
Occurred on December 27, 2018 / Socorro Island, Mexico. Info from Licensor: “This rare sight of two Bottlenose Dolphins escorting a Whale Shark was shot at Socorro Island, 280 miles off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. This area is known as the Revillagigedo Islands. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a protected marine reserve. The Mexican Navy helps protect the area from fishing. Socorro is known for its big animal marine life and is one of the best places in the world to swim with Bottlenose Dolphins. To swim with the dolphins is a…
Source: Whale Shark with Dolphin Duo
Socorro Islands – Magical and Unforgettable Big Animal Encounters; Nola Schoder; Deeper Blue
We take a magical liveaboard trip to the unique ecosystem of the Revillagigedo (aka Socorro) Islands…
Source: Socorro Islands – Magical and Unforgettable Big Animal Encounters – DeeperBlue.com
Welcome to shark park; Kat Kerlin; University of California
UC Davis shark-tagging research helps make North America’s biggest marine protected area seven times larger.
Source: Welcome to shark park
The 11 Best Nitrox Diving Destinations; Sandro Lonardi; PADI
If you’ve completed the PADI Enriched Air Diver course, check out these 11 best Nitrox diving destinations to put your certification to good use.
This Oro Valley underwater photographer swims with sharks; Johanna Willett; This Is Tucson
The first time Samantha Schwann swam with tiger sharks, she got one piece of advice from the expedition’s dive master: “Keep your eyes on the shark.”
On a boat full of people who seemed to already know each other, she turned to another diver following that brief briefing.
“I’m like, ‘OK, that’s point one. What’s next?'” she says. “And he’s like, ‘No, no. There’s only one point. Keep your eyes on it.'”
Schwann is an experienced diver and shark lover, but even her heart stopped a bit when a tiger shark swam up to her and nudged the camera.
“They like to test you a bit…” she says, cool and confident now. “But now I have dived with them so much they have little personalities.”
Yes. She’s talking about tiger sharks.
Schwann is an underwater photographer who has logged more than 7,000 dives with 14 shark species. She has gone as deep as 330 feet — it took her six tanks of mixed gas and seven minutes to go down and an hour-and-a-half to come back up. No cages involved.
Read more from source: This Oro Valley underwater photographer swims with sharks
Huge new ocean reserves announced in Mexico, Arctic; Mike Gaworecki; MongaBay
- The past couple weeks have brought major news about two important marine protected area projects.
- On November 24, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a decree creating the Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park, protecting nearly 150,000 square kilometers (close to 58,000 square miles) from all fishing and extractive activities. It is said to be the largest ocean reserve ever created by Mexico.
- Less than a week later, on the night of November 30, countries including Canada, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States, among others, announced that they had reached an agreement to protect 2.8 million square kilometers (more than 1 million square miles) of the central Arctic Ocean from commercial fishing.
The past couple weeks have brought major news about two important new marine reserves.
Mexico Just Created an Illinois-Sized Marine Park Off the Baja Peninsula; Mike Richard; The Manual
Mexico is protecting a massive aquatic region off the coast of Baja California by creating the largest marine park and ocean reserve in North America.
Baja California is Mexico’s most beautiful coastal destination. It’s home to the country’s most charming resort town. The Sea of Cortez off the peninsula’s eastern shore is the most biodiverse marine habitat on the planet, making it a top choice for divers (and safari-goers). Now, Mexico is giving us all one more reason to visit by creating the largest ocean reserve in North America.
Less than 250 miles southeast of the tip of Baja California lies the Revillagigedo Archipelago. This tiny chain consists of just four uninhabited volcanic islands, but is surrounded by some of the most pristine ocean waters in the northern hemisphere.
Mexico creates massive marine park off the Baja Peninsula; Ken Foxe; Lonely Planet
An enormous new marine park larger than Greece has been created off the coast of Mexico to safeguard it for future generations. The area around the idyllic Revillagigedo Islands will be the largest protected area in the waters of North America.
The area around the islands – 400 kilometres south of the Baja Peninsula – is an “ocean superhighway” for the sea’s largest species including whales, dolphins, sharks, and tuna. Surrounding the islands live no less than 366 species of fish, of which 26 are found nowhere else in the entire world. There are 37 different types of sharks and rays found there, often in huge numbers. Included in that are both the world’s largest type of ray, the manta, and the largest type of shark, the whale shark.
Mexico Establishes Huge New Ocean Reserve; Caribbean News Digital
Mexico’s president Enrique Pena Nieto designated the Revillagigedo Archipelago, a set of four volcanic islands and its surrounding waters, as the nation’s newest national park.
