Diver UK 01.2021

WISHING ALL OUR READERS A MULTI-DIVE NEW YEAR!

BLACKWATER JANUARY 2021

Big in 2021: Open-water night-diving divernet.com

OCEANIC £4.40
WHITETIPS
…AND A DRAGON HUNT
Jumpy sharks in the Red Sea

16INLANDSITES
Your all-seasons backyard diving guide

MODEL U-BOAT

Diving a big one to refine a little one

ENTER
ONE
DRAGON…

SCOTLAND’S
HIGHBALL BOMBS

Home and FIRST IN Escape your bubble.
away wins
There’s a whole world waiting just below the surface
WE BANGED ON for much of 2020 about in The Florida Keys, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
diving in our own backyards, for reasons With the only living coral barrier reef in the continental U.S.,
that will surprise nobody. For all those of
us based in the UK we’re now well past the point at hundreds of wrecks and thousands of species
which diving through winter separates the keen from – all within a 2,900 square-nautical-mile protected
the cautious.
marine sanctuary – it’s never too soon
Let’s face it, it was one thing indulging in the joys of to start planning your escape.
backyard-diving in summer after the first lockdown
when Covid looked to be retreating (though we all For the latest protocols on health and safety in
knew it wasn’t). Diving in January is that bit more The Florida Keys, please visit our website.
challenging, and does call for decent drysuits and fla-keys.com/diving
underwear, and a spirit of adventure.

Having said that, plenty of divers swear by the
experience, and if that’s the only way to get under
water while overseas exit routes are largely blocked,
it’s worth making the effort.

That’s why we’ve rounded up major inland sites in

this issue, because in the here and now they could STEVE
represent your best chance of submersion. WEINMAN,

We asked the divers who run these sites to tell us EDITOR

what makes them special, and if you’re not that

familiar with their offerings you might be surprised by

the sheer range of purpose-sunk attractions, wildlife and often

impressive topside facilities. Imaginative underwater photographers

shouldn’t under-rate their potential either.

We put this guide together during nationwide lockdown. It wasn’t easy
to get hold of everyone and, understandably, many were unsure exactly
what they would be allowed or able to offer in the short-term.

But whether you test the waters in January (less chance of queing for
the car park!) or wait until later in the year, we think our inland sites
will have a more important role than ever to play in our diving this
year. Check out the possibilities near you.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN is that vaccines are arriving, scientists
(never mind the politicians) are predicting a return to some sort of
normality by summer, and these greenish signals mean that we can
start to think positively about booking overseas trips.

The travel industry has bent over backwards to provide safeguards in
the form of deposit-return or voucher schemes, and pointed out that
this could be your chance to secure a place on the sort of trip for which
you might in normal times have had to join the queue.

So as long as you take the usual precautions of sticking with reputable,
properly bonded travel operators, it’s worth considering booking your
next diving holiday now and having something to look forward to.
We reckon the offers will start tumbling out as January unfolds.

Much of the virtual discussion at recent international forum the World
Travel Market centred on seizing the opportunity to rebuild the travel
industry better in the wake of coronavirus. We know that travelling
divers are acutely conscious of the need to protect environmentally
fragile destinations and also to limit air-miles.

So I’ll just drop in this idea, inspired by Malta’s invitation
to divers now working from home to transfer to an island
apartment from which they can spend their spare time
under water. If your office is wherever you park your
computer, why not? The same goes for retirees. So will
the trend be for fewer but longer dive holidays in future?

divEr 2

JANUARY 2021 Volume 66 No 1 the magazine that’s straight down the line…

Published monthly by Eaton Publications Ltd, CONTENTS
Suite B, 74 Oldfield Road, Hampton,
Middlesex, TW12 2HR

Tel: 020 8941 8152

Publisher & Editor-in-Chief FEATURES
Nigel Eaton [email protected]
16 Diving the Night Shift. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Editor Blackwater diving – it’s sweeping the ocean!
Steve Weinman [email protected]
24 Jurassic Survivor
Production Manager It lurks in US lakes – meet the paddlefish
George Lanham [email protected]
28 Down to the Rivets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Technical Editor North Sea divers help to build a model U-boat
Steve Warren [email protected]
38 Inland Sites Diver’s Guide..........
Sales & Marketing Manager All-seasons locations to enjoy in England & Wales
Alex Khachadourian [email protected]
48 Ever Snapped a Seadragon?
Advertising Consultant Images of a diver favourite are in demand
Jenny Webb [email protected]

Publishing Consultant
Tony Weston [email protected]

Webmaster
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EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS

Archaeology Dave Parham

Freediving Marcus Greatwood

Law Prof Mike Williams

Medicine Dr Ian Sibley-Calder

Photography Saeed Rashid, Brian Pitkin

Ships Richard Larn

Wrecks Rex Cowan

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Winning images from a European photo contest
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but in case of difficulty notify the Subscriptions Dept at the above
address. Ross McLaren revisits some favourite wreck sites

The reproduction in whole or in part of any of the contents of COVER IMAGE: ,
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The views expressed in FIRST IN are not necessarily those of The biggest online
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Due caution should be exercised by anyone attempting dives on
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CONTENTS

REGULARS

2 First In
6
15 Editor’s view
33
34 News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
59
64 Taking DCI too lightly – and a great weight find
66
Beachcomber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bond-style underwater chase – or is it?

Trewavas

If you doubt the science, don’t be a diver!

Be the Champ!

Alex Mustard on how divers enhance wreck photos

Booking Now. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Get away from it all in 2021!

Review

New books on sharks & shipwrecks

Diver Tests

Mares Dragon BC plus a weightbelt & a dive-mask

70 Just Surfaced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

New but untested products

78 Deep Breath

‘Teaching a diver with a disability changed my life’

PLUS @DIVERMAGAZINE
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divEr 4 divErNEt.com

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DIVER NEWS

Divers are too ready to BSAC
dismiss DCI symptoms

UK DIVING INCIDENTS comprehensive synopses as case three divers had been over 70 They also stress the importance of
involving decompression studies from which it’s hoped divers and the average age was 56). ensuring that equipment is regularly
illness are falling, but where can learn lessons. serviced and replaced once past its
DCI does occur the increasingly BSAC says that age and recommended life-span.
common factors appear to be diving The number of incidents reported potential related health and
below 30m and repeat diving – and in 2019 was slightly up on the fitness issues could still be “As has been stated for over 50
too often apparent symptoms are previous year, reflecting what BSAC critical factors among fatalities, years in our annual report, most of
shrugged off by divers. believes was an increase in diving and that there were“strong the incidents reported within this
activity including an early start to the indications”that pre-existing document could have been avoided
That’s one of the findings in the season, as well as inclusion of incident medical causes or immersion had those involved followed a few
British Sub Aqua Club’s Diving Incident reports from Ireland, provided by the pulmonary oedema (IPO) basic principles of safe diving
Report for 2019, published this month. Irish Underwater Council. remained factors in a number practice,”they write.
of diving deaths.
UK diving’s national governing There were 13 UK fatalities, down Most of the incidents in the report
body moved to reporting by calendar by four from the previous year but still The number of fast ascents are derived from BSAC’s incident
year for the first time last year. in line with the annual average for the increased, it says, with indications reporting forms, which are supported
past decade of 14.1. that the increase was related either by all diving agencies in the UK and
The report analysed a total of 271 to failed deployment of delayed Eire, with additional data supplied
incidents throughout the UK along One of the divers was over 70 and surface marker buoys or equipment by the Coastguard, RNLI, Ministry of
with others overseas, and includes the average age was 58.3 (in 2018 malfunctions. Defence, PADI EMEA and RoSPA.

Divers asked to In a number of incidents, evident The report can be downloaded at
share weight data symptoms of DCI had been dismissed bsac.com/document/bsac-diving-
as allergic reactions or explained incident-report-2019/ ■
by tiredness or physical trauma,
with treatment sought only when
symptoms persisted over an
extended period.

BSAC Incidents Advisors
Prof Clare Peddie and Jim Watson,
who compiled the report, caution
divers that DCI symptoms should not
be dismissed even where missed
stops or a fast ascent are not factor,s
because of the risks involved with
repeat diving and diving below 30m.

SCUBA-DIVERS’ weight in relation to their weight and health. Aim for Underwater Photographer
their health is the latest topic to be The organisation specialises in
researched by DDRC Healthcare as THE UNDERWATER Photographer images taken close to home,
part of its long-term Health of Divers diving medicine, hyperbaric oxygen of the Year 2021 contest (UPY wherever that may be.”
project.The Plymouth-based diving- therapy and medical training, and 2021) is open for entries – but only
medicine organisation is asking for as delivers a hyperbaric medical until 5 January. The 13 categories, with themes
many divers as possible to participate emergency service alongside its such as Macro,Wide Angle,
by completing a questionnaire and charitable diver-health research and Originating in 1965 and today Behaviour, Conservation and
encouraging others to do so. education activities. regarded as one of the world’s Wreck, are aimed at new
leading underwater photo photographers and those with
“Weight is currently a hot topic Its previous Health of Divers competitions, the annual event more basic camera equipment,
with regard to good health, and never surveys have covered diving in attracts thousands of entries. and four are dedicated to photos
more so than since the outbreak of relation to alcohol; asthma; cardiac, taken in British waters.
Covid-19,”says DDRC, which holds dental, mental and women’s health; The last one included work from
data on weight trends among divers decompression illness; illicit, some 500 photographers – but the UPY 2021 will not, however,
dating back as far as 1990. prescription and over-the-counter coronavirus pandemic has resulted involve a prize-giving.“We know
drugs; ears; and flying. in some changes for the latest. that winning prizes is a major
Its first anonymous study in 1999 motivation for entering
revealed that just over a third of More information on the findings, “We’re well aware that photographic competitions and
participating divers were either leaflets and Powerpoint presentations international travel has been we’re really proud that UPY has
overweight or obese. created for divers and clubs can be restricted, but many given out so many in the past –
downloaded from ddrc.org photographers have been and surely will in the future,”
By 2019 that figure had soared shooting more locally, or had time says Mustard. “However, the
from 34 to 69% – an alarming finding, DDRC Healthcare assures divers to dive into their archives and find diving industry has been severely
although in line with national trends. that all information shared in its some hidden gems,”says chair of impacted by the events of 2020,
30-point Weight & Health the judges Alex Mustard. and in support of these companies
DDRC Healthcare says that apart questionnaire, which can be found at we feel it’s not an appropriate time
from collecting data for its research surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DDRCweight, “We’ve introduced a new My
it hopes the survey will get divers is anonymous and“will be totally Backyard award to celebrate
talking and thinking about watching untraceable to you”. ■

divEr 6 divErNEt.com

DIVER NEWS

Lifeboats out as Skye dive-boat fails with divers down…

A GROUP OF NINE scuba-divers had to be Fishing vessel the Helen Bruce picked up The divers are retrieved and (below) the stricken boat under tow. ANDREW MACDONALD, KYLE RNLI
picked up by the Kyle RNLI lifeboat in Loch Alsh another three divers and transferred them onto
on Scotland’s north-west coast after their new the SD Raasay while the lifeboat waited to pick
dive-boat broke down on its first day in action. up the last two divers when they surfaced.

The Spirit of Fred.Olsen lifeboat was called out The tender carried the group back to Kyle,
just before mid-day on 21 November.The first while the lifeboat went to take the disabled
divers to surface following their dive on the dive-boat under tow and return it to Kyleakin on
20m-deep HMS Port Napier WW2 minelayer had the Skye side of the loch.The whole operation
found that their boat had drifted away from the took 110 minutes.
dive area and was unable to retrieve them.
“The diving party had just purchased their
The cox’n had called for assistance after the new dive boat and were extremely well-
vessel suffered engine failure. Loch Alsh lies equipped,”said a Kyle RNLI spokesperson.
between the Isle of Skye and the Wester Ross
mainland, from where it took the lifeboat only “However, unfortunately they were extremely
two minutes to reach the scene. unlucky and the boat suffered a severe
mechanical failure, which left it completely
Three divers had already surfaced and were disabled in the water.
trying to board a passing supply tender, the SD
Raasay but were having difficulty because of its “Due to the swift action of the divemaster
large size.The lifeboat crew picked them up and calling for assistance early, the entire group
helped them to board the tender before were all recovered quickly and safely.”
helping another diver who had just ascended.
The call-out was the 20th of the year for the
Kyle lifeboat volunteers. ■

…and lucky buddy-pair found in dark in Wales

TWO DIVERS who went missing off helicopter; three lifeboats from Angle, “Our volunteer lifeboat crews have
the Pembrokeshire coast late in the St Davids and Little Haven; the Dale continued to operate throughout the
afternoon on 14 November were and Broad Haven Coastguard rescue pandemic and remain on call 24/7 to
found drifting in the dark off Skomer teams, police and two tankers that respond to emergencies,”said RNLI
Island by an RNLI lifeboat crew had been in the vicinity. Head of Water Safety Gareth Morrison.
following a two-hour search.
“The two divers were in a dire “But anyone going on or in the
According to the Maritime & situation when the lifeboat found water must understand the risks and
Coastguard Agency the divers, a man them,”reported the Coastguard, but take the necessary steps to keep
and a woman, had been due back in a later examination by paramedics themselves as safe as possible.
Martins Haven with the rest of their showed them to be unharmed.
group, but when it was reported that “During the pandemic, we must all
they had gone missing a search They said they had been caught in take reasonable precautions to
operation was mounted at 4.45pm. a current and swept away from the reduce the demands on RNLI and
rest of their group. independent lifeboat crews, HM
Involved in the search for the Coastguard, and other emergency
buddy-pair were the Coastguard Lockdown restrictions had just services.” ■
been relaxed in Wales at the time.

of theYear – but hurry! Six-day dive in Dahab

KEIGO KAWAMURA, UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR EGYPTIAN SCUBA-DIVER Saddam fiancée,
Killany, 29, has claimed a new world fellow-
Eyes by Keigo Kawamura, runner-up in the 2020 Macro category. record for longest saltwater dive, after diver
staying under water for almost six Pia
for photographers to be asking bespoke results system, providing days in Dahab in the northern Red Legora,
them for prizes.” feedback to every entrant on how Sea.The claim awaits verification from had made
far through the contest each of Guinness World Records (GWR). headlines
Underwater photographers their images progressed. in Egypt by holding their engagement
Peter Rowlands, Martin Edge again Killany was said to have spent five ceremony under water.
join Mustard on the judging panel, Enter UPY 2021 at underwater years preparing for his record
and the competition incorporates a photographeroftheyear.com ■ attempt. Submerging on 5 November, Current world record-holder and
he was attended by a medical team the man Killany’s dive was designed
supervised by Adel Taher, well-known to beat is Turkish diver Cem Karabay.
to divers as director of South Sinai’s Killany had been aiming high at 150hr
Hyperbaric Medical Centre. but in the end his medical team had
become concerned about his health.
Killany was monitored on camera
throughout his dive, and GWR will Karabay had recorded a time of
have to scrutinise some 143 hours’ 142hr 42min 42sec in northern
worth of video footage to ensure that Cyprus in 2016.
all its conditions were met.The diver
passed the time by exercising, That was the fourth of his GWR
praying, eating and drawing – one of underwater endurance records, which
his favourite pastimes is said to be include longest dive in a controlled
underwater painting. environment (192hr, 19min, 19sec in
2011) and longest coldwater sea dive
In September he and his Spanish (30hr 20min in 2018). ■

divErNEt.com 7 divEr

DIVER NEWS

Cornish diver lifts unique weights

THREE 25KG BRONZE African trading
merchant’s weights have been
recovered from the Schiedam, post of Tangier.
a 17th-century Dutch-built shipwreck
near Gunwalloe on the west side of The convoy was
Cornwall’s Lizard Peninsula.
dispersed in stormy
Local maritime archaeologist and
author David Gibbins excavated and weather and the
raised the octagonal weights over the
course of five dives in September, Schiedam ran
but has only now announced the
significant find after preparing a aground off
detailed report on their origins.
Cornwall on 4 April,
The remains of the ship, also known
as the Schiedam Prize, were discovered 1684. No lives were
in 1971 at depths of 4-7m. Designated
as a protected wreck, since 2016 the lost, and some
site has been investigated by Gibbins
and local dive operator Mark Milburn salvage was carried
as Cornwall Maritime Archaeology,
under licence from Historic England. out at the time.

