In the village of
Salango near
Puerto Lopez, right on the highway, is the home of a great
diver, Don Humberto.
He no longer dives, but there are many stories of his incredible experience exploring the seabed, some of which we present to you...
Every night I go out to the ocean shore, gentle rays of sunlight caress my face and the breeze gently ruffles my gray hair... I look at the sea, at the white foam of the waves, and my memory fades away, transporting me to the past, when I was young and strong, when I could dive... oh, those times will never return, only the pleasant memory of the great moments I experienced remains.
I grew up in a family of fishermen; my father was a fisherman from a young age. I want to share some of my stories, full of adventure, excitement, and risk, but which still leave me with the pleasant sensation of adrenaline rushing through my body when I think back to that time.
NORWEGIAN SHIP
I remember when I was 11 years old, a huge ship from Norway arrived in town. It was so big that it could only dock 1 mile from the coast, and its bows were the size of our fishing boats. For six months, the Norwegians filled the ship with
whale blubber, and when all the holds were full, they set out on the long journey back to their country. They said they were returning by the same route they had come, which was the Strait of Magellan, as the Panama Canal did not yet exist. Part of the crew that arrived with the ship decided to stay in
Salango, fearing the unpredictable storms that ruled the strait. The ship set sail for home without knowing what awaited it on its long journey, without knowing that nature would take its toll on them. Days passed, and I remember that on a gray morning, I was sitting by the sea when someone arrived with the sad news that the Norwegian ship had not even made it halfway because it had sunk. Everyone was shocked by the sad news.
The days continued to be full of color and light, playing, jumping, and fluttering to the sound of the waves. I felt the sea breeze touch my face and the sun's rays illuminate my steps. One sunny morning, sitting next to my father on a rock, looking at the
sea, a friend of my father's approached. He was one of the Norwegians who had stayed behind from the ship. He was a
diver and asked my dad if he wanted to learn to dive. My dad was delighted and said yes. After a while, my father knew some
diving techniques, and as I grew up, my father taught me everything he had learned. It was incredible to dive into the sea and see the wonderful marine species that can be found at the bottom, colorful fish, beautiful reefs... In short, it is a wonderful world full of peace and relaxation.
DIA DE BUCEO, MI PRIMER PESCA DE 118 LIBRAS
One day, my father and I went to collect lobsters near one of the islands off the coast. He stayed behind to watch the air compressor, and I went down with a hose. After about an hour of collecting lobsters, I noticed some movement near a rock. My goodness, two large fish were nibbling at clams on the rock. I tried to get closer, and the larger one fled in the blink of an eye, while the smaller one hid, curled up in a small crevice, with only its nose visible. Oh dear, it's time to go back up, my father will be worried... but I can't leave this great catch here. I don't have a harpoon, a trident is no weapon in this case, and you can't catch a giant fish with your bare hands. The solution was simple. Wrapping rings of about 15m of hose, I decided to use this lifeline, through which air enters from the compressor. Folding it in half, I gently pass it through the gills and pull it out through the fish's mouth. In the same way, I passed the stick through to help push the hose, leaving it at the end of the mouth so that it wouldn't bite the hose. It came out nicely. I slowly began to pull my new little horse out of its crevice. Once free, the giant began to flutter. How scary... if the giant takes off, it will take me with the hose and everything, and anyway, climbing from a depth of 10 fathoms without air is suicide. (1 fathom - 1.68 m, the distance between the index fingers of outstretched arms). I took hold of the hose near the mouth and squeezed it all the way down. The Beast, sensing my strength, calmed down and stopped. Little by little, like a tame horse, I dragged it up. Finally, I reached the surface, clinging with both hands to hold on, and began to push it. My father understood immediately and in a matter of seconds slid the rope through the giant's gills; it won't escape now... Without a drop of strength but happy, no joke—a 118-pound trophy, I climbed onto the boat. Now I can relax...
VOLCANIC ERUPTION, SAD DEATH OF MARINE SPECIES
One day we went to the Galapagos Islands on a small boat to collect lobsters near Fernandina Island. At night, crabs and lobsters come out of their burrows to eat, so they are usually collected in the dark. In two hours we had already collected a good amount, and the next time I dove down, I suddenly felt some tremors. All the divers quickly climbed back up. A majestic sight appeared before our eyes—a powerful volcanic eruption had begun, and everything around us was painted in blood-red colors. We watched this beauty for half an hour, while the captain decided to leave, as it was too dangerous. Later I learned that many turtles, sharks, and other marine species had died due to the overheating of the water...
