Dive Traveller
enough to nibble on your fins. Though the refreshing 64°F (18°C)
water at Cousins is undeniably a bit chilly, the marine life more than makes up for it. Punta Vicente Roca, on Isabela Island’s northwest point, takes the pain for gain motif a step further. We drop down a wall so colourful it seems at odds with the bracing 59°F (15°C) temperature. In a rock pile at 75 feet (23m), our guide Edwin points out both red and yellow seahorses clinging to seafans. Showing his toughness, he then removes his glove and rests his hand on a rock, which entices goldsnouted red shrimp to scuttle out from the crevices and give him a manicure. A 20 inch (50cm)-long spotted horn shark catches my
44 Magazine
respectfully keep our distance to avoid interrupting the cleaning behavior
Stunned by our good fortune, we
Top: Everyone’s favourite
gentle giant. A Galapagos
penguin. Above: Darwin’s Arch, Darwin Island
eye, and I happily go to work taking photos. Until the mischievous sea lion which has been watching us from above suddenly swoops down into the picture and not ungently grabs the poor thing in its mouth, pulling it away by the tail. I laugh and curse at the same time. A moment later the pinniped prankster releases its chew toy and floats back up to the surface to breathe. Unharmed but no doubt perturbed, the shark settles back down onto the bottom.
I resist the urge to pester it further, and instead descend further with the group. The water is surprisingly clear
at 100 feet (30m) deep-- perhaps 65 feet (20m) visibility-- affording a striking view of seafans and gorgonians in fiery hues along a rocky reef plunging even deeper. Hovering above is a huge ocean sunfish, Mola mola, the object of our dive in the ice box. Tilted upward, the six-and-a-half foot (2m) freak of nature is being cleaned by king angelfish and wrasses. Edwin had mentioned that those braving the cold might be lucky enough to encounter this weirdest of fish deep at this spectacular site, but I honestly had not expected to see
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