Coat of arms. The weights were

In 2018 Milburn wrote for divEr spotted as Gibbins
about diving and exploring the wreck-
site as shifting sands allowed. On her and Milburn dived
final voyage from the Netherlands, the
Schiedam was captured by Barbary the wreck in 2017.
pirates off Spain – and then captured
again 10 days later by the English “It’s a difficult place RACHEL HIPPERSON
captain Cloudesley Shovell.
to dive because of the
As a sixth-rate ship of the line, she
was subsequently used to carry guns heavy seas that batter
and other equipment, labourers with
their families and horses during the this coast for much of
English withdrawal from the North
DAVID GIBBINS the year,” said Gibbins. Pictured & right: David Gibbins brings out one of the weights.
“After a storm in

2017 we were amazed

to see the wreck completely exposed,

with cannon and other artefacts

visible on the seabed.

“We began to explore a gully and

Mark saw three metal objects

sticking out of concretion. We knew

that these were very significant finds

and that they were at threat of DAVID GIBBINS

damage from the rocks that roll up

and down the seabed during storms.

“We contacted Historic England The weights on the seabed.

and received permission to recover

them, but by the time we were able

to return they were deeply buried in

sand and impossible to excavate.

“In September 2020 I snorkelled

over the site and saw that we were

finally in luck – the artefacts were

exposed again. Over five dives I was

able to free them from concretion

and bring them ashore.”

Used by traders in Tangier, the 19 x

33cm artefacts are thought to be far

older than the ship. Portugal occupied

Tangier from 1471 to 1661 and they

bear the Portuguese royal coat of

arms in relief on their sides, along with DAVID GIBBINS

JEFF GOODMAN The three merchant’s weights, showing the Portuguese royal coat of arms.

David Gibbins on the wreck-site beside a cannon. small symbols of a ship. Gibbins first representing the English
believes they were probably cast in a adventure in Tangier under King
gun foundry – and destined to be Charles II in the late 17th century,
recycled for their bronze in England. and the second the Portuguese
Age of Discovery over a century and
“They are unique among surviving half earlier.
Portuguese weights for their age, size
and decoration, and are among the “It was thrilling to make this
oldest and most unusual artefacts to discovery and we look forward to
be recovered from a shipwreck off more revelations as our investigation
Cornwall,” he said. of the wreck continues.”

“It’s fascinating to think of these Gibbins’ detailed report can be
objects having a two-fold history: the found at davidgibbins.com ■

divEr 8 divErNEt.com

Diver couldn’t save husband from shark Dive

AN INQUEST HAS been held into the Milligan told police investigators unable to lift him.“Ms Milligan had diving holidays worldwide
formed the belief that her husband
death of an experienced diver that he would always turn the shield was no longer alive and her attempts Caribbean
to get him on the boat were futile,”
following a great white shark attack back on once the line was attached. said the police officer. 20+ Resorts

in Western Australia early in 2020. She saw her husband swim away “She released him from her grip Land + Sea
and he sank beneath the waves.”
divEr reported the incident at the carrying the line, but lost sight of him SAVE UP TO 25%
Milligan issued a Mayday call from Luxury
time, pointing out that such fatalities behind a mound. the boat, and was later treated in
hospital for shock. Liveaboards
involving scuba-divers were unusual. When he reappeared she also saw
Johnson’s body was never Bahamas | Bonaire
Gary Johnson, 57, was president of “a large shark-tail flapping up and found, though subsequent Barbados
searches turned up the
Esperance Dive Club, and he and his down”, according to Senior Constable remains of his wetsuit, fins, Grand Cayman
BC and tank. Cayman Brac
wife Karen Milligan dived together Craig Robertson, and described the Little Cayman
The presence of a great Dominica | Grenada
from their boat most white shark was detected St Lucia | Tobago
through DNA-testing of
weekends. On 5 January the items. Special
Liveaboard Itineraries
they were out at a Coroner Sarah Linton Cuba | Dominican Rep.
said she was satisfied that Turks & Caicos + More
favourite site called Devils Johnson had died and
would no longer be officially Group Discounts
Rocks near Cull Island, categorised as a missing person. + Free Places
“From the moment of the attack,
about four miles out from there was nothing that you could See online for OFFERS
have done – it was a sudden, fatal
their home town of attack,”she told Milligan. www.sportifdive.co.uk
Since the incident occurred the
Esperance, south of Perth. state government has installed three 01273 844919
shark-warning towers at popular
According to a report beaches around Esperance, and there
are plans to build an in-water
on proceedings at the memorial to Gary Johnson. ■

Coroner’s Court of Western Gary Johnson with his wife Karen Milligan.
Australia by WA Today, the

couple entered the water at midday water as filling with blood and sand.

to set a supplementary anchor-line She swam forward to try to ward

by tieing onto a rock at a depth of off the shark with her camera, but in

around 15m. the stirred-up conditions lost sight of

Although Johnson habitually both the shark and her husband.

deployed a ”Shark Shield”, a device But heading back to the boat she

based on a trailing 2m cord that found Johnson with his eyes open but

creates an electrical field designed to unresponsive, his right arm badly

repel sharks, he tended to turn it off mauled and his mask and tank gone.

while attaching the line because on She tried to get him back aboard

a previous occasion the two lines had the boat, attaching her own BC to him

tangled and he had received a shock. to help keep him afloat, but it proved

Poland trumps Italy with‘diver kindergarten’

THE WORLD’S DEEPEST artificial diving pool is now
Deepspot, which opened in the Polish town of
Mszczonow, 25 miles from Warsaw, on 21 November.

At 45.5m the pool beats the former record-holder,
which is also in Europe – Deep JoyY-40 in Montegrotto
Terme in Italy is 42.5m deep.

Providing another confined-water environment for
advanced scuba and freediver training, Deepspot includes
five layers of artificial caves and a Mayan chamber for
overhead-environment work, as well as a small boat.
The main pool section descends to 20m.

The pool holds 8000cu m of
water – more than 20 times as
much as most 25m swimming
pools. Construction took two
years and cost around £8 million.

There are plans to put up
visiting divers in an adjacent
hotel from which they can watch the underwater
activities through viewing windows 5m deep.
The Deepspot complex was able to open to the public
during the coronavirus pandemic because it is classed as
a diver-training centre. A dozen divers used it on the first
day, including eight on an instructor course, one of whom
described the facility as a“kindergarten for divers”.
A one-hour slot costs from £67 for one and £105 for
two divers with an instructor, £75 for two divers and
£146 for two instructors, deepspot.com/en ■

divErNEt.com 9 divEr

DIVER NEWS

Questions remain after
UK diver’s death in Mexico

ANEWLY GRADUATED British Olivia Bird soon after completing her had ascended a buoyline and carried Dr Olivia Byrom.
doctor died on Mexico’s six-year medical degree at Bristol out their 5m safety stop, during which
Yucatan peninsula during an University. she said Byrom had“seemed fine”. that she had died from drowning, and
open-water course dive – and her that there were no other medical
instructor called for her mobile phone Bird was a qualified PADI diver, They had stopped again 1.5m conditions.
to seek advice rather than trying to though it is unclear to what level. below the surface, and Bird said that
rescue her. She had enrolled on a refresher she had given the OK signal to Byrom No problems were found with her
course and Byrom had signed up for before completing the ascent, but BC or other diving equipment.
That was the claim made at an a five-day entry-level course in the that she had shaken her head.
inquest held in Bristol on 24 resort town of Tulum, though the The coroner commented that,
November into the death of Dr Olivia name of the dive-centre was not “I was quite confused; I didn’t really although he would normally have the
Byrom on 8 June, 2018. given in reports on the inquest by the know what was wrong,”Bird told the power to make a report to avoid the
Bristol Post and Daily Mirror. coroner. “She then turned away from risk of future deaths of this sort, his
Shortly after the fatal incident, me as if she was fiddling with jurisdiction did not extend to Mexico.
a friend of Byrom’s contacted divEr Coroner Jason Pegg heard that something.”
to say that her family had been left Byrom had dived on 5 and 6 June “There was a delay in seeking
in the dark about the circumstances without issues, but had taken the Surfacing, she realised that Byrom assistance for Liv, the instructor didn’t
of her death. following day off after showing signs was no longer with her, and looking go down to seek to rescue Liv and
of heatstroke. Feeling better on the down could see her descending the safety system in place was
divEr subsequently contacted the day of the incident, she had gone for “almost horizontal – on reflection, inadequate,”he said, concluding that
main dive-centres in the Tulum area an 18m dive with her friend and an I wonder if she was unconscious”. Byrom died of drowning caused by a
for information but there appeared to instructor named only as Peggy. scuba-diving accident.“I find the
have been a news black-out. At the surface Bird had alerted procedures in place, the safety
It was not clear from the reports the instructor, who she described as mechanisms, were inadequate, and
PADI told divEr at the time that a at which point if any on the dive “confused”. She said that instead of that did play a part in Liv’s death.”■
report had been filed and was under the instructor had left the other diving in to look for her friend she had
review, and that“there will be Quality two divers. asked someone to fetch her mobile
Management action taken as a result phone from her car so that she could
of an incident occurring while the Bird told the coroner that Byrom call a superior for advice.
victim was in training”. “was ahead of me all the time, and
I was conscious that when diving you Byrom’s body was later found by
Byrom, 29, had gone travelling in need to be close to each other”. They another diver on the seabed at a
Mexico with friend and fellow-doctor depth of 25m. A post mortem showed

Divers’bomb find detonated DIVERS FIND BONES,BOOTS &WEAPONS
in Guernsey
THE REMAINS of a young 16th- that the soldier had been identified
GUERNSEY COASTGUARD century soldier have been found by as such because he was found with
archaeological divers in Lake his sword, two knives and well-
A WW2 ANTI-SUBMARINE depth- Port.The dive-team inspected the Asveja in eastern Lithuania. preserved leather boots.
charge found by recreational scuba overgrown 1m-long cylindrical
divers off the Channel Island of device, which lay isolated in the sand They found the bones beneath Whether or not he met a violent
Guernsey was detonated five days at a depth of around 7m. a layer of mud and sand at a depth end could not be determined but
later by a Royal Navy explosive of 9m while excavating the remains the bones have been sent for
ordnance-disposal (EOD) dive-team. The controlled explosion was of Dubingiai Bridge, which spans forensic investigation at the
carried out on 15 November at the northern part of the lake. university’s medical faculty.The
A 200m exclusion zone had been mid-day, timed for low tide to possessions were being conserved
imposed on marine traffic following minimise the risk of a shockwave The discovery was described as at Lithuania’s National Museum.
the discovery near the entrance to the affecting a nearby breakwater. the first of its kind in Lithuania by
Queen Elizabeth II Marina in St Peter Elena Pranckenaite from Vilnius Lake Asveja lies in the east of
Guernsey was occupied by German University’s archaeology Lithuania, north of the capital
The depth charge on the seabed. forces during the war and the bomb department. She said that the Vilnius, and is the country’s longest
had at first been thought to be location was not a burial site, and lake at nearly 14 miles. ■
German or British, but the EOD team
ROYAL NAVY believed it to be a US-made
lightweight torpedo depth-charge
containing about 100kg of explosives. Boots and weapons reveal a soldier’s last resting place. A MATIUKIAS

An RN representative expressed
surprise that the bomb, probably set
to explode at a depth greater than
7m, had remained undetected and
intact for at least 75 years. ■

divEr 10 divErNEt.com

DIVER NEWS

Two weird squid species caught on camera

SCHMIDT OCEAN INSTITUTE SPIRULA SPIRULA, the ram’s horn surprises. On the hour-long video, arrangement because it leaves the
squid, was known from discarded which can be seen at schmidtocean. creature exposed to predators below.
Above: Ram’s horn squid at 860m. shells washed up on beaches but had org, a scientist exclaims:“What on
never been recorded in its natural Earth…?”as the rare squid appears Meanwhile it was announced that
deep-sea habitat – until now. on screen. elusive bigfin squid (Magnapinna)
had been seen and filmed in
An ROV camera operating at a “Any cephalopod experts out there Australian waters for the first time.
depth of 861m picked up a 7cm know who this squid friend is?”the
specimen of the cephalopod species team later asked on Twitter. After They were spotted by researchers
– surprising scientists from Schmidt facetious suggestions involving in the Great Australian Bight on two
Ocean Institute, who had been Minions, it was soon confirmed that separate scientific voyages.
expecting to study jellyfish. a spirula had been captured on video
for the first time. Bigfin squid can be as long as 7m
They were deploying the SuBastian because of their trailing arms and
ROV from the research vessel Falkor The ram’s horn is regarded as one tentacles, and live in the deep ocean,
on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, as of the most unusual squid species. so there have been relatively few
part of a year-long expedition that Cuttlefish carry in their tail an internal sightings worldwide.
had already yielded a number of shell containing gas chambers that
they use to control their buoyancy, The two voyages were carried out
Pictured & below: Bigfin squid but the ram’s horn squid is the only by Australia's national science
filmed at around 3km deep. other known mollusc to have research agency, the Commonwealth
developed such an arrangement. Scientific & Industrial Research
CSIRO Organisation (CSIRO).The sightings
The squid’s skeleton is tightly took place in 2015 and 2017, but the
coiled, unlike that of a cuttlefish, scientists’ report was only recently
and its design resembles that of published, in Plos One.
nautiluses, which have external shells.
On the first voyage, underwater
Experts studying the new footage cameras were towed at depths
were particularly surprised to see the between 946 and 3258m, resulting in
ram’s horn squid floating head up, fins two sightings. ROV-mounted cameras
down. Because of its buoyant shell were used two years later, capturing
images of three more squid.
and relatively heavy head, they
would have expected it to be The five squid were seen in one
the other way round. small part of a wide search area,
though the scientists were able to
This also means that its tail- confirm them as distinct individuals
mounted light-generating by their markings and colour.
“photophore”, used by deep-sea
creatures to spot prey, faces Precise dimensions were obtained
upwards. for the first time by projecting laser
beams onto the squid. One was 1.8m
This would normally be long, with its body making up only
considered an unhelpful about 15cm of its overall length. ■

