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What Diving the Revillagigedos Archipelago Really Looks Like, Part Three

May 20, 2018 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

diving the revillagigedos, revillagigedos archipelago, san benedicto island, el boiler, three sisters — San Benedicto is my favorite!

What Diving the Revillagigedos Archipelago Really Looks Like!!!!

While I love diving the entire archipelago of Revillagigedos, I confess to a slight bias toward the island of San Benedicto. I have several reasons for this, and the first is the appearance of the island itself. I absolutely love the lava streamed rock of the island, which last erupted in 1952. It also has amazing dive sites, namely El Boiler and the 3 Sisters. Each of these sites was boiling with wildlife action! Enjoy!

I am fascinated with the clearly intelligent eyes of the manta.

diving the revillagigedos archiepelago, san benedicto island, el boiler, three sisters — One of my identification photos. Mantas almost always have Remoras on board, with no way to get them off.

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What Diving the Revillagigedos Archipelago Really Looks Like, Part Two

May 14, 2018 By Tam Warner 6 Comments

My last post, What Diving the Revillagigedos Archipelago is Really Like, Part One, focused on the island Roca Partida. On this post we will head to the island of Socorro, the largest island in the group. The dive sites on this island include Cabo Pearce, Punta Tosca, and the Aquarium. The Aquarium was the most happening site! Most of all, I want to show you the topography and lighting down below, and though it isn’t soft waving coral, it has its own kind of beauty, as do the animals. I went on this trip with Dr Andrea Marshall’s Ray of Hope Expeditions!

diving socorro, diving the aquarium, diving the revillagigedos archipelago , isla socorro, socorro island socorro, island, the aquarium — One side of the island is covered in “shrubland”.

I loved this fish face, a Yellow Box Fish adult.

YOU WOULD ENJOY THIS ARTICLE FROM THE QUEEN OF MANTAS!

http://www.queenofmantas.com/the-citizen-science-revolution/

I love doing citizen science!

From left to right, Fin, Andrea, Annie, Isabella, Tam and Lauren.

What It Is Like To Be Totally Remote

May 7, 2018 By Tam Warner 1 Comment

dive sites, san benedicto, big blue, remote, revillagigedos — San Benedicto Island from a drone. Uninhabited, it is a volcanic site. The animal life under the water around this island is amazing! So much life under a lava rock.

There are places on the planet where you can be totally remote. Alone. Removed. Well, radio waves are pretty much everywhere, but cell and internet signals are not. I just took my third trip to the Revillagigedos Archipelago, to dive and photograph Giant Manta Rays, Whale Sharks, Sharks, Dolphins…and all of the cool smaller stuff. What is it like to be so remote? And where the heck is this place??? And be sure to have Travel Insurance, always!

When you travel to a place this remote, you have to understand that there are no hospitals, no doctors, no chambers if you get decompression sickness. Or a heart attack. Or a stroke. Or anything, really. This is the risk you take in some parts of the world. There is no signal, and it would take at least 24 hours to get back to civilization. I’m not sure if a helicopter would go there, obviously there is no place to land. I always take antibiotics with me, a Z pak for possible strep or sinus infection, Cipro in case my tummy acts up. Oh, and dramamine, which I needed on this last trip. And I always buy travel insurance!

On one hand, I find not having a signal relaxing. Unlike the millennials and younger generations, I do not do everything on my phone. I have had phones stolen and I have lost phones, my kids chide me when I don’t answer but I just do not carry it on me every second of the day. I lose the damn thing in my house! My husband has to call it so I can locate it. It is a relief when I don’t have to worry about missing a text or a call.

Being without internet is sometimes a pain, but as long as I can edit photos I’m happy, and you don’t need the internet for that. Imagine sleeping with no interruptions from your phone. Eating with no texts or calls. And, on the other hand, being very careful. On these trips I am very careful with my depth, my air supply, my limits. The only time I went outside my limits on this trip was when the dolphins came to check us out. Has anyone ever explained to you that dolphins are bastards? They really are. They mesmerize you with their eye contact and take you down deep. I looked at my depth while photographing them and I was way too deep for the gas mix I was using in my tank. 110 feet. For some people that is not very deep, but I try not to go below 100, and I prefer staying above 90 feet. The other thing that dolphins do to merit name calling is hanging out around your zodiac, or panga (a rubber boat used to go to dive sites). They jump, you coo, they come close, and you want to swim with them. So you put on your snorkel and fins, jump in, and the only dolphin you see is one going deep and out of sight. See what I mean? The little bastards. Sigh. But I still love them.