The park, located approximately 250 miles south of Cabo San Lucas and 400 miles from Colima, serves as a feeding and migration areas for whales, sharks, rays and other migratory species. Encompassing more than 57,000 square miles, it is the largest marine park in North America.
According to the Pew Charitable Trust, the four islands are “the peaks of volcanoes created more than 3.5 million years ago. They are part of a larger formation of seamounts, or underwater mountains, that help create the upwelling of nutrients from the deep sea that supports a vast array of marine life.”
The Revillagigedo Archipelago –North America’s Largest New Ocean Reserve Protects Astounding Biodiversity (WATCH Today’s ‘Galaxy’ Stream); The Daily Galaxy
On November 24, Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto designated a spectacular uninhabited region of the Pacific Ocean at the southwestern coast of Mexico, the Revillagigedo Archipelago, a region as a protected area. Uniquely rich in marine biodiversity, the area is North America’s largest marine reserve, at nearly 58,000 square miles (150,000 square kilometers).
The islands—Socorro, Clarión, San Benedicto, and Roca Partida—are located where the cold waters of the California current converge with the warm waters of the North Equatorial current, creating upwellings that bring nutrients from the bottom of the ocean to the surface. These nutrients help feed 366 species of fish—26 of which are endemic, meaning they are not found anywhere else in the world—as well as 37 species of sharks and rays.
Mexico Designates Breathtaking Ocean Reserve, North America’s Largest; Mindy Weisberger; LiveScience
On Nov. 24, Mexico President Nieto designated an ocean region near the country’s coast as a protected marine area, North America’s largest.
Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto designated an ocean region near the southwestern coast of Mexico as a protected area. Uniquely rich in marine biodiversity, the area is North America’s largest marine reserve, at nearly 58,000 square miles (150,000 square kilometers).
On Friday (Nov. 24), President Nieto signed a decree to create the Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park in a region of the Pacific Ocean that surrounds four volcanic islands: Claríon, Roca Partida, Socorro and San Benedicto. The islands, which are uninhabited by people, are located about 240 miles (390 km) to the southwest of Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula.
Remarkably diverse communities of ocean life call these waters home.
Mexico creates huge marine national park; BBC
The Mexican government has created a large marine reserve around a group of islands home to hundreds of species including rays, whales and sea turtles.
The Revillagigedo Archipelago is a group of volcanic islands off the country’s south-west coast.
With a protection zone of 57,000 square miles (150,000km), it has become the largest ocean reserve in North America.
The move will mean all fishing activity will be banned, and the area will be patrolled by the navy.
It is hoped the move will help populations hit by commercial fishing operations in the area recover.
The park was designated by a decree signed by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. It will also forbid natural resources being extracted from the land or the building of new hotel infrastructure.
Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project Welcomes Mexico’s Largest Fully Protected Marine Reserve; Pew Trust
WASHINGTON—The Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project applauds today’s historic move by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who signed a decree creating the Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park—protecting 148,087 square kilometers (57,176 square miles) from all forms of fishing and extractive activities.
The park, the country’s largest fully protected marine reserve, safeguards a chain of four volcanic islands in the Pacific and their surrounding marine habitats, some 800 kilometers west of Manzanillo and almost 400 kilometers south of Cabo San Lucas. The archipelago and its waters were recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2016.
The islands—Socorro, Clarión, San Benedicto, and Roca Partida—are located where the cold waters of the California current converge with the warm waters of the North Equatorial current, creating upwellings that bring nutrients from the bottom of the ocean to the surface.
Scientists and Sea Shepherd Team on Humpback Whale Research and Microplastics in Ocean; Sea Shepherd
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Established in 1977, our mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. We use innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately balanced ocea
Diving Mexico’s New UNESCO World Heritage Site; Patricia Wuest; Scuba Diving Magazine
Some things you know are going to be unforgettable from beginning to end: Pulp Fiction, test-driving a Porsche 911, the Rolling Stones in concert. So it is with diving Mexico’s Revillagigedo Archipelago.
It’s possible in a single day — even a single dive — to encounter humpback whales blowing mere yards from the boat, while underwater, giant mantas flap past in acrobatic twirls. Sharks? It depends on the day, but hammerheads, whitetips, silvertips, silkies, threshers, Galapagos and tigers all are possible. In the eastern Pacific waters off this island chain better known to American divers as the Socorros, the action starts the moment you arrive.
Collectively, the island group — Socorro, Roca Partida, San Benedicto and Clarion — is one of the holy grails of adrenaline-seeking divers.