Fire puts focus on li-ion battery-charging SCAPA DEATH

US COAST GUARD inspections of of charging”, with divers connecting visually or by smoke detectors. A MALE scuba-diver died in an
diving liveaboards and other small a variety of li-ion batteries using a They should also look out for incident in Scapa Flow on 28
commercial vessels are normally series of extension blocks. And a crew- October.The man went missing
carried out when there are no member had reported seeing sparks batteries being charged using“daisy- at 10.47 at a location south-east
passengers aboard – but now on plugging in his mobile phone the chain”multiple extensions, and verify of Houton Head, in the south of
inspectors have been instructed to previous night – the fire occurred in that crew are trained to extinguish the Orkney mainland.
scrutinise how lithium-ion batteries the early hours of the morning. li-ion battery fires. Dry chemical
are used, charged and stored. extinguishers or a smothering agent He was reported by the Press
It also emerged that a 2018 fire should be readily available to them. & Journal to have been diving on
The directive comes in the wake of aboard another Truth Aquatics fleet the German battleship SMS
the US National Transportation Safety vessel had been caused by an The Coast Guard has been accused Markgraf, one of the deepest-
Board (NTSB) report into the fire that overheating li-ion battery. of being slow to tackle the issue, but lying of the scuttled WW1 Scapa
killed 34 people on Californian with boat inspections usually carried shipwrecks at 45m.
liveaboard the Conception last year. According to the Los Angeles Times, out without guests aboard, charging
the Coast Guard policy letter issued areas are not seen in typical use. The Coastguard responded to a
No definite cause of the blaze has at the end of October directs call at around mid-day by sending
been established, but investigators inspectors to look out for batteries It now wants to ensure that its Stromness rescue team and a
have pointed to the lithium-ion not stored in cool, dry places away operators take responsibility for the helicopter from Stornoway in the
battery-charging area as one of three from combustible materials, or in issue in safety briefings and through Hebrides with the Stromness and
possible ignition sources, besides spaces not continuously monitored monitoring of battery storage and Longhope lifeboats and a dive-
smoking and the main electrical charging areas.Whether they can boat in the vicinity.
system.The NTSB report established check that divers use only undamaged
that the fire originated at the back of batteries authorised for the device The diver’s body was quickly
the mid-deck saloon where the they power is another matter, found, police told the Orcadian,
charging area was located. although the NTSB has noted that but the diver’s name was not
many batteries involved in fires are disclosed. An investigation was
Witnesses described a“spider-web “substandard knock-offs”. ■ under way. ■

divErNEt.com 11 divEr

DIVER NEWS

Freda’s Diver Dishes Mono master-
photographer
Veganuary (=Vegan + January) is a concept created by Jane Land and Ernie Brooks dies
Matthew Glover in 2014 and it has been a feature of many people’s
calendars every year since then. Why not try it yourself in 2021? AMERICAN UNDERWATER Brooks participated as a leader
I have learnt that people who try to embark on a vegan or plant-based diet often struggle photographer Ernie Brooks II, or principal member in many
with lunch options and never know what to put in a sandwich.So,to make this easier for who described himself as international photo-investigation
you,here is my favourite sandwich filler,wrapped up in a beeswax sustainable wrap to “ambassador to the marine projects including Arctic research
keep it fresher for longer. environment, photographer, stations in 1977, the Shroud of Turin in
adventurer, diver and educator”, 1978, Focus on New Zealand in 1985,
Butter Bean & Rose Harissa has died aged 85. and the Sea of Cortez the following
Roasted Red Pepper Sandwich year, an example of expeditions he led
Brooks came from a line of on the institute’s research vessel Just
Ingredients photographers. His father Ernest H Love. He reckoned to have carried out
Brooks had set up the Brooks Institute some 15,000 dives.
1 x 400g tin butter beans,drained & rinsed;1 large red pointed pepper,sliced;2 tsp Rose Harissa of Photography in Santa Barbara,
paste;4 sundried tomatoes,sliced;2-3 tbsp rapeseed oil;sea salt & pepper;2 fresh rosemary sprigs California in 1945 and his grand- He won numerous accolades and
mother had been a professional awards for underwater image-making
Method portrait photographer. achievements, and described
photography as a“vehicle to new
Drizzle a little oil into an ovenproof dish,toss the red pepper & rosemary sprigs into the oil and He was still living in Santa Barbara lands, a medium for self-expression
season well.Bake for 25 minutes at 180°C until soft and crispy at the edges.Set aside. when he died on 17 November. and a gateway to adventure… The
Place your butter beans,rapeseed oil and Rose Harissa paste into a mixing bowl and roughly ocean and underwater photography
mash,using a potato-masher. He began scuba-diving in 1949 are among my main interests and, in
Discard the rosemary from your cooked red peppers and gently mix the peppers with the butter aged 14 and built his first underwater pursuit of dramatic marine images, I
bean mash along with the sundried tomatoes.Season to taste. housing for a Leica camera at 19. have dived beneath the polar ice-caps
Your filler is now ready to turn into a sandwich using your favourite bread.Just add fresh spinach and in almost every ocean on Earth.
leaves and keep it in a beeswax wrap ready for your next dive adventure. He would prefer mono
photography throughout his long “I have grown to love the craft, its
Top Tips career: “I don’t think that blue, an art, and the very private and personal
inherent colour of the ocean, really time that it takes to pursue
Keep the sandwich filler in a jam-jar and it will last 3-4 days.It is also delicious served in a jacket adds to many photographs, especially perfection,”said Brooks.
potato as a super-quick supper option. of mammals – and I like the quality of
When buying tinned butter beans make sure they are in water with a little salt added only – no black and white,”he said. “Photography affords us the tools
other ingredients.Beans are a superfood,packed with protein,fibre and other nutrients.Lima or to sculpt with light, to paint with
butter beans are an especially good source of iron – one cup contains roughly 25% of your daily “Also, I get the personal satisfaction textures and shapes and to write
recommended iron.To make this sandwich filler a complete protein containing of working with black and white in volumes into a single image.”■
all nine essential amino acids,add a spoonful of dried pea protein to the mix. being able to control the
Y FredaWright is a diver and chef on British diving liveaboard mv Salutay.Find development and printing.”
more of her recipes in the book 40 Dives 40 Dishes.It costs £16 plus £1.95 postage.
£1 from every sale goes to Oceans Plastics Greenpeace,salutay.co.uk He graduated from the Brooks
Institute, of which he would later
become president from 1971 until it
was sold in 2000, and went on to
study underwater film-making with
scuba pioneer Hans Hass.

In 1956, while serving as a USAF
pilot in Africa, he met Jacques
Cousteau and went on to train many
of his photographers over 17 years.

DOLPHINS SLOW HEART TO BEAT DCI

DOLPHINS REDUCE their heart rates faster than for a shorter dive. By
just before they dive to avoid deflating part of their lungs they
decompression illness, according to a allowed blood or air to flow to areas
new scientific study. under pressure, conserving more
oxygen and limiting nitrogen intake.
Researchers at the Oceanographic
Foundation in Valencia, Spain led by Fahlman believes the action is not
comparative physiologist Andreas a reflex but conscious.“They can
Fahlman trained captive bottlenose basically step on and off the gas pedal
dolphins to undertake short or long when they want to,”he said.
dives on command, and used
electrocardiography to measure the The worry is that this mechanism
heart-rate adjustments they made. could be adversely affected by stress
caused by sonar signals or industrial
To prepare for a long dive the underwater noise.The study is
dolphins reduced the rate further and published in Frontiers in Physiology.■

divEr 12 divErNEt.com

DIVER NEWS

FOUR UNDERWATER IMAGES UP FOR PEOPLE’S CHOICE

THOMAS PESCHAK / WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR ANDREY SHPATAK / WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

FOUR UNDERWATER photographs Images to look out for on the NHM run aground on massed green turtles. sight to many divers who have
are among the 25 images put forward voting site nhm.ac.uk/wpy/peoples Andrey Shpatak’s Eye to Eye (above) experienced Lembeh Strait.
for this year’s Wildlife Photographer of include Turtle Time Machine (above) by
the Year People’s Choice Award. Thomas Peschak. At Little Farmer’s Cay depicts a Japanese warbonnet, a bold The Natural History Museum in
Online voting in this side contest of in the Bahamas endangered green fish that will confront divers. London reopened on 3 December,
the Natural History Museum’s annual turtles can be easily observed thanks and the People’s Choice Award winner
competition opened in December to an ecotourism project run by Drawn and Quartered”by Laurent will join the existing 100 images in its
and continues until 2 February. fishermen, some of whom once Ballesta (below left) shows a nocturnal Wildlife Photographer of the Year
hunted turtles, says Peschak, who hunting scene centred on two grey exhibition, which continues until 4
The images were shortlisted from reckons that it offers a glimpse to the reef sharks tearing a grouper apart July next year.
more than 49,000 competition entries days when mariners could claim to at Fakarava Atoll in French Polynesia;
from across the world. while Sam Sloss’ coconut octopus in The top five People’s Choice images
Shut the Front Door will be a familiar will also be displayed online. ■

LAURENT BALLESTA / WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR SAM SLOSS / WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Bite-Back launches 2021 calendar

IT’S THAT TIME of year when a Tanya Houppermans. vegetable-based inks, the A4 calendar with free UK delivery, and can also be
British marine-life charity popular “This edition is packed with is sold at bite-back.com/shop for £12 shipped worldwide. ■
with divers reminds us of its work by
launching a pictorial calendar. spectacular images to celebrate the
marine environment in all its glory,”
Once again well-known says the charity’s campaign director
underwater photographers have Graham Buckingham.“Significantly,
chipped in with hand-picked images every purchase of this calendar will
and commentary to help Bite-Back directly fund our campaigns to end
Shark & Marine Conservation raise the trade and consumption of shark
funds for its campaigns to make products in the UK.”
Britain’s retailers shark-free.
Bite-Back has made significant
The line-up in the 2021 Bite-Back progress nationwide in limiting sales
Calendar is Alex Mustard, Amanda of shark-fin soup, shark-meat and
Cotton, Christian Vizl, David Doubilet, items such as supplements
Doug Perrine, Ellen Cuylaerts, George containing shark, says Buckingham.
Probst, Greg Lecouer, Jason Isley,
Laura Storm, Shawn Heinrichs and Printed on recycled paper by a
climate-neutral printer using

divErNEt.com 13 divEr

DIVER NEWS

Dive centre gets behind military

OCEAN TURTLE DIVING (OTD) OTD owner Kerrie Eade. “Over the years I have been lucky with Capita at the Army National
of Basingstoke, Hampshire enough to see many serving and ex- Recruitment Centre in Wiltshire,
has become the first PADI including amputees and those with service men and women learn to dive, recently completed a PADI Reactivate
dive-centre in the UK to sign the mental-health issues. go on to great things and become course with OTD.
Armed Forces Covenant. instructors themselves,”she said.
“Being under water is a well-known Much of his previous diving had
The move is described as a healer; the benefits of being in nature “Learning to scuba dive has been been undertaken while serving in
commitment to provide practical and slow, deep breathing are well- life-changing for so many people who Northern Ireland, but he had left the
support for existing and former documented, and those with physical have benefited both physically and military in 1998 facing mental-health
military personnel in recognition of disabilities are able to be free and mentally.” challenges.
their value to the nation. independent,”says Eade, describing
the opportunity to work with veterans Former Royal Green Jackets veteran “For me to take that step to
OTD, one of the UK’s three PADI 5* and service-leavers as“an absolute Paul Ungi, now a support manager introduce myself to Ocean Turtle took
Career Development Centres, has privilege for the entire team”. a giant leap of faith and confidence,
pledged to offer personnel and their but without doing so I would not
families a range of support and have been able to complete my
services, including discounted scuba- Reactivate Course and regain my
diving courses. confidence,”he says.

It will also be working with local “The water helps with my mental-
Combined Cadet Force schools to health issues and I know that when
arrange dive-trips and training. I’m in the water, whether under it, on
top of it or by it, the stresses of life
The centre specialises in training ease and I feel so much more
divers who might otherwise feel positive.”
deterred by physical or mental
barriers from taking up scuba as Ungi is saving for a drysuit to
a recreational activity. continue his UK diving, although he
says he is also keen to experience
Owner Kerrie Eade, a PADI Platinum warmwater wreck-diving:“Although
Course Director and Elite Instructor, I do still suffer with issues, completing
is an instructor-trainer in adaptive the PADI Reactive Course has been
techniques. She and her OTD team just the tonic to get me back where
offer bespoke training programmes to I want to be – under the sea!”■
meet the individual needs of divers

Most fish ever seen in abyss

this month divEr likes… A SCIENTIFIC TEAM has managed to environmentalists of a deep-sea
count the densest swarm of fish ever “gold rush”that could imperil barely
Ocean Witness Greenpeace’s online video mag has featured here recorded in the abyssal [3-6km deep] understood ecosystems.
ocean. Exploring one of three
before but season two is out and it’s interesting.The first of four parts seamounts beyond 3km deep, they The scientists were surprised that
is devoted to“paper parks”, and we can’t knock their dropping of those lured 115 cut-throat eels (Ilyophis arx) large swarms of eels should come to
trawler-snagging boulders in North Sea MPAs! greenpeace.org.uk into their ROV lights, used a small feed on all three seamounts, where
amount of mackerel as bait. they would have expected food to be
Aqaba Baptism Jordan’s Tourism Minister Nayef Al-Fayez has told in short supply. Before the discovery,
The researchers from the University even a 29kg shark carcass dropped
divEr that an unexpected benefit of coronavirus for him was spare time of Hawaii Manoa made their discovery at 4.4km had attracted no more than
to enjoy his first Red Sea dives.“I was amazed!”he said.We need more in part of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, 68 hungry fish.
politicians under water – it certainly might have done Trump good! which runs south from Hawaii almost
as far as Mexico. “The number of eels observed… is
Blue Wave Whalers killed 42,000 blue whales in South Georgia truly unprecedented for both abyssal
Sections of the CCZ are now being and bathyal [1-4km] depths,”say the
waters from 1904 to 1971. Hardly any had been seen for decades but mined for rare metals and elements, scientists, whose study is published
now, 50 years after whaling stopped and an MPA was set up, they’ve amid warnings from scientists and in ScienceDirect. ■
got over the slaughter and are back in big numbers. All is not lost yet.
Impressive counting was needed to tally up 115 writhing eels. DEEP SEA FISH ECOLOGY LAB, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII MANOA
Heart of the Coral Triangle Stand by for an excellent new

marine-life book from Alan Powderham, a writer-photographer who
really gets results from using a rebreather. Extract next month.

