Page 435 - Mexico Diving From the Caribbean to Pacific Isles

n a severe Vulcanian eruption of magni- it had happened on Krakatoa in 1883. The Numerous seabirds were found breeding.
fauna included the endemic San Benedicto
I tude 3 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index rock wren which became extinct. It is unu- S an Benedicto is often the first place to be
sual for an extinction to be recorded with visited on liveaboard diving trips to the
scale, pyroclastic flows rolled over the is-
land. Soon the entire island was covered

in ash and pumice up to 3 meters (10 feet) such precision, and in this case it was only Socorro area. Here you will get a taste of the

high. Ejecta filled the valley between Her- possible because observers were offshore, creatures that will dominate your conversa-

rera crater and Montículo Cinerítico, formed documenting how the island was blasted tion and underwater photo collections. You

a cone some 300 m (over 1,000 feet) high. with ejecta. Once the volcanic activity had may see many of the same exciting creatures

After some months with little activity, a sec- died down by the spring of 1953, seabirds as at Socorro Island. However, San Benedicto

ond series of eruptions began on November returned to the island for the breeding sea- is known throughout the world for the qual-

1, 1952. On December 8, the magma broke son. They roosted only north of Herrera cra- ity of manta ray encounters which divers ex-

through the cone’s southeastern base and ter, where the ash cover had already begun perience here. This is not just a quick glance

started to flow into the sea. This contin- to erode away. A few land crabs were pre- at a passing manta ray or two but a series

ued to about February 24, 1953. By March sent also, having either managed to survive of prolonged and intimate interactions

9, 1953, most activity had subsided, except the eruption or, more probably, recolonized with several giant Pacific manta rays. These

fumaroles in the crater and at the rift in its the island; their larvae live in the ocean. The majestic creatures come to this area to be

base; the lava was hard but still retained island was devoid of plant life. By late 1953, cleaned by Clarion angelfish (Clarion Island

much heat. By late 1953, the volcano was rain had removed the ash and pumice de- is one of the four Revillagigedos islands).

dormant again. The eruption wiped out posits in the steeper locations of northern

– at least temporarily – all flora and ter- San Benedicto. At least half the previously

restrial fauna of San Benedicto, much like recorded plant taxa were again present.