pacific mexico

"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message
news:11j35otcp49ih44@corp.supernews.com...

> The Caribbean really needs to get itself some sea lions. I find them more
> fun than whales, though I confess I've never dove with a whale before.

?

"W.E. O'Neil" <we_o@anesthesiaop.net> wrote in message
news:scmYe.57$nQ3.1158@news.uswest.net...
>
> "Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message
> news:11j35otcp49ih44@corp.supernews.com...
>
>> The Caribbean really needs to get itself some sea lions. I find them
>> more fun than whales, though I confess I've never dove with a whale
>> before.
>
> ?

Sea lions are pinnipeds of the Otaridae family. They have cute puppy-dog
eyes and love to play with divers, especially me:

http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...g_Sea_Lion.htm

Whales, on the other hand, are big bloated cetaceans, unfriendly to most
divers and they emit a horrible noise that they call "song". I've heard
better song in the worst of karaoke bars. I don't have a picture of a whale
because they aren't very photogenic, a fact that demonstrates their relative
unfriendliness at least as compared to sea lions. I do, however, have a
picture of a whale shark. Whale sharks are much quieter and, in my opinion,
that makes them better:

http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...hale_Shark.htm

Hope that clears it up for you.

Greg Mossman wrote:
> "Whistler" <whiNstOler@sSan.rPr.cAomM> wrote in message
> news:2JfYe.12033$Gh.6330@tornado.socal.rr.com...
>
>
>>Fair enough. All my info on Cabo is hearsay anyway. I've been to
>>Mulege'.
>
>
> I've been meaning to make a road trip down there someday. Some old hippie
> friends of my mom have some land out at Punta Chivato and have invited me
> several times. Now that Alaska Airlines has a flight from LAX to Loreto,
> I'd probably hop on that instead and save about 24 hours of driving each
> way.

It was 13 from San Diego plus a random time for border wait. Absolutely
beautiful, though. And exciting. Especially those unmarked speed bumps.

The dive operation in Mulege' took a little getting used to, but I ended
up liking him quite a bit. Swiss guy named Andy. But it's not the most
luxurious setup in the world.


>>My point is, I got the impression the original poster has not dove the
>>Pacific. I gather that a lot of people get turned off by the diving at
>>Los Cabos because ``it's not the Caribbean.'' But that don't mean it
>>can't be great. One gray whale and it's worth the trip...
>
>
> I enjoyed it for a couple days. The Caribbean really needs to get itself
> some sea lions. I find them more fun than whales, though I confess I've
> never dove with a whale before. Unlike further up the Pacific coast, you
> have a fair selection of tropicals, though nowhere near the variety that
> you'd find further up the Sea side.

I was really amazed at the mixture. I kept experiencing a kind of
spatial vertigo, looking at a fish that I know from SD, then a fish from
the Caribbean...

"Whistler" <whiNstOler@sSan.rPr.cAomM> wrote in message
news:433218DB.1030407@sSan.rPr.cAomM...

> It was 13 from San Diego plus a random time for border wait. Absolutely
> beautiful, though. And exciting. Especially those unmarked speed bumps.
>
> The dive operation in Mulege' took a little getting used to, but I ended
> up liking him quite a bit. Swiss guy named Andy. But it's not the most
> luxurious setup in the world.

I know a Swiss guy named Andy.

Thirteen hours is pretty impressive, considering it takes me a couple hours
just to get to Ensenada from San Diego and that's on the toll road.
Stopping for drinks along the way probably makes the difference. I can't
drive more than an hour at a time in Mexico without liquoring up. Speaking
of this, on the way back from Cabo Pulmo, I stopped for a couple cold beers
to accompany me on the long road back to Los Cabos. I cracked open the
first and too a big gulp and there was chunky stuff in it. Nasty. The
second beer was OK.

> I was really amazed at the mixture. I kept experiencing a kind of spatial
> vertigo, looking at a fish that I know from SD, then a fish from the
> Caribbean...

How'd you know it was the same fish you know from SD? They all look alike
to me and that's a pretty long swim for a mere fish.

Greg Mossman wrote:
> I cracked open the
> first and too a big gulp and there was chunky stuff in it. Nasty. The
> second beer was OK.

The beer was fine, but I carried a roach back in my dive bag. But the
scorpion in the sink was really cute.

>>I was really amazed at the mixture. I kept experiencing a kind of spatial
>>vertigo, looking at a fish that I know from SD, then a fish from the
>>Caribbean...
>
>
> How'd you know it was the same fish you know from SD? They all look alike
> to me and that's a pretty long swim for a mere fish.

His name's Fred. He commutes with the whales.

"Whistler" <whiNstOler@sSan.rPr.cAomM> wrote in message
news:9fsYe.37$y43.18@tornado.socal.rr.com...

> The beer was fine, but I carried a roach back in my dive bag. But the
> scorpion in the sink was really cute.