divEr 14 divErNEt.com

BEACHCOMBER

LUKEWARM BEACHCOMBER Just a fluke?
PURSUIT
Talking of useful sculpture,did you see the
It was the headline that grabbed me: Time for magic Good for whale’s tail that stopped a runaway Dutch
“Ponzi Scheme Suspect Flees FBI Agents, Paolo train from plunging 10m into water below?
Dives Into Shasta Lake In Submersible”. The strange state of the world seems to
I had visions of a Mr Big con-artist have led many to devote the spare time on We missed this Maarten Struijs’s sculpture of two diving
outrunning the Feds as hatchet-faced their hands to extreme solitary pastimes. one somehow – whales emerges from water to loom above
henchmen warmed up his cutting- an “underwater the elevated end of the metro tracks in
edge escape vessel, all ready to go. Divers have been thumbing through museum” with Spijkenisse,and the midnight train came
Guinness World Records to find openings real heft, and it’s to rest balancing on one set of flukes.
I imagined the fugitive disappearing that might enable them to achieve niche in the Med.
through the hatch with one last celebrity.That includes the Egyptian Paolo“the Fisherman”Fanciulli from There had been no passengers aboard
triumphal sneer at his pursuers, before Saddam Killany,who just spent nearly Talamone in Tuscany is now 60, and as it hurtled through the buffers at De
making for the depths at high speed. six days under water at Dahab (and must over a long career grew sick of illegal Akkers station,and the driver avoided
have emerged in prune-like condition). trawlers ripping up the posidonia becoming a diver and escaped unhurt.
The reality turned out to be a little beds where fish and lobsters lay their
different.The perp, one Matthew That really is stretching your bottom- eggs, comparing it to“hunters Struijs,who had presciently called his
Piercey, had been charged with fraud, time,and let’s hope he gets his reward of burning a forest to catch a hare”. work Saved by the Whale’s Tail,expressed
money-laundering and witness- GWR recognition.Back in the UK,Martin He has blocked a port, used barbed astonishment that polyester left out in the
tampering, having parted investors Rees sensibly limited his scuba submersion wire to tear trawl-nets, impersonated elements for 18 years could take the strain
with $35 million (allegedly). to a mere three minutes,but he kept busy cops and became a local celebrity, of a train.“I could never have imagined it
in that time,managing to perform an but eventually his activism drew the that way,”he commented.
He led law-enforcement officers impressive 20 magic tricks – seven more attention of mafiosi with their fingers
a merry chase through California’s than the previous record-holder. in the fish pie. They stopped him Plastics and whales tend to give us
highways, but when he abandoned his taking his catches to market. sleepless nights,so
pick-up and took to the state’s biggest I say impressive,though I wasn’t there He turned to taking anglers out on this story made a
reservoir it was not to climb aboard and can’t say if the tricks were any good.It his boat and running a fish restaurant, welcome change.
his personal submarine but to hang can’t be easy with neoprene sleeves and no but his activism continued. After some
onto a DPV he’d brought with him. covering patter: “Take a card,any card”… success dropping 80 trawler-snagging Shell scheme
concrete blocks at sea, he asked a
Whether he had time to change Mind you,his last multi-trick record was nearby quarry to donate two blocks of With tourists staying away from
into scuba gear or used a snorkel was achieved on a sky-dive,so dealing cards in marble to his campaign – and got 100. Thailand because of coronavirus
unclear, though the FBI did report that a Pinewood Studios tank must have So he began persuading well- travel restrictions, hermit crabs in its
he spent some time under water, the seemed a doddle by comparison. known sculptors to transform the southern waters have come out of
officers patiently tracing his bubbles. blocks into works of art, sank them their shells to enjoy untrammelled
along the Argentario coast and word sexual relations, we’re told. As a result
Far from making good his escape, spread (eventually even to us). the population has exploded.
our anti-hero meekly“came out of the Thirteen years on, he’s still at it.The
water 25 minutes later”. seagrass is growing back and the fish, I’m not clear how tourists had been
turtles and dolphins are moving back causing the crabs to restrain their
A Yamaha 350Li scooter should be in, say local environmentalists. If you passions previously, but perhaps they
good for 75min, but perhaps Matt want to enjoy a Tuscan holiday and just didn’t like making a spectacle of
forgot to charge his battery. dive the site, it’s free. Art power! themselves.

Forever Fungie Fungie the bottlenose dolphin decided Ronnie Fitzgibbon of Waterworld The new generation of crustaceans,
while young to make Dingle Bay in the Diving Centre,one of the first to make as you’ll know, upscale to bigger shells
west of Ireland his home,back in 1983. contact with the dolphin in the ’80s, discarded by other animals as they
He was named by a local fisherman. believes his old friend was driven into outgrow their old ones, but it seems
deeper,calmer waters by relentless that with the population boom there
The touchy-feely cetacean seems to autumn storms but is OK. is now a serious housing shortage.
have enjoyed interacting with divers and
swimmers.A million people are reckoned Male dolphins have been known to live Homeless youngsters have had to
to have travelled to Dingle to see him, for more than 40 years (females survive a seek shelter as and where they can
supporting quite the local industry. lot longer) but the people of Dingle,while find it – and it’s been tough.
hoping for the best,always knew the day
Fungie was a solitary but always very of reckoning would come eventually. Apparently it’s become common to
friendly dolphin,unlike less stable see rubbish – cans, bottles and so on –
specimens such as Dusty of Doolin,who They say the idea of Fungie slipping scuttling around on legs in Mu Koh
would ram and injure swimmers. away quietly and mysteriously at the end Lanta National Park, but this
of one last summer is far preferable to the misshapes the crab’s body and limits
Fungie would never normally be out of obvious alternative. its next move. So the authorities have
the sight of humans for more than a day appealed to the public to donate
or two,but now he has gone missing. Either way,fingers crossed for Fungie. proper cone-shaped shells.

The response has been
overwhelming, and volunteers have
been helping to hand out shells to the
needy in December.

divErNEt.com 15 divEr

DIVING THE
NIGHTSHIFT

IT’S THE LATEST CRAZE. Everybody is Prepare yourself for :
talking about it. Blackwater really is the new blackwater – it’s the Left: Paper nautilus on
kid in town! hottest game around, a jellyfish,Anilao.
Photo competitions are being won by unique says ALEX TYRRELL
blackwater subjects, and now specific Above: Larval deep-sea
blackwater categories are being introduced to rarely encountered on a standard dive – anglerfish, Lembeh.
cater for this growing trend. If you haven’t done deepwater creatures migrating vertically to the
a blackwater dive yet, why the heck not? shallows for feeding, as well as larval and post- Right: Diamond squid,West
larval stages of more familiar subjects that will Palm Beach.
Originating from Japan, but brought into the eventually live on the reef after completing this
mainstream by the Pelagic Magic dive in Kona, pelagic phase of their life-cycle. How It’s Done
Hawaii, blackwater has now spread across the
globe, infecting thrill-seeking divers. The principle of a blackwater dive is fairly simple
– you drift in deep, open water at night.
With sunset cocktails forfeited, they are now
doing what many would consider crazy – However, dropping divers into such a
dropping into pitch-black open water with the situation raises obvious safety concerns, so
bottom many hundreds of metres below, in some dedicated equipment is required to keep
search of new and fascinating subjects. everyone in the same vicinity for the duration
of the dive.
The hunt is then on for marine life that is
Some operations tether the divers to lines
attached to the boat to ensure that nobody
drifts away. But this imposes some restrictions,
especially for photographers.

If the subject swims or drifts further out than
the length of the tether, you’ll end up being held
back, like a dog on a leash!

Also, in windy conditions the boat will be
blown across the surface, dragging divers along

divEr 16

BLACKWATER DIVER

:
Above: Blanket octopus,
Lembeh.
Right: Immortal jellyfish,
Pulua Weh.
Below right: Post-larval
flounder, Romblon.

with it, even if it’s using a drogue (an underwater multiple benefits. Primarily, they allow divers phases, as well as suitable locations for optimal
parachute) to slow the drift. to maintain visual contact as they search out
subjects, but secondary benefits include acting results in their respective locations.
So to allow the divers to move at the same as depth-markers, because the divers are
speed as the current, as well as providing the informed of the depth intervals at which the I have also completed a few blackwater dives
freedom to roam around and follow subjects, lights are attached before the dive.
most operators prefer to use a downline. in Romblon (Philippines), Pulau Weh (Sumatra),
They also play an important role luring in the
This is an illuminated buoy that has lights marine life, much as insects are attracted to Bali and the Burma Banks.
strung at intervals down to around 15-20m. It is lights at night.
not affected by wind, so it drifts with the current I also run regular dives around Koh Tao
at the same speed as the divers. Where to go
(Thailand) where I live, although not having
The boat-crew then follow the buoy while also I have completed most of my blackwater dives in
keeping watch in case any divers lose track of Asia, mainly with Mike Bartick at Crystal Blue deep water in the Gulf of Thailand I class these
the downline and surface, at which point they Resort in Anilao (Philippines) and in Lembeh
will signal for a pick-up. (Sulawesi) with NAD Resort. Both Mike and as“greywater” – we do drift in open water, but
Simon Buxton at NAD have spent hundreds
This formula has proven effective for diver of hours researching the best tide and moon with the seafloor only 40-50m below.
safety without compromising the dive
experience and photographic productivity. Earlier this year, pre-Covid, I managed a

Powerful lights fixed to the downline have couple of dives off West Palm Beach in Florida

with Walkers Charters. Here the Gulf Stream

provides a constant supply of fascinating

subjects, and I would recommend checking out

the work of Steven Kovacs, Michael Patrick

O’Neill and Linda Ianniello to see what this

superb location has to offer. *

17 divEr

Places I have seen to offer blackwater but that you don’t really need any specialised training to supply and more, without the need to depress
I have yet to dive include Kona (Hawaii); Palau participate in a blackwater dives – you need only a button to activate the backlight.The
(Micronesia); Moalboal (Cebu, Philippines – previous night-diving experience and to be vibrating haptic alerts of the Teric are
covered by Jesper Kjoller in divEr last comfortable diving in the dark. particularly good in the dark.
December, while Henley Spiers & Jade Y Nautilus Lifeline Marine Rescue GPS provides
Hoksbergen also looked at Anilao that June); The only extra equipment needed is a dive- peace of mind if drifting offshore at night. In
Kuramathi (Maldives); Bunaken (Sulawesi, light and a back-up, just as you would carry on the unlikely event of you becoming lost, you
Indonesia); and, closer to home, even Basking a standard night-dive. Saying that, I do find the can activate a distress signal to all boats, ships
Sharks Scotland (Oban) offers some blackwater following equipment useful: and rescue craft in the area that is accurate to
dives in the autumn each year. Y A narrow-beamed torch for spotting. I love my within 1.5m of your location.

I’m sure more places offering this style of Inon LF-800N with the 5 beam that cuts Camera gear & techniques
diving will emerge as the craze expands. though haze, letting me seek out subjects
from further away. It’s widely accepted by experienced blackwater
Training & equipment Y A dive-computer with an illuminated screen shooters that the best lens is a 60mm macro,
and air-integration. My Shearwater Perdix and Nikon has the edge here with the 60mm ED,
These are not dives for inexperienced divers, but and Teric are great because they are easily
read in the dark, showing depth, NDLs, air

:
Above: Post-larval guinea-
fowl pufferfish,Anilao.
Right: Sharpear enope
squid, Romblon.
Below, from left: Post-
larval lionfish,Lembeh;
unidentified shrimp,Koh Tao.

divEr 18

BLACKWATER DIVER

which works well on both full-frame and field and make shooting much trickier, but if you more on tracking the subject and have to check
cropped sensor bodies, with the D850 and D500 do use one, go for a weaker model. exposures less frequently. But many other
being the most popular as they have superior photographers I know stick to the standard
AF systems. You won’t need high-powered strobes, manual exposures, with great results.
although models with a faster recycle-time are
A longer macro lens is much harder to use, preferable to allow burst-shooting, because The techniques photographers use for
and the extra working distance will introduce sometimes you don’t get too long with a subject searching out the subjects are varied.
more backscatter.Those with Canon and Sony before it disappears into the darkness.
systems might want to consider the Sigma Some opt for multiple lights mounted on their
70mm DG Art. Tracking your subject in the viewfinder/LCD camera system, swimming around with them at
can be much harder than you would expect in high power while hunting, then dialling them
Mirrorless M43 shooters have 30mm macro comparison to the sedentary macro subjects down or switching to red mode when they are
options from both Olympus and Panasonic that we more commonly shoot. on subjects.
that will work, and compact-users can still
participate, although the slower auto-focus can Working as a buddy-team, with one diver Others – and this is my preference – use a
make the task more challenging. shooting while the other keeps track of the single hand-held spotting light attached to their
subject, is a good tactic. BC by a lanyard, and a lower-powered focus light
External“wet” macro lenses are not normally mounted on the camera.
used, because they dramatically reduce depth of Unlike all my other shooting, I find that TTL
mode works well here, because I can concentrate You use the hand-held light to hunt down *

:
Left: Sargassum frogfish,
Anilao.

Below from left: Larval
mantis shrimp; post-larval
bent-stick pipefish,Anilao;
unidentified fish,Lembeh.

19 divEr

Top, from left: Post-larval
mackerel,Koh Tao; stacked
paper nautilus,Romblon.

Right, from left: Seahorse
riding seagrass,Anilao;
unicorn filefish and jelly,
Anilao.

your subjects and then, when close enough for discovered, in the currents of the open ocean Larval & post-
the focus light to take over, simply drop the there is no going back for a second attempt! larval critters
spotting light, letting it dangle below you on the
lanyard while shooting. Some of the following I have shot, but there Lots of marine animals have a pelagic stage to
are many that I haven’t, because in truth I’m their life-cycle, normally at the larval and post-
What to see a fairly novice blackwater shooter compared larval stages, and drift around in the ocean
to some, with only around 100 of these dives currents feeding on phytoplankton and then
With all this blackwater hype, what exactly can under my weightbelt. zooplankton as they grow larger.
you expect to see on a dive?
Gelatinous drifters These can be fish, crustaceans and other
This will depend a bit on your location, invertebrates and often look nothing like the
because as with all marine life there are At times the sea is thick with a variety of jellies, creatures into which they will grow, leaving us
hotspots and seasons for different species. whereas at other times you can come upon baffled as to what we’re viewing.
swarms of one particular species.
Also the dive operations’ knowledge plays The post-larval stage is when we can start to
a big part and, as always with wild animals, These include larval anemones, salps, comb recognise some of them, although they can still
a large element of luck is involved. jellies, siphonophores and a variety of look remarkably different to the juvenile and
jellyfish species. Pelagic opisthobranchs, adult forms we see on the reefs.
Unlike with normal macro diving, where nudibranchs, sea butterflies and sea angels
creatures live in certain environments and can can also be seen. This includes lionfish and scorpionfish,
potentially be relocated after initially being flatfish, crabs and mantis shrimps, various

divEr 20

BLACKWATER DIVER

Left: Ribbonfish,Lembeh.

Below right: Pelagic
nudibranch Phylliroe
bucephalum Lamarck,Anilao.

Below, from left: Paper
nautilus,Anilao; post-larval
soapfish,Anilao; post-larval
flying fish,West Palm Beach.

octopus species and even billfish. from the abyss.There is so much yet to discover, Alex Tyrrell owns
You can also see the post-larval stages of because we’re only just starting to scratch the underwater
surface in this new diving environment. photography training
deepwater species that you would simply never centre Dive4Photos
encounter in their adult stage because they live For underwater photographers, there is also on Koh Tao, Thailand
way past diving depths – deep-sea anglerfish the challenge involved, because there is
are one example. elevated difficulty in shooting small, fast-
moving macro subjects in the dark with no
Deepwater species substrate against which to steady yourself (or
the subject).
These are the creatures you would only ever
encounter on a blackwater dive – the likes of the It takes a number of dives to get comfortable
blanket octopus, paper nautilus, diamond squid, with this style of shooting, so don’t give up after
sharpear enope squid and ribbonfish. a couple of attempts if your results aren’t as
good as you might have hoped.
The allure of blackwater diving is that you
simply don’t know what you’ll encounter. Blackwater diving and photography is
addictive and I can’t get enough of it. I can
It could be a creature that has never been hardly wait for travel restrictions to be lifted so
observed alive in the wild before, only ever that I can head back to Anilao or Lembeh to get
previously seen from dead samples trawled up my next blackwater hit!

21 divEr

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JURASSIC
SURVIVOR

The bizarre IN THE END, JENNIFER FOUND the
paddlefish is strange animal pretty easily. She knew
hanging in that encounters were possible in this
there in a US flooded Tennessee quarry.
lake, reports
JAMIE WATTS – and MALCOLM Now, just up ahead, out of the gloom
NOBBS was in the right place at and heading towards us, came a very odd
the right time with his camera shape almost as long as Jennifer.

