political situation / fishing

Little more than a 1,5 km long rock in the open sea malpelo is cross-roads for pelagic marine live like whales, sharks, mantas, and much more. All the big pelagic wanderers of the pacific ocean seem to have the instinct to circle around this submarine volcanoe. Following the cold and warm ocean currents of this area. About 500 km off colombias shoreline this rock constitutes a zone of 200 miles of territorial waters for colombia which is watched by a lone military outpost on top of the island. Colombia dosen´t have a fishing fleet, asian ships are not allowed to enter the colombian zone for shark finning, malpelo is declared nature reserve. This makes the situation at malpelo so unique. Althogh incredible remote those sharks are protected against illegal fishing by fierce military protectors.

special permit

Only way to dive in malpelo is with special permit of colombian authorities. We organize this permit for you and also enyoy special relationship with the military commanders of the outpost.

diving

Ocean currents at malpelo are vey strong so each dive is a drift dive. The twin-rock left on the pictue is divesite "La Gringa" - lot of sharks. The 3 rocks on right side are "los tres mosketeros" with divesite "La Cathedral" a spectacular underwater scenario of "gothic" impressions. "La Chupadera" a cave in the middle of the island allows divers to dive trough the island under water in a extreme current dive. Visibility at malpelo is always excellent sometimes 50+m as it can only be in open pacific ocean. Combined with the extreme rock and wall formations and rapid ocean currents this produces incredible "underwater flight" experiences. Shark feeding is not recommended at malpelo too many pelagic sharks around! You will have close ancounters anyhow everyday, everydive. If you see less than 1000 sharks in 4 days of diving you´v got a dead weekend.

Biodiversity

The submarine environment surrounding Malpelo is defined not only by its isolation but also by its location, which is highly influenced by several different marine currents. This phenomenon provides for a focus in the dispersion of marine fauna throughout the Indo Pacific and Western Pacific. Malpelo is home to an important Coral formation as well as a large variety and quantity of marine creatures. Of special interest is the hammerhead shark with its awe-inspiring schools reaching up to 300 hundred at a time. The two most stand out phenomena’s in Malpelo are the huge number of cluster and free swimming moray eels, and the massive congregation of Silky sharks who often mix with Hammerhead sharks to form enormous shark schools. Other common sites are of white tip shark Galapagos shark, giant schools of angel fish, creole fish, jacks, tuna, and occasionally a sail fish, whale shark and Humpback Whale. Algae, moss and lichens cover the rugged cliffs of Malpelo which host the 2nd largest Masked Booby colony in the world, approximately 25,000 individuals. The island is often visited by approximately twelve species of migratory birds, including Red-billed Tropic bird, Red-footed Booby, the Black Noddy and the great and magnificent Frigatebirds. Endemic to the island are one crab, two starfish, various species of coralline fish, and two reptiles. Hugging the rock face, I inch my way around the ledge only to be greeted by one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen in 30 years of diving: the entire ocean is filled with Hammerhead Sharks. They move in an endless column from about 100 feet all the way to the surface. The panorama of torpedo-shaped bodies stretches as far as I can see…” Brett Gilliam CEO TDI/SDI Diving “…

New Shark Species

Recently an new shark species was discovered in malpelo. At 60 m below the keel on Doña Marielas ancor site, a rock needle that comes up a few meters below the surface, is the world of the ragged tooth tiger shark. Those massive guys reach up to 6m lenght and remained unknown to the scientific world until now. The shark seems to be related to the tiger shark but lives at greater depths. Malpelo divers refer to it as "The monster" (picture right).

Climate

The Climate is maritime and wet tropical with high humidity and abundant rainfall. The temperatures average around 28 C all year long. There are no permanent fresh water reserves on the island, although frequent rains accumulate in and pass through temporary rock pools and springs throughout the island. From December to May, the northern winds bring with them calm and cold water and clear skies. From May to November the effects are the opposite being influenced by the Ecuatorial Countercurrent that brings warmer waters rich in Plankton and lots of rain.