That's living on the edge. Haven't you seen Midnight Express?

The only scorpion I've ever seen in Mexico was in a jar in Cuernavaca, where
I was temporarily living with a divorcee, her two kids, and the 15-year-old
maid. The lady took in students from the language school, like me. Another
of the students was a hispanic English prof from Cal Poly Pomona, who, just
like some profs here, insisted he knew everything. He didn't know much
Spanish, regardless of his hispanic origins, which is why he was in school
with me. He also didn't have very good people skills, just like some profs
here, which is why the maid was showing me and my Oregon roomie the scorpion
she had caught and was planning on placing inside one of the prof's shoes.
We talked her out of it.

> His name's Fred. He commutes with the whales.

A Californian fish that actually carpools? Probably one of those northern
Californian radicals.

"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message
news:11j460n3h89kcc8@corp.supernews.com...

> http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...g_Sea_Lion.htm
> http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...hale_Shark.htm
>
> Hope that clears it up for you.

Those might be the worst underwater photographs I have ever been directed
to. I cannot imagine how bad they must have been before you beat them to
muddled pulp in post-production.

"W.E. O'Neil" <we_o@anesthesiaop.net> wrote in message
news:iVAYe.27$HY3.966@news.uswest.net...
>
> "Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message
> news:11j460n3h89kcc8@corp.supernews.com...
>
>> http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...g_Sea_Lion.htm
>> http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...hale_Shark.htm
>>
>> Hope that clears it up for you.
>
> Those might be the worst underwater photographs I have ever been directed
> to. I cannot imagine how bad they must have been before you beat them to
> muddled pulp in post-production.

I can show you worse if you'd like.

Here's a truly horrible one of the underside of a manta that will make you
cringe:

http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...at_Night_7.htm

See, now you can't say that the first two were the worst you've ever been
directed to.

"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message
news:11j5q4h6ip7jn10@corp.supernews.com...
> "W.E. O'Neil" <we_o@anesthesiaop.net> wrote in message

>> Those might be the worst underwater photographs I have ever been directed
>> to. I cannot imagine how bad they must have been before you beat them to
>> muddled pulp in post-production.
>
> I can show you worse if you'd like.
>
> Here's a truly horrible one of the underside of a manta that will make you
> cringe:
>
> http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...at_Night_7.htm
>
> See, now you can't say that the first two were the worst you've ever been
> directed to.

Ah, note my comment again please--- **might** be the worst---. You can't
claim the glory yet my friend. Plus, since you didn't "Shop the shit out of
it" (or whatever photo editor you may use) it just wouldn't qualify. A truly
horrible photo must be so bad after editing that one submits to fearful
consideration at what the unedited image may have looked like.

Truth is, I kind of like your manta. I myself have much worse shots from
Kona when a couple of 'em loop de looped in front of the lights, and I
managed to get all kinds of plankton, worms, fish and other ocean minutia to
join in the image.

What a bunch of monkeys we are to take shots, when no shot exists.

"W.E. O'Neil" <we_o@anesthesiaop.net> wrote in message
news:i9IYe.92$DD3.8114@news.uswest.net...

> Ah, note my comment again please--- **might** be the worst---. You can't
> claim the glory yet my friend. Plus, since you didn't "Shop the shit out
> of it" (or whatever photo editor you may use) it just wouldn't qualify. A
> truly horrible photo must be so bad after editing that one submits to
> fearful consideration at what the unedited image may have looked like.

I don't think I shopped the sea lion too much. It was there and I snapped
it and if you know sea lions, they rarely wait around for a good pose. Plus
I was sick with some sort of cold or flu and barely made it down on the dive
and barely noticed the sea lion until the last second because he was
following behind me most of the dive. I have a few pics from other divers
of the sea lion right on my ass. If only I had a camera up my ass . . .

> Truth is, I kind of like your manta. I myself have much worse shots from
> Kona when a couple of 'em loop de looped in front of the lights, and I
> managed to get all kinds of plankton, worms, fish and other ocean minutia
> to join in the image.

Then please post your worse shots so that mine don't have to be the worst.
That Kona shooting was real tough, trying to keep the camera steady when the
belligerent monsters come right at your head full speed. A few of my shots
were better, but you wanted the worst.

> What a bunch of monkeys we are to take shots, when no shot exists.

I shoot digital and never hit capacity, so I don't worry about bad shots.
Any shot is better than no shot at all, especially if you can make out
what's being shot. Mainly I like to shoot so I can ID the fish that
otherwise fail my brain by the time I get to the fish ID book. If you want
arty, here's a pretty, albeit dark, ling cod from Farnsworth Reef:

http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...pg_Lingcod.htm

And here's a kelp bass which shows interesting composition. The kelp vines
behind it almost make it look like it's walking on legs:

http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...elp_Bass_3.htm