Loch Low-Minn, near Athens, the lake in safety, and hopefully suitable
Tennessee, USA, is one of the last safe breeding sites will become available.
havens for the American paddlefish.
Jennifer Idol was our leader on a Big
The introduction of these fish to this Fish Expeditions trip to this site. She’s a
10-acre former quarry phenomenal photographer, and perhaps
in 2006 made it a an even greater enthusiast: “The stranger
magnet for the fish, the more I love it, which is how
underwater I came upon seeking encounters with
photographers. paddlefish during my journey diving all
Introduced as 50 US states,” she told Malcolm.
30cm-long juveniles,
the paddlefish have They found the paddlefish a little
already grown to skittish at first, but in the end they
their full adult size of
about 2m and
weighing more
than 30kg.
They require
current to breed,
so they are not
expected to
reproduce. However,
they can live out
their 30-year lives in

divEr 24

MARINE-LIFE DIVER

‘ITS ONLY CLOSE RELATIVE, ON THE
OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD, WAS
FINALLY DECLARED EXTINCT LAST YEAR’

settled down. with an enormous paddle sticking out of Left and above: Paddlefish back. Most modern fish have a rather
It’s a Jurassic fish, and it’s bizarre. its snout, hence the name. The paddle in Loch Low-Minn,a good different body plan.
makes up a quarter of the length of the reason to go diving in
Everything about it feels ancient, and it’s animal, and brings to mind the massive Tennessee. The paddlefish is not a shark, however,
the last of its line. Its only close relative, snout of the sawfishes – although they are but one of the last remaining
on the other side of the world, was finally not even vaguely related. Below: Divers step out into chondrosteans – an ancient group of
declared extinct last year. the lake with one quarry in fishes that were rather diverse at the same
LIKE MANY ANCIENT lineages of mind,especially if they have time as the dinosaurs were rather diverse.
Sadly this is not a surprise; it’s fishes, and like sharks, the paddlefish a camera.
remarkable that the last oddities from has the same arrangement of limbs as we The resemblance to the basking shark
obscure early branches of fishes have held do – a pectoral girdle at the front of the has to do with the wide-gaped plankton-
out for so long against the human body and a similar pelvic girdle further straining of water over the gill-rakers that
takeover of the world’s fresh waterways. the paddlefish, like the basking shark, uses

It looks rather like a tiny basking shark to find food. The paddle, or rostrum, ☛

25 divEr

MARINE-LIFE DIVER

has electro-receptor hair cells and sensory
pores to detect their tiny prey – another
rather shark-like attribute.

Its last close cousin, the pointy-snouted
Chinese paddlefish, was officially declared
extinct last year after not being sighted for
15 years. It apparently grew much larger
than the American version, with a report
of a 7m monster that weighed more than
a tonne.

The next-closest (and only remaining)
surviving relatives of this odd fish are
the handful of species of sturgeon,
themselves struggling to hang on in the
modern world.

The ancestors of the paddlefishes
diverged from the even older sturgeon
lineage more than 150 million years ago,
long before T rex and triceratops walked
along the shores of the rivers and lakes
where these fish lived.

Which all goes to make the recent
hybridisation between an American
paddlefish and a sturgeon in an
aquarium, documented in a 2020
scientific paper, mind-blowing.

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divEr 26 divErNEt.com



DOWN TO THE RIVETS:

MODEL U-BOAT

It’s diving with a purpose JUST OVER A CENTURY AGO, a new written off in many circles as a lucky shot.
– the mission to reduce age of global warfare was about to be Britain had yet to take U-boats
a submarine to a perfect ignited. The year was 1914. World
72ndth of normal size. War One had been raging for only a seriously, but this would soon change.
Text & survey photos couple of months, but shocking human A few weeks later, on 22 September,
by JAMES HARTLEY and NEIL RICHMOND losses had already been suffered.
(above), model design by PETE HAMMAN U-9 captained by Otto Weddigen was
and lead photo by PAUL WEBSTER Britain had lost its first ship to patrolling the southern North Sea.
a German U-boat torpedo – HMS
Pathfinder, off the Firth of Forth on Within an hour of spotting three
5 September. Although the loss of 261 British armoured cruisers all had been
sailors was shocking, the sinking was lost to the U-boat’s torpedoes, with the
terrible loss of 1459 British sailors.

This engagement sent shockwaves

divEr 28

WRECK DIVER

around the British Empire – the age of the The two Type U-9 submarines, along with Above:Diver on the stern of U-12, a wreck dived from Eyemouth,
submarine had begun. U-10 and U-11, made up I Flotilla. the U-12. where most of my diving happens.

Two months earlier, U-9 had been the IT’S 11 AT NIGHT ON 10 JULY, 2019. Insets above from top: I have dived 10 submarines around the
first submarine to reload her torpedo- Sitting in my van in Eyemouth Harbour Required specifications to be UK and, although it’s time for bed, decide
tubes while submerged. about to retire to Wavedancer II (a dive- marked on a slate; blank to message Pete Hamman to find out
boat on which I work through summer), canvas – predesign and about this project he’s working on.
Including her first engagement she I remember a post I’d seen on the North survey image sent to the
sank 18 ships, and was one of only two Sea Divers Facebook page. divers. Messages are exchanged thick and fast,
vessels awarded the Iron Cross by Kaiser and by the time I climb into my bunk at
Wilhelm II. It was requesting divers’ help in around midnight I’m extremely excited
obtaining some key measurements of about the upcoming task.
Her sister-sub, U-12 was the first
U-boat to launch a seaplane while at sea. Pete’s client, Das Werk Models, wants ☛

29 divEr

to produce a high-end 1/72 model of the Above:James Hartley away so, in typical North Sea diving spirit,
infamous U-9. All plans and recorded measures the fore access I decide that a new strategy is needed.
measurements of this legendary vessel hatch,raised above the inner
had been lost during WW2, and now the pressure hull.The top of the A RIB and a smaller team might have
wreck of U-12 is the only remaining hatch would have been flush more chance of getting out when the
Type-U-9 submarine. with the outer hull before it weather breaks. I call Neil Richmond, a
peeled away. new friend with whom I’ve dived a couple
Pete has been working on the project of times. He lives in Berwick and runs the
for more than a year, using low-quality Left, from top:Propeller; RIB Equinox. And by complete chance it
period photos, questionable side- and starboard aft torpedo-tube, turns out that he has been working on a
top-view drawings, and some Internet empty from a previous 3D model of U-12’s conning-tower!
videos of U-12 wreck shot by divers. engagement; vertical aft
hatch,with behind it the Pete and Des Werk Models can hardly
He has hit a wall at the design stage angled torpedo-loading believe it – what are the chances?
and needs to resolve the discrepancies. hatch; exposed pressure-
For this he needs direct measurements of vessel bulkhead (bow) Our first planned trip on Equinox on
key features of the hull, and some of the torpedo-tube with muzzle 16 August is blown out, but Neil does
finer detail of the conning-tower. Photos door. reach the wreck-site 11 days later on an
and video are no good, because they impromptu trip while the weather is good
distort too much to allow for scaling. Above right, from top: but with no dive-gear aboard, testing the
Neil lights the aft hatch; a RIB and checking his marks.
Pete, who is based in Spain, has been lion’s mane jellyfish makes
helped by a particular set of photographs its way past an exposed The only other activity at the site is that
of U-12, and I am both surprised and winch drive casing. of three minke whales.
pleased to find out that these are a set
taken by my buddy Paul Webster the Meanwhile Pete is making progress on
year before, featuring me posing in his design model with the help of Neil’s
amazing vis. photogrammetry 3D model, which has
already caused the conning-tower to be
Pete can’t believe his luck and my task revised.
is set – survey a U-boat 48m deep, 25
nautical miles from Eyemouth. Our next planned trip out is set for
7 September, which might be our last
chance of the season, but this

FROM MID-JULY to mid-August we
have two hardboat trips prepped to
survey U-12, but unfortunately both are
blown out.

We’re sent a survey sheet for the
conning-tower, which we turn into wet
notes (thanks to Graeme McColl).
It contains 12 key measurements,
including hatch and rivet sizes.

Pete has given us a preferred time-scale
of around four weeks. For a Continental
model-making company this might be
reasonable, but for those who know
UK diving, it’s a tall order.

I feel that the project might be slipping

divEr 30 divErNEt.com

WRECK DIVER

Pictured: Three views
of Neil’s 3D conning
tower model,Hamman
Studios’survey sheet
with the 12 key
measurements needed.

too is blown out by miserable weather Above, from top:Port aft I have waited too long already.
and heavy swell. Aquamarine Charters torpedo-tube still loaded It’s a miserable start to
has a trip planned for the following day, and showing intact contact
but customers have been told that it’s pistol; anchor. the day, gloomy and with
doubtful. slight drizzle, but the sea
state is fine. Local skipper
I AM TESTING cylinders at 10am that Jack Robinson has joined
Sunday when Neil calls to say that Neil and me on the RIB
Aquamarine’s boat Oceanic is setting off to pick us up after
in an hour. He is willing to follow it out the dive.
on Equinox, so I should get myself to
the harbour! We reach the
site just after
I am mid-test, my dive-gear is not 7am. The plan is
prepped and U-12 on a swelly day is not to work close
a dive to rush into, so with heavy heart
I decline the invitation. We had planned amount
to try to dive the sub the next day and of ambient light
Neil reassured me that remains the plan. at 48m is fine.
The wreck sits almost
I work on, waiting to hear about the upright on a sand and
trip and not in a particularly broken-shell seabed.
good mood. Neil has done a great job of
shotting near the conning-tower,
At around 4, to each other but a perfect spot from which to begin.
Neil calls to say that independently for the Dropping to the seabed from the
he managed to dive first 15 minutes – I will work shotline on the port side, the first
U-12 with some of the through the conning-tower measurements elements visible are the main ballast
divers he knew on board and with pencil, a long nylon tape and a tanks. Most of the external hull-plates
has obtained a few of the GoPro for backup, while Neil checks have rotted away in the 105 years since
measurements needed. hatch measurements and some other U-12 was scuttled, allowing the workings
We can return tomorrow – ropes-off details such as the gun-mount. to be seen in detail.
will be at 6am, which I’m glad to hear. We’ll then team up to survey the I make my way up the side to the
distance between the conning-tower, conning-tower, scaring a few large pollack
hatches and the fore davit-mount. patrolling above. I begin to work my way
As we descend the shotline I can finally through the measurements, chuckling
relax; the job we set out to do months ago while measuring the diameter of the rivets
is finally at hand. – they really are trying to make this
It’s a bit darker than on my previous model as accurate as possible!
two visits but we’re there to take I signal Neil to let him know that the
measurements, not sight-see, so the small first half of the survey is finished, and we
move towards the bow. A heavy old
trawl-net can be seen wrapped tightly
around the diving planes, suspended

in the water by its remaining floats. ☛

divErNEt.com 31 divEr

WRECK DIVER

This acts as a refuge for hundreds of clearly visible because there
small fish but can be confusing for divers are no outer doors visible
on their first visit to the wreck, because on these tubes.
large vertical objects are not common on
the bow of a submarine. Neil drops down to
measure the props as I take
The streamlined bow fairing is missing, my last measurement
possibly as a result of the collision with of the tube diameter,
HMS Ariel. This provides a clear view of thankful that the large
the main forward bulkhead with its two edible crab I’d seen on my
outer torpedo-doors firmly closed.
previous visits is not in residence. I signal
An anchor lies on the seabed close to to Neil while unstowing my SMB. My
the wreck. Moving up onto the deck, and bottom time is 27 minutes, and it’s time
heading back towards the conning-tower,
lots of pipework and cables can be seen. to make the long journey back up. Above, clockwise from most accurate model of a Type-U-9 sub
The journey back is spent in silent top: U-9 model – the railing ever. It’s been a pleasure to work with
These would originally have been shrouds are optional,as are someone so passionate about a project.
under the timber decking, which has long reflection of a task well done – silent in open or closed hatches and
since rotted away. part due to the RIB’s roaring engine. torpedo-doors,and there are The 1/72 U-9 model is to be released in
markings for all four Type early 2021 by Das Werk, delayed because
From bow to stern we now start to I have done a few “working dives” U-9 subs; conning-tower of Covid. In September we are sent
survey between key landmarks with a before but in my mind at least this had section; James’U-12 version; images of the model in U-12 livery, which
long nylon tape, including from the fore been about restoring a little bit of history. all-important rivet detail! will be supplied with the model.
davit to the fore hatch, to the conning
tower and to the rear hatch. Communications with Pete have left us Below: Model pack design. I know which version I’ll be building!
assured that he is determined to make the
ALL THREE HATCH diameters turn
out to be 600mm internal, which NEIL RICHMOND & PAUL WEBSTER
surprises me because I know how
common a measurement this is in U-12
modern construction. They had probably
been constructed to 2ft external in U-12 was sunk on 10 March, 2015, the loss of the remaining 19 crew. (submerged)
Imperial measurements. having herself sunk the ss Aberdon U-12 had been the first U-boat POWER: 1000hp (surfaced),
the previous day.
Staying level with the deck allows a to carry a seaplane which, along 1160hp (submerged)
good overview of the wreck’s layout, the She was spotted from a trawler, and with its sister-sub U-9 (the only MAX DEPTH: 50m
gun-mount, access- and torpedo-loading HMS Attack, Ariel and Acheron were U-boat to receive the Iron Cross) gives LENGTH: 57.38m overall,
hatches all clearly visible. dispatched to hunt her down. Type U-9 its historical significance.
48m pressure hull
At the conning-tower, several view- Attack spotted her first and opened TECHNICAL DATA BEAM: 6m overall,
ports are visible. The two on the forward fire.U-12 tried to dive but was
side of the tower are housed in cut-outs rammed by Ariel just as her periscope DISPLACEMENT: 493 tons (surfaced), 3.65m pressure hull
that give the appearance of eyes looking was submerging. 611 tons (submerged) DRAUGHT: 3.15m
at you. The rear two are flush-mounted. HEIGHT: 7.05m
U-12 resurfaced badly damaged SPEED: 14.2 knots (surfaced), TORPEDOES: 6
Looking down into the top of the and the captain was killed in a short 8.1 knots (submerged) MINES: 0
conning-tower hatch, the remains of small-arms gunfight.Ten crew were DECK GUN: 105mm, 300 rounds
communication and navigation rescued before the U-boat sank with RANGE: 3300 miles @ 9 knots CREW: 35
equipment can still be seen. (surfaced), 80 miles @ 5 knots

Dropping onto the rear deck, the
remains of the snorkel mast are visible in
the stowed position, along with another
access-hatch housing. These housings
have two hatches: a vertical one used for
crew and stores access, and an inclined
hatch used to load torpedoes into the
body of the submarine.

These hatch housings would normally
be under the deck-plates, with only the
vertical access-hatch cover visible, which
gives an idea of the difference in size
between the pressure hull and the actual
outer skin of the submarine – see panel.

