The Gorda Banks are twin seamounts off the coast of Baja California. The seamounts rise from depths deeper than 300 ft to peak at a recorded 90 ft. below the surface. Seamounts are famous for the presence of large marine fauna such as pelagic schooling fishes, sharks and whales. For years Lindblad Expeditions have come to the Gorda Banks to search for whales but had never descended the to the actual peaks themselves. Well, today that all changed. With Chris Murray's careful navigation and our ship's depthfinder we were able to find the top of the seamounts. Thoroughly excited and loaded with scuba gear and the handheld GPS we headed out for the spot in a Zodiac with our trusty Bos'n.

Finding the seamounts again was tricky, slowly inching along the sea surface, watching the depth finder as it would count down the numbers 100 ft., 90 ft., 85 ft., 80 ft. 79 ft….. 175 ft.! It was maddening with the current and the drop off trying to find it again and anchor. Our Expedition Leader David was determined, with dreams of hammerheads, so we tried again and again until finally paydirt! - the anchor took hold. We carefully descended down the anchor line to the unknown. As the visibility cleared up at 100 ft. depth and our eyes finally adjusted to the dim light the world opened up for us. As our depth approached 122 ft. we leveled off and did not descend further. The first beautiful creature I saw at this depth was this Argus Moray Eel (Muraena argus) peeking his head out of a crevice in the craggy undersea mountaintop while other tiny gobies, blennies, and coral hawkfish flitted around him. As I looked around I was being encircled by hundreds of snappers all bathed in a glorious blue light. It was a truly amazing sight. I was saddened as I watched my no-decompression time limit tick down to zero and we were forced to start our ascent back to the surface, but later in the day I was able to relive the thrill when I shared the digital video I had shot with all the guests aboard the Sea Lion.