FREEING A WHALE
There was a time when we used to fish for
sharks in the
Galapagos with a net as thick as a finger, with a mesh size of 16 inches. One morning, I went to check the net... oops... it's gone. What could have happened? Did someone take it with all our catch...? I see a black spot a couple of kilometers away—a
whale. We carefully approached the mammal, and there it was—a 15-meter giant entangled in our net. Strange, but the
whale, half in the water and half in the air, let us approach it like a dock without saying a word. What do I do now...? There's no way to pull the net out from the boat—its back is too wide. Very cautiously, my friend and I climbed onto the giant's back. It felt like I was walking on plastic-covered ground. Slowly freeing the animal from the net, we reached the tail. There wasn't enough room for both of us here, and it was scary—if it hit me with its tail, I would fly all the way to Quito without stopping. I crawl on my knees, my hands trembling as I slowly untangle the animal. Here, the surface doesn't seem so solid. It took forever to get the whole net into the boat. A highly intelligent animal, feeling free, it began to dive with elegance and grace, as if afraid of hurting us in the slightest. About 50 meters away, the
whale jumped, enjoying its freedom, said goodbye to us by turning on its axis with its fin out of the water, and disappeared into the depths of the ocean. My friend and I stood there for a while, happy, saying goodbye to the largest and most intelligent mammal in the world...
NOBODY KNOWS WHO THEY WORK FOR. - DISCOVERING TREASURES -
The Galapagos Islands hold many secrets. Every diver dreams of finding treasure at the bottom of the ocean. There are many stories about sunken ships near the archipelago, conquistadors who hid their treasures on the islands, but divers and fishermen are very poor and can only talk about mountains of gold waiting for their owner... One day, while collecting lobsters near an island, we finished our work and waited in the boat for our companion, who was taking a long time. After a while, he appeared with a round object in his hand. A closer inspection revealed that it was a porthole, covered over time with small stones and shells. As we returned to port, our friend carefully cleaned the pebbles off his find. “It looks like gold,” someone joked. The color was actually a little lighter than bronze, but to be honest, none of us had ever seen real gold, so when we arrived at the port, the porthole was forgotten in the boat and we all went to drink beer with the other fishermen. Hearing the story of the discovery, one fisherman advised showing it to a friend who knows about metals. But the friend immediately said it was bronze, because who would make it out of gold, right? But the ox was very beautiful, and the friend bought it very cheaply, thanks to the fishermen's eternal need to drink. They asked again and again, “Where did we find it? How can we locate the place?” No one could give a clear answer; we were already drunk. The next day we dived in the same place and, out of curiosity, I decided to inspect the seabed more closely. In a mountain of stones, I could make out the outline of a ship, but there was no time left, and I rose to the surface. Only after a while did I realize that it was a galleon that had sunk in those waters a long time ago, when I heard the news about my poor fisherman friend, who bought the ox, started building a big house, and bought his own fishing boat. Our children are good friends with that friend's son, and during a drinking session, he told my son that as soon as his father saw the ox, he realized it was gold, but he was afraid that the location of the find would be discovered and did not want to arouse suspicion. The ox was cut into pieces and sold in Guayaquil, and our friend became rich overnight. The fisherman who made the discovery still doesn't know what he found and continues to work, catching lobsters to bring home a little bread for his family. I still remember where this galleon lies, year after year covered with layers of stones and sinking deeper and deeper into the sand. How many treasures still lie at the bottom of the sea? How many will be found? How many will continue to wait for their owner in eternity?
Turned into a rock to save myself from a shark
Thousands, millions of sharks live in the Galapagos. One sunny day, I was collecting sea cucumbers from the rocks at the bottom of the sea when suddenly it went dark. “Fog,” I thought, but then everything became clear again. Looking up, I froze in horror. Above me was a huge shark, 6 meters long, the biggest I had ever seen. Someone told me that sharks only attack if their victim is between the bottom and the surface. As I remembered all this, the shark passed so close, almost touching me, that I had to grab hold of a rock and become one with the stone. It was a common gray shark, which does not attack humans, but the size... “Don't let the air compressor shut off”—that was the only thing on my mind. The fish circled around and around, closing in, and I had to spend half an hour in an iguana-like position on top of the rock until the giant left.
