For years and years people have always thought of sharks as the predator from the deep, a fine tuned killing machine whose sole mission in life is to destroy humans. At least that's they way they have been and are still are portrayed in movies, the media, and even on Discovery Channel's Shark Week—an annual show supposedly aimed at educating people about sharks. The only thing is though, most of these shows are categorically false when it comes to how sharks interact with humans. Globally, sharks only kill an average of 5-15 people per year, that is a very very low number. As a comparison, dogs kill an average of 30-50 people each year and that's just in the United States alone. Basically what I'm trying to get at here is that sharks as a whole have a reputation that doesn't match up with their statistics and I would urge people to open up their minds about sharks and see them for what they really are, a beautiful, highly intelligent animal animal perfectly suited to it's environment. What's the best way to open our minds and see them for what they really are? Well, my advice would be to seem them in their natural environment and there's no better way to do that then to see them while snorkeling! As shark awareness grows globally and people realize sharks aren't the people killing machines they've been made out to be, they are are traveling all over the world to safely swim with sharks and it's turned into a massive source of revenue for ecotourism. Globally the annual estimate is that sharks bring in over $314 million dollars for ecotourism activities. This influx of money has been hugely influential in not only establishing many safe options for swimming with sharks—including great whites
For years and years people have always thought of sharks as the predator from the deep, a fine tuned killing machine whose sole mission in life is to destroy humans. At least that’s they way they have been and are still are portrayed in movies, the media, and even on Discovery Channel’s Shark Week—an annual
Twenty-Twenty twenty began with a bang as our Snorkel Venture season started out with back to back trips in Belize aboard Belize Aggressor III, the liveaboard operator for our Belize tours. Belize is a fantastic place for snorkeling, not only is getting to Belize easy if you are coming from the States or Canada, but the reefs and marine life are prolific! Here's an in depth break down of what you can expect from a snorkeling safari with us aboard Belize Aggressor III. Getting There As far as international travel is concerned, Belize couldn't be easier to get to. If you are coming from North America you can expect just a couple short flights, possibly one direct flight if you live next to a large international airport, and boom, you are in Belize city. It's a small little airport and easy to navigate your way to the taxi stand. At the taxi stand you just tell them where your going—which is the Radisson— and pay the flat rate at the stand so no need to haggle or barter with the drivers. The national language of Belize is actually English, not Spanish, so getting around and asking questions is really easy! Not only that, but their currency, the Belize Dollar is locked at 2-1 with the USD, and most shops will accept USD anyway so that also makes life easy. It is recommended that you grab a few Belize dollars if you do plan to do some souvenir shopping, but once onboard or in the Radisson hotel everything can be paid with a card. Just make sure to tell your bank you are traveling! My personal recommendation would be to arrive a day before the trip starts and stay at the Radisson as the Belize Aggressor III literally parks on the doorstep
Twenty-Twenty twenty began with a bang as our Snorkel Venture season started out with back to back trips in Belize aboard Belize Aggressor III, the liveaboard operator for our Belize tours. Belize is a fantastic place for snorkeling, not only is getting to Belize easy if you are coming from the States or Canada, but
For those of you who haven't done a bunch of snorkeling or spent a significant amount of time around the ocean, you may be wondering what exactly pelagic means. Well, pelagic generally refers to marine life that spend the majority of their time in the open blue ocean, as opposed to residing close to the shoreline or reefs. Species like manta rays, tuna, sword fish, most species of sharks, and whales would all be considered pelagics. Basically, these are the species that are responsible for most peoples interests in the ocean given the charismatic personalities and awe inspiring behavior of these animals. The only thing is though, many of these species are quite hard come by as they spend their their time roaming the open ocean. Regular encounters with creatures such as schools of mobula rays and dolphins are few and far between, even in most iconic snorkeling destinations, and can hardly be predicted, unless of course you happen to be on a pelagic specific snorkel safari in the pelagic paradise that is the Sea of Cortez. The way the pelagic safari works is, every morning we board a well equipped and comfortable speedboat from the beautiful marina in Cabo San Lucas Mexico and head out past the iconic arch of Cabo and into the illustrious Sea of Cortez in search of orca whales, fleets of mobula rays, various species of sharks, and whatever else happens to cross our bow. I'll say this straight away, this tour is not for everyone. If your ideal snorkeling holiday is spending hours floating over beautiful reefs, this is not that holiday. Komodo or Raja Ampat, places with a mix of marine life and endless reefs may be more your cup of tea. For those of you who dream of sitting on the edge
For those of you who haven’t done a bunch of snorkeling or spent a significant amount of time around the ocean, you may be wondering what exactly pelagic means. Well, pelagic generally refers to marine life that spend the majority of their time in the open blue ocean, as opposed to residing close to the