Towards the stern another net is visible,
snagged around the wreck and the twin
propellers, which are a couple of metres
clear of the seabed, the stern torpedo-
tubes a metre or so above them. One stern
tube still contains a live torpedo, and it’s

divEr 32 divErNEt.com

Conspiracy! LOUISE
TREWAVAS
DIVE WITH OCEANIC FOR THE “ARE YOU WILLING TO BE VACCINATED?”
BIGGER, THE DEEPER, THE asked a friend. My jaw dropped. Is the
QUINTESSENTIALLY INNOVATIVE. rational world dissolving before my eyes? It’s
as if we’re entering an “Age of Dis-Enlightenment”.
COMPUTERS Truth is meaningless. Evidence is optional. Science
has the same status as gossip.
Oceanic computers deliver
your crucial data quickly It could be mildly entertaining for about 24
without confusion thanks to hours. Until I remind myself that I’m likely to get
large display areas, intuitive burned at the stake for heresy if we go down that
interfaces and a host of path. And the small matter that every single thing
leading technical features. on which divers rely is 100% based on science.

BCDS Safely breathing compressed gas under water
through a regulator that delivers it at ambient
Innovative features like our pressure – is that magic or is it engineering?
patented Quick Lock Release
(QLR) Weight Integration Adding helium into air so that we can breathe at
System to keep weights in depth without being narked into unconsciousness –
position, “Fadeless” Cordura science or witchcraft?
fabric, and Bioflex® super-
stretch fabric. Then there’s that computer that continuously calculates depths
and times to help you minimise the risk of decompression illness.
REGULATORS
If science is rubbish, let’s just throw a dice! Or rely on our bladders
With pneumatically- to tell us when we need to surface. Need a wee? Time to go up.
balanced second stage
valves, diver-adjustable To be fair, I’ve met some warmwater divers who behave exactly
inhalation, and optimized that way and are still here to tell the tale. Maybe our bladders are
air paths, Oceanic carries a smarter than we imagined. Seriously, if you don’t trust in science,
fleet of innovative Regs. please stay away from scuba-diving.

Visit your local retailer. IF YOU’RE CERTAIN that what others believe is “science” is just a
LEARN MORE AT OCEANICWORLDWIDE.COM. made-up way of controlling your life and limiting your freedom, then
everything I disclose to you below will make TOTAL SENSE.
@OFFICIALOCEANICUK #OCEANIC
Jacques Cousteau might have sounded like a charming Frenchman
divErNEt.com but he came from the MILITARY! Everyone will deny that he was
trained by Mossad agents. Because they are TERRIFIED of being
accused of anti-semitism. Which, as you know, has NEVER existed.

Decompression illness is a MYTH to control us. Prince Charles,
Mark Zuckerberg and the Pope are all complicit in perpetuating this
FAKE NEWS. Dive-computers are actually tracking devices. The roll-
out of 5G will enable yours to SPY on you and CONTROL your life.

All dive-boat skippers are part of the conspiracy. They want to
LIMIT your dive by perpetuating fear of “the bends”. Skippers get
a SECRET £500 payment every time a diver is airlifted. The illness is
just seasickness. Some skippers randomly poison a diver with a
micro-dose of undetectable TOXIN in tea for the extra money.

This is PROVED to be true because technical divers will only drink
cans of lager after dives and they never get “bent”. FACT.

The head of PADI initially ADMITTED that nitrox was “the work
of the Devil”. He was quickly silenced by the Global Elite of satanic
paedophiles, and nitrox was rebranded as “Safe Air” by… THE
MEDIA (boo!)

It’s hard to find this information unless you Google VERY
CAREFULLY. It’s all being COVERED UP. Divers are being
controlled and tricked into paying extra for expensive gases and
wearing evil tracking devices. FACT!

Do not let on that I’ve shared these awful truths with you. But for
your own sake, STAY AWAY from scuba-diving.

Meanwhile, happy days, I genuinely look forward to someone
sticking a needle into my arm and injecting me with a mysterious
goop brewed up in a lab. Because YES! I trust the science.

33 divEr

BE THE Just because wrecks don’t move
CHAMP! about much, nobody ever said
it would be easy to photograph
them! But where there are
problems there are solutions,
and as usual ALEX MUSTARD has
no shortage of those to share

’The most common problem when photographing
people on wrecks is being able to see them properly’

WRECKS ARE, for many divers, which our fellow-divers can best relate. Right: Position divers STARTER TIP
our favourite place The most common problem against open water where
underwater. They can be possible, so that they stand Giving a diver a torch will always help
atmospheric, packed with marine life, encountered when photographing out in compositions. them to stand out in a wide-angle
loaded with history and offer a complex people on wrecks is being able to see Taken with a Nikon D5 and composition. On a bright, shallow
three-dimensional environment to them properly. Wrecks are usually dark 13mm fisheye. Subal tropical reef this can feel contrived,
explore. They are also a fantastic place hulks of metal and most of us cover housing. Seacam strobes. but on a wreck divers are expected
for photography. ourselves in black neoprene, black BCs 1/125th @ f/14. ISO 640. to carry torches.
and black fins when we dive – hardly
It’s a mistake to think that just ideal for standing out. Left: When posing If the conditions are bright,
because they don’t move they are one of alongside a wreck, ask your torches can be aimed directly into
the easier underwater subjects to shoot – This means that even when lit with buddy to swim parallel to the camera, but in darker conditions
they are not. flash many images fail because the diver the main lines. they should be aimed at the wreck.
is mostly visible as little more than Taken with a Nikon D4 and
Far more good photos are taken of floating face and hands, connected with 15mm fisheye. Subal Encourage them to swim parallel to
those infuriatingly tiny macro critters a trail of glistening D-rings. housing. No flash. 1/100th the main lines of the wreck for a more
each year than are taken of wrecks. @ f/11. ISO 400. elegant composition and discourage
I am exaggerating, but the important them from swimming directly towards
That’s something I’ve always thought point is that if we want pictures that or away from the camera, which will
was a pity and definitely a failing of capture the experience of exploring a reduce them to an unflattering blob in
underwater photographers, because wreck, we need the viewer to instantly the picture!
wrecks are so beloved by the wider connect with the person in the picture.
diving community. The challenge is sterner inside the
The human element is lost when the wreck, because now there are walls on all
It’s one of the reasons that I’m so audience is busy playing “Where’s sides of the frame – blackness ready to
proud that we have a dedicated wreck Wally?”, trying to figure out where the swallow up our diver.
photography category each year in the person’s arms and legs are in the dark.
Underwater Photographer of the Year A good trick is to leave your buddy
contest. Yes, it’s that time again to put THE SIMPLE SOLUTION comes from outside and frame them as a silhouette
your best pictures forward (see page 6)! carefully positioning our buddy to through a gap in the wreck, whether
that they are framed against a bright it’s a crack in the metal, a doorway or
The good news is that wrecks offer us background rather than dark metal. porthole. Because our lenses have such
many different images, from large vistas a wide angle of coverage, people need to
of recognisable features such as the bow When shooting big scenics outside be only a couple of metres away to fit,
or the stern, to detailed close-ups of the the wreck we must ensure that they are full length, in the smallest window.
life living on them. swimming far enough away from the
wreck to leave some clear space between Remember that we can frame divers
But the shots I want to focus on this their silhouette and the structure. through openings that are far smaller
month are wreck pictures featuring than they could swim through.
people, because these are the images to
Larger openings allow us to encourage
our buddy closer, lighting them up fully
as they enter the picture.

We want them close enough to fully
illuminate them with strobes, but not so

close that they loom over the scene. ☛

MID-WATER TIP

Asking someone to give up even part of their dive to pose for
our pictures is something that we should always be
incredibly grateful for. Posing is often as hard as
photography and we should have limitless patience with
models.

Always get fully ready before asking them to pose and
remember it is easier for someone to swim through a scene
than look elegant hovering in place.

divEr 34 divErNEt.com

PHOTO TECHNIQUE

35 divEr

PHOTO TECHNIQUE

The wreck is the main story; the diver Above: Incorporating work with a remote strobe on a small The final piece of the puzzle is to
completes the picture. Also, if they get marine life in wreck pictures tripod – I like to use a plastic Gorillapod. remember that our aim with these
too large we won’t be able to frame them can really lift an image. pictures is aspiration. We want them to
against the blue. Encourage them to This is more work to set up, but gives remind divers why they love wreck-dives
pose at the point of entering a room. Taken with a Nikon D4 and us more creative freedom. and make them want to dive the wrecks
16mm fisheye. Subal in our pictures. There are many reasons
When done well this is one of the housing. 2 x Seacam strobes. For example, we can have the off- why wreck diving is so popular, so there
most compelling wreck images. 1/4th @ f/18, ISO 400. camera light either aimed at the wall or are many different ways in which we can
back towards the camera to create a shoot an appealing wreck image.
Sometimes, however, there are really backlighting effect on the diver.
important and interesting internal A photo shot in just ambient light,
features of the wreck that just don’t have The key aspect in setting this up is to filled with shadow and atmospheric
any helpful openings in which to frame ensure that the off-camera light source beams, will capture the feeling of a
a diver. The vehicles in the Thistlegorm is hidden from the camera, usually wreck-dive for some.
wreck are a classic example, as is just behind the diver.
about any engine-room. For others, an ultra-wide vista of a
WE CAN ALSO greatly help divers huge bow, stern, propellor or gun will
Off-camera lighting is really valuable to stand out on dark wrecks chime. Some divers will react to shots in
at this point as a way to help a diver through their clothes and accessories. which the wreck is almost overgrown
stand out in the dark. with encrusting marine life, such as
The oldest trick in the book is to give corals, sponges and anemones, or where
The easiest solution is to attach an our model a bright, eye-catching torch, the wreck is home to schools of fish.
extra strobe to our buddy pre-dive – we which most divers would carry on
want this on their far side, aimed at the deeper or darker wreck-dives. These are all very different types of
walls behind them. This is a common wreck photos, but they can all be
technique on deeper wrecks and in cold I chose warmwater pictures to enhanced by including a person for that
water, where there is naturally much less illustrate this month’s column – mainly “this could be me” feeling.
photographic fiddling time. because it’s deepest winter and I am
missing that bright tropical light. Much of the time as underwater
In more benign conditions we can photographers we take images for
But warmwater divers don’t have the ourselves, or to impress other
ADVANCED TIP monopoly on colourful gear. We all underwater photographers with our
know people with challenging tastes – skills. Wreck photography, particularly
Shooting inside wrecks often means working in restricted I have friends with solid blue, yellow, when we include people in the pictures,
space. Remember that we can extend our view by shooting pink, red and orange drysuits, and there is a chance to make pictures that the
panoramic images. Processing software like Adobe are even more colourful masks, fins and wider diving community will really
Lightroom can stitch multiple frames together with one-click hood about the place. appreciate, too.
simplicity, to open up vistas in tight corners.
While this coloured garb might be And, for that reason, including people
Shoot 3-6 frames with at least a 30% overlap between a distraction in a natural history scenic, gives our pictures added value.
them and let the software do the wizardry. it can really help a diver to stand out on
a dark wreck photo.

divEr 36 divErNEt.com



INLAND SITES
DIVER’S GUIDE

2021

Andark Lake – unusual in being purpose-built.

The year of coronavirus caused many STILL WATERS RUN DEEP, and know at least one dive-site intimately,
divers who would normally slip away to the UK has a wealth of still through the changing seasons, and
warmer waters to consider options closer waters. In fact it has some 40,000 perhaps as the place itself changes,
to home. Inland sites offer something of them, mostly wild and very few ever acquiring new diver attractions or
different and, lockdowns aside, they can dived. But a handful of these bodies of enhanced facilities.
be dived all year round… water scattered around England and
Wales are supervised and visited A number of sites have grown quite
% Capernwray % Eight Acre regularly by divers, and if you’ve never sophisticated in their offerings over the
% Eccleston Delph sampled coldwater diving at these years, while others stick to the basics
inland sites, you could be in for a treat. and are celebrated for that. It’s down to
Dorothea %% Vivian what’s accessible and what you want
Divers who trained at any of these from an inland site.
Dosthill % % Stoney Cove % Gildenburgh locations might have lost the habit after
moving onto coastal or warmwater 2020 was not a good year for many
% Blue Lagoon diving, yet can grow nostalgic about of these places, any more than it was
the experience – even if they weren’t for the rest of us. Staff knew they had
NDAC % % Cromhall % Wraysbury quite sure what they were getting into plenty to offer divers denied overseas
% Vobster Quay % St Andrews at the time. travel – but many were frustrated to
experience high demand but have to
Leybourne % The early starts, the smell of ration access to stay Covid-secure.
neoprene in the morning, the car-park
% Andark changing, the trek to the entry-point, Then, once they had got into the
the fragrance of bacon butties, the first summer groove and were able to
shock of cold water soon forgotten with welcome trainees and first-time UK
the pleasure of exploring some sunken divers along with the regulars,
cockpit or structure, the sociable lockdowns were reimposed. Just as sea-
wanderings during surface intervals divers were about to reset their sights
warmed (sometimes) by the sun, the inland, it all went sour again.
logbook-filling and recovery phase in
the bar – put together, those elements Depending on how the coronavirus
make for memorable experiences. recovery goes, 2021 could be a
significant year for the inland sites.
And for the many who continue to
enjoy such experiences at their For divers with a more cautious
favourite site, or use if for training or attitude to overseas travel and a new
trying out new equipment, there is regard for UK diving, we asked the
another pleasure – that of getting to divers who manage these great sites to
tell us what makes them special. Who
knew they hosted so many sturgeon?

divEr 38 divErNEt.com

INLAND DIVER

ANDARK PHOTOGRAPHY BY TERRY SCOTT

ANDARK LAKE wall, tunnel swim-through and the bow of a 17th- LOCATION Oslands Lane,Lower Swanwick,Southampton,
century barge. Also look out for the sturgeon and Hants SO31 7EG
Michael Ambrose, grass carp.
Manager, WEBSITE andarklake.co.uk
Andark Dive Centre “Combined with the modern facilities including CONTACT 01489 885811,[email protected]
heated changing rooms with showers, classroom, WAS Purpose-built for diving
“Andark Lake is unique, because café and Andark’s large shop and training pool, OPEN Wed-Sun 10am-5pm,pre-booking required weekdays.
it’s purpose-built for diving, we have a lot to offer all in one place! ATTRACTIONS Jet-ski,barge bow,mirrors,pipes,platforms,
meaning that the whole set-up is
designed with divers in mind. “Andark Lake is open throughout the year. pontoon
WILDLIFE Grass carp,sturgeon
“With a maximum depth of 7m, and platforms FACILITIES Shop,changing-rooms,showers,café,training pool
at 1.2m and 3.5m, the lake is perfect for DAY TICKET £18,members £15,annual sub £25
recreational diving in a safe environment, diver
training (Andark offers everything from PADI We’re a friendly bunch who love diving and make
Open Water to Instructor and HSE, and external great bacon baps (as anyone who has met Jenny
schools are also welcome), kit-testing and will tell you). If you’re a new diver or don’t have
brushing up on skills. a buddy, our resident diveaholic Paul is often keen
to get in the water, so just give us a call.”
“Features in the lake include a jet-ski, mirrored

BLUE LAGOON

‘THE BLUEY’

Greg Roach, Diving Officer,
Milton Keynes SAC

“It isn’t blue, and it isn’t
a lagoon, but it is home to
Milton Keynes Sub-Aqua Club,
and we love it to bits.

“At 18m deep, it’s a former
quarry for the London Brick
Company, and now contains lots of underwater
attractions including a bus, a plane, cars and
boats.

