Today was an exciting day at the Catalina Islands. With tales of bull sharks, black tips, mantas and more, todays group of divers were excited to jump in the water. Alas, no bull sharks no black tip sharks were seen, but no one left disappointed, for Casper the friendly manta stopped by for a visit, entertaining everyone as he circled the divers while swooping tiny plankton in to his giant mouth.
This is a manta that is well known by dive shop owner, Bobbie Jo, who says she has encountered this playful giant many times before in the past. He or she, we don’t know, but this manta is huge, with ramoras almost a meter long. Its back is solid black and on its belly it has a ghost like spot -hence the name.
While Casper swooped, dipped and circled the group, down below, you could see six pregnant white tip reef sharks snoozing in the sand. And off to the side, almost crying to get attention, were three eagle rays, darting in and around everywhere. If eagle rays had voices, Bobbie Jo is pretty certain they would have been screaming “Look at me, look at me”.
Karie J Gibbs