SHARKS TRYING TO ESCAPE – 136 SHARKS CAUGHT
In addition to common gray sharks, aggressive species sometimes appear in these waters. One day, we were going to pull up the shark net that we had set the night before. Oh, I see that it's gone, there's not even a trace of it, but I noticed a movement at the bottom of the sea. My partner and I put on our fins and masks and went down to check it out. I wondered, “What happened? Could the weight have dragged the net to the bottom?” When we dove into the sea, we realized that our entire 200-meter net with all the buoys was at the bottom, full of sharks! Among them was a 6-meter blue shark, an aggressive shark that is said to attack humans. I had no desire to get close to it, and in any case, the load would not fit in our boat. When we came up, we radioed the larger boat and had them pull up the net with a machine. That day, our catch included 136 (!) sharks.
ESCAPING FROM A SPERM WHALE
I have been in my life and in front of a sperm whale—another ogre (man-eater), which reaches a length of 12 m (or is it a white shark?). Old fishermen say that this animal is fierce and breaks boats. One day, when I saw this 10-meter-long animal chasing our boat, I followed the advice of the elders, turned off the engine, and we froze in fear, not moving for a while, watching the giant fin circling around our boat. Then I slowly began to pour gasoline into the sea. Sensing the toxic substance, the basking shark slowly swam away into the depths of the sea, reminding us once again that the ocean also hides danger in its depths...
MY BIGGEST RECORD IN THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA
Divers, plunging into the depths of the ocean, earned their living by collecting shellfish, lobsters, and hunting large fish. But sometimes you have to do any kind of work underwater... One day, my partner and I were called out—not far from the coast, a fishing boat had sunk after a plank broke at the bottom, and within minutes, it sank. A well-equipped fishing boat is worth a lot of money, and the owner, who didn't want to lose it, decided to raise it from the seabed. For this, one of us had to tie a rope to the boat, and then lifting and transporting it would not be our problem. I went down first, to a maximum depth of 25 fathoms or 42 meters. You can't dive any deeper without special equipment. After passing this mark, I finally saw the outline of the ship. Damn! There were still 15-20 meters to go... Well, I continue to dive, the pressure is unbearable, finally, in front of me is the ring of the mechanism that raises the net, I tie the rope to the ring... my hands can hardly move... I breathe very often, I'm already short of breath, the air compressor is too weak.
I start to tie the knot... my last ounce of strength... no... the water pressure is too much... I'm starting to see white spots... I came up, without a drop of strength left, and they dragged me to the boat. “How deep?” I ask. “33 fathoms...” my partner says, looking at me with eyes that want to pop out of his head. I explained the situation—the knot isn't finished, come on Gregorio, now it's your turn, I can't do it anymore. My partner puts on his mask and goes to the bottom. An eternity passed before his head appeared on the surface. He looked at me with a smile. Yes, I understand, no one has ever gone down to this depth, it's impossible. The knot is ready, our work is successfully completed, setting a record for diving without specialized equipment... The next day, the boat owner called us again. When he lifted it, the rope broke. He was willing to pay well if we tied a metal cable now. No, thank you, I still want to live. I'm not going back to that depth. Gregorio also shook his head, but we advised the owner to go to Salinas to ask the sailors for help. They have special diving equipment. The next day we went to Salinas. No one believed us that we were at this depth. Still tying knots. The sailors refused to go down more than 50 meters even with equipment, saying it was impossible. And the boat remained at the bottom of the ocean, but Gregorio and I are now diving champions in the village...
Leaving behind 34 years of underwater experience, I stopped diving professionally six years ago, but after spending half my life in the water, I had to dive to a shallow depth for two to three hours a day, doing so less and less frequently. Now I build wooden boats and small vessels. But sometimes I take my mask and snorkel, put on my fins, and go out in my little boat to the sea, to immerse myself in the past, when I was young and strong, when I could dive...