Having a dive buddy is helpful when diving this remotely, with this much current, and the bottomless depths. The big blue is not too far away, and unless your dive master takes you there, you don’t want to go and be separated from your group. The big blue can be really disorienting with no bottom and nothing but blue, blue, blue. I had a fellow photographer for a buddy, and we kept an eye on each other, but photographers never dive right next to their buddy. Sometimes we were close, especially if conditions warranted it, but mostly we kept each other in sight while looking for cool animals to take pictures of. It worked out well.

Going so remote and to locations with endless big blue is not for beginners. There are no beginner dive sites in this Archipelago. I am not a professional, but I have 30 plus years of experience in the water. Sometimes I might be just a little bit too comfortable in the water, but not at these dive sites. You must keep in mind that sites like this can be cold, can have down currents, up currents, strong currents, and surge. Several people got lost this trip, meaning losing their dive group. At that point, you must surface. Not being able to see any other divers is not good. The Revillagigedos is not the place for solo diving.

I love San Benedicto’s patterns and colors and textures. I want my house to look like this.

But I digress! Going remote can be a great experience. I love the privacy and silence from my phone and the internet, but I remind myself often that it is not a place for any kind of accident. I try to be very careful when I go remote!

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Another Fantastic Solo Trip with Ray of Hope Expeditions!

April 30, 2018 By Tam Warner 9 Comments

manta ray research, manta rays, — Dr Andrea Marshall and I on one of her Ray of Hope Expeditions to the Revillagigedos to do research on the plastic consumption of mantas.

Another fantastic Solo Trip with Ray of Hope Expeditions and Dr Andrea Marshall, Queen of Mantas!

I love to travel solo, but traveling solo doesn’t have to mean traveling alone! When I travel solo I never feel “lonely” because there are so many new people to watch, to meet, and to talk to. My volunteer/citizen science adventures have introduced me to people who share my passion. As a result, I have friends all over the world! I was the oldest volunteer on my All Out Africa volunteer trip to Mozambique in 2012, but I remain in touch with, and have seen, my fellow volunteers because we bonded during our shared experience. I have friends I met on other trips who are older than I am. Meeting and working with people who share your passions is exhilarating no matter what your age, nationality, or religion. Doing citizen science with Ray of Hope Expeditions makes me feel good about myself, knowing I am trying to make a difference.

I am always careful when I travel, whether solo or not! It’s important to take good care of yourself financially as well! This guide will give you some good tips on how to travel safely with your finances!

Earlier this month I was off on another adventure with Andrea, this time to the Revillagigedos Archipelago. Where on earth is that, you may ask. It is very remote and takes at least a day to get there from Los Cabos. One is completely unplugged as there are no signals. This location is very special. It is 540 miles off the Baja peninsula, and is often called Mexico’s Galapagos. These uninhabited rocks, so far from the Mexican mainland, are among the most unbelievable dive spots in the world. It has one of the largest populations of sharks, manta rays, and includes groups of tuna, humpback whales, all kinds of cool fish, and turtles. This is the third time I have visited these islands, and though I have taken identification photos in this location for scientists, this is the first time I was on an actual scientific expedition.

Revillagigedos, Revillagigedos Archipelago, diving in Socorro, scuba dive San Benedicto, Roca Partida — Map By Hobe / Holger Behr – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2688383

Strangely enough, I became sea sick on the crossing, which is very unusual for me. I always take a couple of Dramamine and never have a problem. This time was quite different! I have to say, I have a lot of sympathy now for people who get seasick! What a horrible feeling. I spent the first 20 hours of the trip in bed, sleeping and eating saltines.

Once at the dive sites the water was calmer, and my sickness went away (until the next time we traveled which was every day or night!). Diving with mantas is always a magical experience no matter where you are, but the giant mantas at these islands are different. They want to interact with divers, and they want to feel the bubbles from our regulators on their bellies! There are plenty of sharks, dolphins, fish and even tuna in these waters. I was excited to get under the waves and take photos!

ray of hope expeditions — Here I am, photographing a Giant Manta at San Benedicto Island, photo by Andrea Marshall.

And this is the identification photo I took on that dive! The spot pattern is the Identification, they are like fingerprints with no two alike.

Here I am photographing another Manta Ray. See how the spot pattern is different from the one above?

Here is Andrea and you can see her spear? Taking tissue samples from the mantas was important on this trip to measure how much plastic was in their system.

And this was just the beginning of the trip! Stay tuned for more fish, shark, dolphin and manta action!

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What can YOU do on this Earth Day to make the World a Better Place?