“It is also home to many species of fish,
including perch, pike, roach, tench and carp.
The site is a nature reserve and has limited access,

so you’ll need to book your visit in LOCATION Bletchley,Milton Keynes,Bucks MK2 3BB
WEBSITE mksac.co.uk
advance via [email protected]. CONTACT email only,[email protected]
WAS Clay pit
Diving is on Sunday mornings all OPEN From 10.30am Sun,6.30pm Wed (summer only)
ATTRACTIONS 2 cars,bus,small aircraft,6 boats,concrete
year round, and on Wednesday
pipes
evenings in the summer. WILDLIFE Carp,crayfish,mussels,perch,pike,roach,tench
DAY TICKET £5,Individuals and clubs can dive on application
“Note that there are (at least)
with 48 hours’notice
two diving lakes called the Blue

Lagoon, and ours is the one in

Milton Keynes!” ☛

divErNEt.com 39 divEr

STEVE SMITH / SKY-HIGH AERIALS

CAPERNWRAY UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADAM HANLON, WETPIXEL CAPERNWRAY NICK MORE and helicopters, and numerous
wrecks. Iconically large glass-
LOCATION Jackdaw Quarry,Capernwray Rd,Carnforth, Adam Hanlon, Owner-Instructor, fibre characters that used to
Lancs LA6 1AD The Dive School at Capernwray attract Blackpool tourists can be
found too. Where else can you
WEBSITE dive-site.co.uk “Over 20 years, it has been my privilege to ride a horse under water?
CONTACT 01524 735132,[email protected] introduce thousands of divers to the unique
WAS Limestone quarry underwater environment at Capernwray. Almost “More attractions are to be
OPEN Summer:10am-5pm (Tue,Thu,Fri),10am-9pm (Wed). to a person, their reaction on surfacing is how added soon, including another large wreck.
much better the experience of diving in its cool,
Winter:10am-5pm (Wed,Thu,Fri).9am-5pm weekends year- clear waters was than they had anticipated. “The quarry is home to lots of large trout,
round.Most bank holiday Mondays roach, perch, carp, and numerous rare sturgeon.
ATTRACTIONS Airliner,2 light aircraft,9 boats,2 helicopters, “Located in picturesque countryside, a few The inhabitants are all diver-friendly, and close
diving bell,cannon,container,sculptures,platforms minutes off the M6, Capernwray offers calm, encounters are the norm.
WILDLIFE Carp,perch,roach,sturgeon,trout clear diving conditions year-round.
FACILITIES Air & nitrox/trimix fills,shop,kit-hire,toilets, “At some times of year, large schools of roach
changing-rooms,showers,conference room,seated indoor “The water reaches a balmy 19°C in summer. and perch hover in midwater like a living,
restaurant,scuba workshop The temperature dips in winter, but this brings moving cloud. Two shallow areas with training
DAY TICKET £20,£15 members,lifetime membership £25 spectacular other-worldly visibility. platforms are frequently surrounded by an
audience of curious, friendly fish.
“The site is fed by a limestone spring, and
surface run-off into the quarry is minimal, “Topside, top-notch amenities include air and
so visibility is unaffected by surface weather gas fills, gear hire, dive shop and a well-equipped
conditions. It offers various depth options, scuba workshop. There are comfortable heated
suitable for both new and experienced divers, changing facilities and the cafe serves delicious
and the water is easily accessed. and good-value hot food. The restaurant has
lovely outdoor seating areas with quarry views.”
“The combination of excellent visibility, along
with reliable and straightforward diving, makes “Covid has forced Capernwray to temporarily
Capernwray a perfect venue to train, practise, restrict access to some of these facilities and
and simply enjoy the underwater experience. modify our procedures, so please check out its
website and social-media channels for updates.
“The team have provided excellent facilities
for more than 25 years. Underwater attractions “Those of us who dive here regularly think it
include a minesweeper, an enormous HS-748 an exceptional place. If you haven’t dived here
passenger aircraft, several smaller planes yet, you really should do so soon.”

divEr 40 divErNEt.com

INLAND DIVER

CROMHALL

Nick Sanders, Business Development Manager,
South West Maritime Academy

“South West Maritime Academy is proud to have safe, relaxing LOCATION Wotton Road,Cromhall,South Gloucs GL12 8AA
been able to re-open Cromhall Quarry as a diving day out. WEBSITE southwestmaritimeacademy.com
and open-water swimming venue following its CONTACT 01454 260130,[email protected]
closure earlier in 2020. “As part of our wider WAS Limestone quarry
business, our Technical Services OPEN 8.30am-4.30pm weekends,dive-schools can use in week
“Cromhall is a 4-hectare water body with a department is fully equipped ATTRACTIONS Aircraft,helicopter,boat,platforms,pontoon
depth of 17m. The water can be accessed by both a and IDEST-certified to test and WILDLIFE Great-crested newts
shallow sloping beach and a pontoon, making service cylinders, all makes and FACILITIES Gas fills,equipment repairs
it ideal for both experienced divers and new models of regulators and BCs DAY TICKET £16
trainees. There are several attractions in the water, and carry out drysuit repairs.
including a Rockwell Commander light aircraft,
Westland Wessex helicopter and a variety of other “We can also fill cylinders
vessels, alongside several training platforms at with air, oxygen and nitrox or, for technical divers,
varying depths. we can provide mixed gases to their requirements.

“The limited depth makes this an excellent “The site is run by divers for divers, and we’re
facility for both new and experienced divers to keen to expand, both on and under the water, for
expand on their skill-set, test kit or simply enjoy a people to enjoy it for many years to come. So
watch this space!”

DOROTHEA ‘DOTTY’

Dave Howson, Secretary & Diving Officer, NWTD

LOCATION Nantlle Rd,Talysarn,Caernarfon,Wales LL54 6AE “The main attraction of we’ve been able to operate a controlled diving
WEBSITE nwtd.co.uk Dorothea Quarry is clear –
CONTACT 07787 974953,[email protected] it drops as deep as 106m, programme at the site. NWTD is non-profit-
WAS Slate quarry making it an ideal training
DAY TICKET Club membership £25 ground for suitably qualified
technical divers.
making and affiliated to the British Sub-Aqua
“A slate quarry 200 years ago,
Dotty is set deep in picturesque Club, so our 150 or so members, many of them
mountains. It’s run by North Wales Technical
Divers Club and makes for some based in England as well as Wales, all belong to
fascinating diving.
BSAC as well as other training agencies.
‘It wasn’t always this way, but over recent
years, with permission from the landowners, “Training isn’t provided at Dotty, so you need

to be able to carry out mixed-gas decompression

dives with a minimum qualification of BSAC

Advanced Twin-set Diver, PADI Tec 45, TDI

Advanced Nitrox or equivalent.

“We hope you can join us in 2021 for some

adventurous diving!” ☛

divErNEt.com 41 divEr

DOSTHILL ‘DOZZY’

Ian Forster, Owner-Manager, Dive-In

“You’re always welcome at Dosthill and wrecks, it’s
Quarry, a popular, family-run
national dive-site at Tamworth near great for entry-
Birmingham, close to M42 junction
9. Diving started here in 1958, and it level and experienced divers alike.
was the BSAC’s national site until
1988 when they sold it to me. “The Jetstream 19-seater aircraft

“A former granite quarry, fed by a and a 12m container have large, safe
healthy fresh-water spring from
below the Earth’s crust, the water is entry and exit points, and the
so pure that swimmers drink it to
stay hydrated. Because the lake container has tie-off points for reel
doesn’t suffer from green algae
contamination the visibility is penetration and wreck courses.
normally excellent, and it holds its
temperature late into the year. “There‘s a wide variety of fish life,

“With a maximum depth of 25m too, including large schools of roach
and a variety of training platforms
and perch, various carp species, pike,

sturgeon, sterlet and possibly the

UK’s biggest remaining sanctuary

of native white-clawed crayfish.

“The car park is adjacent to the

lake, and long opening

times reduce early- LOCATION Church Road,Dosthill,Tamworth,
morning queues.” Staffs B77 1LU

WEBSITE divedozzi.com

CONTACT 01827 281304,

[email protected]

WAS Granite quarry

OPEN 1-9pm (Thu,Fri),7am-4pm weekends

ATTRACTIONS Aircraft,container

WILDLIFE Carp,crayfish,eels,perch,roach,

sterlet, sturgeon

FACILITIES Air,shop,kit hire & servicing,

changing rooms,toilets,catering van

DAY TICKET £15,£10 members,annual sub £20

ECCLESTON
DELPH

Andy Godber, Manager,
Delph Watersports Centre

“The Delph Watersports Centre is a real jewel service at the Delph Cafe, a welcome feature LOCATION Halfpenny Lane,Eccleston,nr Chorley,Lancs PR7 5PR
in the crown of inland-diving centres in the at any time of year. Waterworld, the dive- WEBSITE thedelph.com
English countryside. The scenery is stunning, shop, is one of the largest and best-stocked in CONTACT 01257 450663,[email protected]
the wildlife is spiritually uplifting and the the North-west, with expert advice always on WAS Slate quarry
atmosphere is always positive. tap from Barry, who also arranges servicing OPEN 10am-4.30pm weekdays,9am-4.30pm
for regs, cylinders etc.
“You’re assured a warm welcome from our weekends
well-organised and friendly Delph team. “You’ll have no problems parking because ATTRACTIONS Aircraft & cockpit,AA guns,
the car park is spacious, free and looks out
“Divers and open-water swimmers enjoy onto the lake. You’ll always see people taking armoured personnel carrier,tank,3 boats,van,
this magnificent venue side by side – neither obligatory selfies from this vantage point. mini-cave,gnome garden,containers,playground
is an inconvenience to the other. We’re open WILDLIFE Goldfish,perch,roach,sturgeon
seven days a week for diving and swimming “Finally, the online booking system is easy FACILITIES Air fills,shop,kit hire & servicing,café
over the 12 months of the year. even for the least technologically orientated DAY TICKET £15
diver. You can’t go wrong – great diving, great
“Divers, swimmers and passing cyclists and hospitality and a great experience.”
walkers enjoy the unbeatable menu and

divEr 42 divErNEt.com

INLAND DIVER

EIGHT-ACRE LAKE LOCATION Mires Lane,North
Cave,Brough,East Yorks HU15 2QP
Mike Mudryk, Owner/Manager, Scuba Dream
WEBSITE scubadream.co.uk
“After a murky start 14 years ago, Eight Acre Lake at North CONTACT 01430 423311,
Cave in East Yorkshire has gone through a complete
transformation. From protecting the banks from erosion [email protected]
to the use of ultrasonic algae-killers and other natural forms WAS Stone quarry
of water management, the expected vis at the beginning of OPEN 10am-4.30pm (Wed),10am-
each day is very high – 20-25m is not uncommon.
8pm (4.30pm winter) (Thu),9am-
“Water quality is so good that we even have fresh water 4.30pm weekends
sponges. Fish are in great abundance and there are many ATTRACTIONS Helicopter,
attractions to interest all divers. boats,armoured personnel-
carrier, trailer, pipes, platforms
“Subject to Covid-19 restrictions the lake is open to all for WILDLIFE Carp,golden rudd,
diving and swimming. Scuba Dream is our PADI 5* Instructor perch, sturgeon, trout
Development Centre, and we offer training from beginner to FACILITIES Air fills,shop,café
instructor levels with two Course Directors and 14 instructors. DAY TICKET £15

“The lake is used for training by local universities, police divers,
the fire service, Army engineers and many diving associations. We
host instructor examinations by PADI and BSAC. Putting 2020 behind
us, we look forward to 2021 and seeing all of our friends new and old.”

GILDENBURGH ‘GILDY’ LOCATION Eastrea Road,Whittlesey,Peterborough,Cambs
PE7 2AR
Ian Forster, Owner-Manager, Dive-In
WEBSITE gildenburgh.com
“Gildenburgh Water at Whittlesey near “The deeper penetrable wrecks can be enjoyed CONTACT 01733 351288,[email protected]
Peterborough welcomes divers from all training WAS Brickworks
agencies. In 1985 I bought the 6.5-acre lake as well by more experienced divers, and the abundant OPEN 8am-4pm daily,8am-8pm (Fri)
as the surrounding land, and it has been operated ATTRACTIONS Two aircraft,six boats,three cars,coach,
as a full-time diving centre ever since. fish life, including perch, roach, carp and the
lorry,water tank,platforms
“A former brick pit, with varying depths from WILDLIFE Carp,crayfish,perch,roach,pike
1-22m, Gildy is considered by many divers to be FACILITIES Air fills,shop,kit hire & servicing,changing rooms,
one of the best lakes for training.
classrooms, toilets, bar
“Platforms have been set at key depths, and DAY TICKET £18,£13 members,annual sub £20
interesting features such as coaches, barges, lorries
and planes sunk, with our double-decker bus famous Gildy pike, provide ample photo opps.
being the most popular dive for trainees.
“There is extensive onsite parking close to the

lake, which is open every day from 8am to 4pm,

with a late Friday evening each week.

“The land-based facilities – air station,

cafeteria, dive-shop, repair and rental store –

are there to make a diver’s life a lot easier, if they

forget something, need an air-fill, a warm drink

or just a friendly chat!” ☛

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HYWEL WILLIAMS “We can offer two lakes to dive, one being 9m,

which means a safe diving environment ideal for

entry-level students to learn the basics.

“There are training platforms, cabin cruisers

and garden statues, all with lines. This site is

very popular with PADI and BSAC schools and

club-divers.

“The second lake is shallow at 5m but it’s ideal

for a quick bimble and practising buoyancy skills.

LOCATION Lunsford Lane,Larkfield,Aylesford,Kent ME20 6JA “This is an excellent
WEBSITE leybournelakewatersports.co.uk/scuba-diving cheeky little dive on
CONTACT 01634 246006, a sunny day with the
aquatic life that can be
[email protected] seen in abundance ideal
WAS Gravel pit

OPEN To be finalised – check website for photography.

LEYBOURNE LAKES ATTRACTIONS Cabin cruisers,sculptures,platforms “With islands to fin
WILDLIFE Bream,perch,pike around, this can make
Will Timms, Leybourne Lake Watersports FACILITIES Toilet for an exciting dive when
DAY TICKET £10 the visibility is good.”

NATIONAL DIVING & ACTIVITY CENTRE ‘NDAC’

Unfortunately nobody from
NDAC in the Forest of Dean
was available to talk about the
site during lockdown as the
guide was being prepared.