April 20, 2018 By Tam Warner 3 Comments

What can YOU do on this Earth Day to make the World a Better Place?

We all live on our beautiful planet, and humans sometimes forget that we are not the only life on the planet. We are the only species who can cause harm to our planet, though, and we have and continue to do so. The Earth is our home, our sustenance, and we depend upon her for everything. Would you treat your house the way humans have (and still do) treated the Earth? I certainly hope not. We are in a bit of pickle these days, and she needs all the assistance we can give her.

earth day 2018, make a contribution, donate to wildlife, plastic in our oceans, reduce plastic — Here I am on a citizen science expedition, taking photo Identification shots of Manta Rays at the Revillagigedos.

We can all do something! It isn’t that hard. Plastic is one of the major ways we can make a difference. Plastic is choking our oceans, our wildlife is ingesting it, and dying from it. Fish really cannot help eating plastic. Much of it smells like food, after all. Fish, shellfish, oysters…they all ingest a lot of plastics. Did you know that one out of four fish has plastic in its tummy? That means plastic is in their tissues which has negative impacts for them…but what about humans? How much plastic are we consuming by eating fish and animals who eat plastic? One study says we could be consuming 11,000 plastics a year, through our seafood. What is the effect on humans? Well, it hurts fish, it stands to reason it isn’t good for us. Would you cook a piece of plastic for dinner and eat it? But we are consuming a lot of it through our foods.

What can YOU do?

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY BY TAKING ACTION Think of all the goods we can buy that are not plastic, but sustainable woods, plants and fibers. I use compostable K-cups for my Keurig. I’m very happy I don’t have to get rid of it because I love my coffee! Click this link and see some of the products you could purchase instead of plastics! I keep paper straws in my glove box, and bamboo utensils. And don’t forget to tell restaurants, no straw, no plastic forks! I get so mad at myself when I forget to do it.

TAKE THE PLEDGE! EarthDay.org is encouraging all of us to take a pledge to reduce our single use plastics. Say no to plastic grocery bags! Reduce your intake of bottled water…carry a water bottle you can refill. Have you seen the landfills and oceans filled with those plastic water bottles? Awful. By 2020 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish! That will not be good for humans, or fish.

MAKE A DONATION OR BUY A PRODUCT THAT BENEFITS RESEARCH AND EDUCATION There are many awesome organizations out there working hard to make our Earth a better place. Such as?

MEET THE OCEAN Meet the Ocean is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public on the importance of the saltwaters of our planet. Employing science, storytelling, and encounters from earth’s most remote locations, we combat environmental apathy and further understanding of how the ocean functions, in order to better protect it. They have a sweet shop filled with cool tees and art prints.

MARINE MEGAFAUNA FOUNDATION As a species, our survival is dependent on our oceans being healthy and full of life, yet only four percent of them are currently protected. This means that vast areas are left unregulated and vulnerable to ever-increasing human pressures such as unsustainable fishing, irresponsible waste management and climate change. This organization is active in research, protection and education. My book, ALL FISH FACES, available on Amazon and here on my author page, gives 10% to this organization to assist in its goals. I have traveled with these scientists and participated in citizen science. Support them!

TEENS4OCEANS Led by scientists, educators, and most importantly students, Teens4Oceans impacts youth, their peers, and their parents, by providing them with the tools and resources to become Ocean Stewards.

REEF REEF conserves marine environments worldwide. Our mission is to protect biodiversity and ocean life by actively engaging and inspiring the public through citizen science, education, and partnerships with the scientific community. REEF also takes the public on scuba citizen science trips, I have been on one and loved it! I have learned so much from REEF.

National Geographic has several charities like their Big Cat Initiative, there is World Wildlife Fund, Sea Shepherds, the list is endless. If none of these appeal to you, I’m sure you can find another that will!

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Go to the Yard House and Eat Meatless Any Day of the Week!

March 5, 2018 By Tam Warner 3 Comments

I was thrilled to be introduced to this restaurant! My daughter-in-law is also a vegetarian (I’m more of a fish once in a while vegetarian) and suggested we dine at the Yard House at The Domain last time we were in Austin. They have an entire menu of my favorite #meatless, plant based protein “meat”, Gardein. If you’ve read my meatless Monday posts, you know Gardein is high on my list!

The Yard House Menu has several Gardein options! Yummy! I had the chicken tenders with truffle fries. I think I need to go to the one in Addison tonight, now that I think about it! Oh, and check out Gardeins Lime Chipotle Chicken strips….deeeeelicious! Check to see if there is a Yard House near you!

Be sure to pin!

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