LOCATION Tidenham,Chepstow,Gloucs NP16 7LH
WEBSITE ndac.co.uk
CONTACT 01291 630046,[email protected]
WAS Limestone quarry
OPEN 8am-5pm
ATTRACTIONS 3 aircraft,2 helicopters,6 boats,

4 military vehicles,trawler,2 buses,2 diving bells,
hyperbaric chamber,buoyancy box,gnome garden,
pipes,platforms,75m shotline
FACILITIES Gas fills,shop,courtesy vehicles to
pontoon,kit trolleys,classrooms,training tank,kit
hire & servicing,changing rooms,toilets,first-aid
station,“wooden wigwam”accommodation,
cafe/bar
WILDLIFE Sturgeon
DAY TICKET £22,£16 members,annual sub £45/40

ST ANDREWS LAKES “St Andrews Lakes in south-east diving and training. We have
Kent has beautiful blue waters exciting plans. A new pontoon is
Janine Mansford, co-owner, Southern Scuba and depths of more than 30m. being built to accommodate
It’s operated by PADI 5* IDC divers with an entry- and exit-
and TecRec centre Southern point and a set of steps for extra
Scuba, which was founded in exit and entry. Covid has kept
2012 with me and my husband the changing rooms closed as
Tony at the helm. I write but a new undercover
area is being sorted out so divers
“We took over at the end of can get changed out of the rain,
September and look forward to and extra parking too.
continuing the lakes’
development for both general “More training platforms are
going to be built, lines rerun,
LOCATION Quarry Grove,Halling,Kent,ME2 1BA there’s an ample kitting-up area
WEBSITE standrewsdiving.co.uk and more is being put in – an
CONTACT 01634 926204,[email protected] onsite shop, compressor and a
WAS Chalk quarry new café too. And we’ve just
OPEN 9am-5pm Wed-Sun (summer),9am-4pm (Fri-Sun) winter brought in yearly membership.
ATTRACTIONS 2 vans,lorry & cab,speedboat,yacht,plane,
“We have a family-friendly
postbox,gnome garden,caravan,containers,platforms outlook – including the dog,
WILDLIFE Carp important from day one – and
FACILITIES Air-fills,changing,shop,café look forward to seeing you all.”
DAY TICKET £20,members £15,membership £35

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INLAND DIVER

STONEY COVE LOCATION Sapcote Road,Stoney Stanton,Leics LE94DW
WEBSITE stoneycove.com
Martin Woodward, Managing Director CONTACT 01455 273089,[email protected]
WAS Granite quarry
“Why is Stoney Cove the UK’s favourite dive- “Fast forward to 2021. Stoney Cove has been OPEN 8.30am-4pm daily
site? Perhaps because there’s nothing quite like it. carefully crafted into an amazing centre for ATTRACTIONS 3 iron & 1 historic shipwreck,aircraft,diving
Just imagine that someone designed the perfect diving enthusiasts. The lake’s awash with under-
dive-centre, travelled back in time to 1890 and water features, including three steel shipwrecks. bell,aircraft cockpit,Nautilus sub,helicopter,armoured
asked the Mountsorrel Granite Company to dig personnel carrier,bus,hydrobox,archways,'Nessie',platforms
the perfect hole in an extinct volcano, before “Stanegarth is the largest – older than the WILDLIFE Crayfish,perch,pike,roach,sponges,zebra mussels
filling it with spring water. That’s Stoney Cove. Titanic, it’s so big you can swim through the FACILITIES Gas fills,shop,kit hire & servicing,school with
wheelhouse, engine-room and forward classrooms and indoor training pool,changing rooms,toilets,
“All roads lead to Stoney Cove. No matter accommodation. Then there’s our genuine restaurant, bar
where you live, it can be easily reached via Elizabethan shipwreck – built circa 1574, she DAY TICKET £25,£18 members,annual sub £20
a motorway. And then there’s the dive-site itself. was rescued from the Thames Estuary and
When the quarry-workers dug stone out of the brought to Stoney Cove to train underwater
hill, they left four flat levels behind. archaeologists. You can dive on it too.

“The first is now a waterside car park that “Above the surface, we’ve added changing
catches the sunlight all day long and has room areas, a dive megastore, classrooms and a 4m
for more than 100 cars. The other three deep-heated training pool. Because Stoney Cove
levels are submerged – the perfect aquatic is also a fantastic place to learn to dive. Our dive-
environment for shellfish, perch, pike, crayfish school is recognised by the leading qualification
and even soft corals, all naturally colonised. agencies. It’s an instructor development centre
that also provides training for the MoD.
“These underwater levels are the perfect
depths for scuba training – 7, 20 and 35m. We “But a great day’s diving becomes even better
like to think of them as novice, intermediate and when underwater adventures are shared with
expert areas. When the early pioneers of scuba friends and family in our very own pub, Nemo’s
claimed Stoney Cove during the 1950s, they Bar and Restaurant. Could Stoney Cove have
called it their National Diving Centre.
been quarried by divers? We like to think so.” ☛

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VIVIAN LOCATION Parc Padarn
Country Park,Maes Padarn,
Clare Dutton, Director Gwynedd,LL55 4TY
& PADI Course Director
WEBSITE
viviandivecentre.com

CONTACT 07375 113576,
[email protected]

WAS Slate quarry
OPEN 10am-4pm Wed,Thu,

Fri; 9.30am-4pm weekends
(three-hour sessions)
ATTRACTIONS Mining
houses,carts & equipment,
submarine, boats, platforms
WILDLIFE Carp
FACILITIES Gas fills,shop,
kit hire & servicing,guided
shore & boat dives,all levels
of PADI training
DAY TICKET £15,£10
members,annual sub £15

“Vivian Quarry is a picturesque “The blast and quarry houses still standing, and purposely introduced boats, a small
inland dive-site in Llanberis, along with the mine-carts and tracks, make it a submarine and two training platforms at 6m
Snowdonia. It’s hidden away special place to dive, offering great photo- and 9m depths. We have an on-site publicly
inside the mountain, which opportunities. The small, enclosed site offers operated car park providing a short 50m walk
gives it a very special feel. depths of 20m and, with a training area to the water entry-point.
suspended in the water, makes the perfect
“The site is an old 1900s training environment for new divers. “At present we are abiding by Welsh
slate-mine, and offers a vast amount of history government Covid guidelines, and all bookings
to explore, both above and below the water. “Other sunken attractions include ironworks must be made online.”

VOBSTER QUAY VOBSTER PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON BROWN

Tim Clements, Manager lake. Most recently, we sank an ex-RN Sea King LOCATION Upper Vobster,Radstock,Somerset BA3 5SD
helicopter fuselage, which joins other attractions WEBSITE vobster.com
“We pride ourselves on living including a Hawker-Siddeley HS748 airliner cut CONTACT 01373 814666,[email protected]
up to our tagline ’the UK’s into three sections, an enormous quarry WAS Limestone/sandstone quarry
friendliest inland diving centre’. crushing works and our 18m subterranean OPEN 8am-8pm (six-hour sessions); 8am-3pm Nov-March
From our signature welcome to tunnel, all conveniently buoyed. ATTRACTIONS Helicopter,aircraft sections,quarry crushing
putting the needs of divers and
open-water swimmers front “There’s plenty of life too – look out for shoals works,tunnel,4 boats,cars,caravan,troop-carrier,platforms
and centre in everything we do, of perch patrolling the shallows. Vobster also WILDLIFE Perch,roach,white-clawed crayfish,zebra mussels
we like to think that any visit to Vobster will be a hosts a colony of white-clawed crayfish. FACILITIES Gas fills,shop,kit servicing,training,changing
pleasant and enjoyable experience.
“Topside, facilities including a gas station rooms, toilets, shelters
“We cater for divers from trainees to hardcore pumping air, nitrox, trimix and high-pressure DAY TICKET £17 members,annual sub £45.Open to
tekkies fine-tuning their skills and gear. Much of
what we do is geared towards training, with a oxygen to a maximum members only at present,and they need to pre-book.
healthy number of platforms starting at 6m. of 232 bar. While
waiting for your fill,
“Trainees and instructors alike will love our our onsite catering
dedicated dive-school parking zone with a new can serve up a range
sheltered kitting-up area offering direct access to of tasty hot and cold
the water and a convenient exit ramp. Keeping food and drinks.
students all in one place has never been so easy!
“Many of our staff
“For divers just looking to enjoy a pleasant are divers, so we’re
dive or two, there’s plenty to see in our 36-acre always on hand to
offer advice on
anything from the
best routes to take
under water to
training options.”

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INLAND DIVER

WRAYSBURY

Yvonne Tatchley, Instructor

“Wraysbury Dive Centre is
London and the South-east’s
premier and only inland dive-
site solely dedicated to scuba-
diving. Our 15-acre lake
contains attractions including
the Bus, the Elizabeth Austin
Lifeboat, a wreck-site, a cave
system, a dragon boat and our newest attraction
– the front section of a Boeing 737 plane.

“We also have lots of platforms at different
depths to assist with training and skills practice.

“On-site facilities include a café, (serving our
world famous cheesy chips), gas fills, on-site
equipment servicing, kit-hire and a dive-shop.

“Our dive school offers PADI, SSI and
SDI/TDI courses from beginner to pro and
technical Level, taught by our full-time
experienced instructors.

“We’re open seven days a week from 9am, with
no need to pre-book – turn up and go diving. We
only ask that, before you come, you read the
Covid rules on our website.”

LOCATION Station Road,Wraysbury,Middlesex TW19 5ND
WEBSITE wraysbury.ws
CONTACT 01784 488007,[email protected]
WAS Gravel pit
OPEN 9am-6pm (3pm in pandemic) daily
ATTRACTIONS 737 fuselage,27 boats,bus,milk-float,

van,taxi,cars,cave system,camper-van,platforms,
confined water area
WILDLIFE Carp,crayfish,eels,mussels,perch,pike,
sponges, tench
FACILITIES Gas fills,shop,kit hire & servicing,
5* school (PADI,SSI,TDI),classroom,café-bar
DAY TICKET £15 (no booking required)

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EVER SNAPPED
A DRAGON?

If one of your ambitions is to photograph a
spectacular seadragon, or if you have already been
lucky enough, there’s a team of scientists hoping you
will share your images with the community. Might
you even be able to capture the ultra-rare ruby?

SEADRAGONSEARCH SEADRAGONS ARE among the most
prized of quarries for underwater
Above and left:The leafy photographers, but have you or
seadragon’s appendages and friends dived in southern Australia and been
colouring make for the most lucky enough to capture any images of these
spectacular images – spectacular but mysterious creatures?
especially with a diver in the
background. SeadragonSearch is a new community-
driven science initiative dedicated to
collecting such photographs from any diver
who cares to submit them for analysis.

It uses artificial intelligence and
machine learning to help match images,
using the unique patterns on each
seadragon’s face or body.

As sightings of individuals are repeated,
the intention is to track the iconic fish
through time and space.

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MARINE-LIFE DIVER

SEADRAGONSEARCH

SEADRAGONSEARCH

Above: it’s called the change,” says Dr Greg Rouse of Scripps,
common seadragon,but co-leader of the SeadragonSearch project.
they aren’t that common.
“At the moment, we know little about the
Below:Far rarer is the ruby life histories of these unique fish. We suspect
seadragon,caught live on they don’t move far outside of small home
video for the first time in ranges, but we need the community’s help to
2017 and this remains one of gather more information so that we can
the only images.If you could properly plan for their conservation.”
help with a ruby photo,that
would be a coup! Habitat loss is a concern, because
seadragons have limited mobility and low
genetic diversity.

“Without more information, we can’t
accurately estimate how seriously
seadragons are threatened by human
impacts,” says co-leader Dr Nerida Wilson,
from the WAM.

“People-power is critical to keep
conservation efforts in focus, and we are
fortunate that seadragons have such a
strong community of support behind them.
Seadragons often live in areas of high
biodiversity, so helping them helps other
marine life, too.”

Find out more at seadragonsearch.org

This should provide data about their to the same family as seahorses and pipefish. SCRIPPS INSTITUTIONOF OCEANOGRAPHY
lifespans and other traits, to improve the If you haven’t taken any seadragon
population estimates that underpin
conservation and management actions. images and don’t expect to travel to
Australia in the near future because of
The initiative has been launched by coronavirus restrictions, bear in mind that
the Perth-based Western Australian there is plenty of time – the project is
Museum (WAM) and Scripps Institution scheduled to last for the next 10 years.
of Oceanography at the University of
California San Diego in the USA. They are And don’t worry if you do have pictures
working with non-profit organisation Wild but they were taken a while back.“Old
Me, a US software developer that uses photos will be fantastic – we are super-
AI tools to collect and analyse data from interested in going back in time,” Flora
threatened wildlife populations. Perrella of the WAM has told divEr.

There are three known species of “Maybe not so much pre-2000s, unless
seadragon – the common or weedy, leafy, readers have a lot from one area, but we
and the recently discovered ruby seadragon. think it will fit the bill regardless.”
Found only in Australian seas, they belong
“Seadragons live in shallow algal habitats,
which are particularly vulnerable to climate

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LONGIMANUS
FEELING THE HEAT

Everything is out of whack at the moment, and if
EKREM PARMAKSIZ yearned for a return to normality in
the Red Sea it was close, yet different. Covid precautions
and daft divers accounted for some of the quirkiness –
but then there was the behaviour of the sharks…

WE DIVERS HAVE ALL BEEN affected in tough Covid times, and it was becoming difficult at our destination as two officials collected these
a minor or major way as a result of the to keep up with what was possible and what papers before we went through the stringent
global pandemic measures. When they wasn’t. Another projected boat safari had to be PCR test collection protocols.
were announced in March around the world, cancelled twice.
they stripped trips to most international dive All in a good cause. I boarded the vessel at 5.30
destinations from divers’ itineraries indefinitely. But eventually I managed to book a liveaboard and there I was at last, back in the Red Sea.
trip for the last week of October. Requirements
Country lockdowns, travel limitations, dive such as PCR tests 72 hours before my flight or I have been exploring these waters for around
bans – all these restrictions kept and are still the air-travel restrictions imposed by Egypt’s 15 years as an underwater photographer and this
keeping us from making plans to reach our Civil Aviation Authority would not deter me was my 10th visit, with more than 250 dives
beloved dive-sites. It’s a big challenge. from joining my long-awaited “Golden Triangle” clocked up in northern and especially southern
BDE (Brothers-Daedalus-Elphinstone) tour. Egyptian locations.
After a two-month complete home lockdown
in Madrid, I had started resigning myself to I FLEW FROM MADRID to Istanbul and then With a great year-round climate and
having no diving for a year or more. Community on to Egypt on a Turkish Airlines plane loaded visibility to match, the south is a perfect place
health is of the utmost importance and yet… mainly with Russian tourists, arriving to witness spectacular marine biodiversity,
at Hurghada airport at 3 in the morning. dramatic coral walls, plenty of large pelagic fish,
My passion for diving to see marine life kept excellent wrecks and, of course, an insane range
the dream alive, despite the blurry, chaotic future There had been impressive levels of health of shark action.
that faced us. Nearly eight months had passed screening at Istanbul airport, and this was even
since I had last dived and I was determined to go more the case at Hurghada. I hadn’t been allowed Where else can you spot such a wide variety of
as soon as the opportunity presented itself. to take my camera housing bag into the cabin shark species – hammerhead, oceanic whitetip,
from Istanbul because of Covid restrictions, so black- and whitetip reef, tiger, thresher, guitar
My first attempt at a trip, to Rocky Island in had removed the 10kg housing and carried it. and whale – a stone's throw from Europe?
the southern Egyptian Red Sea in mid-July,
ran onto the rocks itself when the authorities We had to fill out two documents during the Of course, the five-month diving and fishing
extended diving restrictions. flight, and quite a queue formed below the plane ban during the outbreak had kept these waters
clear of divers and dive-boats, and I expected the
Things were changing every day in these fauna and flora to have benefitted from that.

I felt excited at the prospect of witnessing an
increase in numbers and species.

The BDE destinations might only be small
pieces of island but they boast some of the best
pelagic diving to be had. A liveaboard and a
crossing of at least 10 hours is the only way to
explore these remote, uninhabited sites.

WE CARRIED OUT our check-dives at a site
called Aquarium off Hurghada and were
moored at Big Brother very early the next
morning to embark on the first of four intense
diving days – one at the Brothers, where
overnight mooring is forbidden, two at Daedalus
where it isn’t and one at Elphinstone.

At no site did we see more than a few
liveaboards – hardly surprising in view of the
pandemic that there was so much less diver and
boat activity, but I wasn’t complaining.

As expected, the marine life appeared to have
become livelier since my last visit. It felt good to
be back, and especially with the oceanic whitetip
(Carcharhinus longimanus) sharks, which were
present in numbers at the Brothers.

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