Recent documentary about the famous ships of Scapa Flow. I managed to dive the wrecks of the SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm, SMS Coln and SMS Brummer among others.
Bajo de Dentro is a rocky submerged pinnacle located in the Islas Hormigas marine reserve off the tip of Cabo de Palos in Murcia. The marine reserve consists of 19 sq km of protected water characterized by an extremely high diversity of aquatic life.
The pinnacle consists of a rocky outcrop which rises up from a sandy seabed at around 50 metres and reaches a depth of around 3 to 4 metres. Its northern side comprises of a gently sloping platform
some 20-30m in length which lies in 12-16m of water. Both the eastern
& western sides consist of steep walls and the easterly wall is
almost vertical & deeper.
We dived with the Naranjito scuba diving centre from the port of Cabo de Palos in a RIB. Bajo de Dentro lies exactly 4 km from port, within the
marine reserve of Islas Hormigas taking around 10-15 minutes to get there.
Because
of the currents that surround the pinnacle as well as its coveted protected marine reserve status, Bajo de Dentro is extremely rich in both marine flora and fauna. Large schools of both
sea perch, Chromis, Corva, Bream & Mojarra are guaranteed, which in turn attract
shoals of Barracuda, Groupers & Dentex. Amongst the rocks lies
sanctuary for Scorpion fish, Brotala, Lobsters, Moray and Conger Eels.
There is also an abundance of soft corals such as Gorgonias. You can
occasionally spot eagle rays, sunfish & maybe turtles.
Common marine life: large groupers, moray eels, eagle rays, barracuda shoals, dentex, sun fish, slipper lobsters, bream, blennies.
Visibility: From 10 m to 40m Min depth: 4m Max depth: 50m Experience level: Open water and above Conditions: This
site is situated in open waters so can be affected by some strong currents and a north easterly wind.
The Cave - Bajo de Dentro
The cave is at a depth of 20 metres.
The Chimney - Bajo de Dentro
Star Fish
Gorgonia
Jelly fish, Pelagia noctiluca, aka mauve stinger.
This jelly fish's sting was quite painful. During the diving season I regularly saw this species in the water around Murcia. I managed to successfully avoid its sting. However one day on climbing into the boat I did feel an extremely sharp pain on my ear lobe. At first I thought my ear-ring had been ripped out. The sensation was close to what I imagine the pain would be from a hammer strike on my lobe and an anvil!
On completing the entry level dive course, divers can enjoy the wonders of the underwater world, liquid space. With more dives you begin to gain more confidence and control of this new feeling of weightlessness. Divers who wish to continue their training, something I highly recommend, time and money permitting, should definitely consider fine tuning their buoyancy control skills by doing the PPB course. It definitely allows you to improve your command of your buoyancy.
The course gives divers the time to master their control of neutral buoyancy, allowing you to glide along in the water, neither sinking or floating upwards. Once you have acquired advanced peak performance buoyancy skills you will find yourself using less air to ascend and descend. Divers with proficient buoyancy skills interact gently with aquatic life and reduce the affect they may have on their surroundings.
Requirements for successful module completion include:
Preparing a weight system with basic weighting guidelines and position and distribute the weight for comfort and desired body position (trim) in water.
Use visualization techniques before diving to relax, establish a comfortable relaxed breathing pattern and move gracefully underwater.
Adjust for proper weighting – float at eye level at the surface with an empty BCD, while holding a normal breath.
Make a controlled, slow descent to the bottom and adjust for neutral buoyancy.
Adjust for neutral buoyancy at a predetermined depth.
Hover for 60 seconds without rising or sinking more than 1 metre by making minor depth adjustments using breath control only (open-circuit scuba), or using very minor hand/fi n sculling only(rebreathers).
Swim in a neutrally buoyant, horizontal position without touching the bottom or surface.
Make minor depth adjustments using breath control.
Swim efficiently using long, slow kick strokes and gliding.
Control buoyancy while swimming without touching anything and without breaking the surface.
Adjust weights (trim) and practice hovering in different positions – vertical, horizontal, feet elevated and head elevated.
The Devil's Cave was known as one of the best dive sites so all the divers were excited and anxious to enter and explore the cave. The conditions that day were favourable and the divers in the group all had enough experience and no hesitations regarding diving in caves. I can just be seen at the far back of the group in the video.
This sea cucumber defends itself by expelling their sticky cuvieriantubules to entangle potential predators. When touched or startled, these
cucumbers can expel them through a tear in the wall of the cloaca
(cakey button) in a process known as evisceration. Replacement tubules
grow back in one-and-a-half to five weeks, depending on the species.
On
finding such a Sea Cucumber it can be an extremely interesting sight.
You have to be careful not to get the tubules entangled on your
equipment or you'll spend the rest of the dive picking off the substance
which is very much like a spray of chewing gum.
The tubules are surprisingly strong and if you intertwine some into a strand you find that it is extremely strong.
The release of these tubules can also be accompanied by the discharge of a toxic chemical known as holothurin,
which has similar properties to soap. This chemical can kill any animal
in the vicinity and is one more way in which these sedentary animals
can defend themselves.
For more information, pictures and videos on evisceration visit the Echinoblog by ChrisM.
Watch this video for some humourously told facts about sea cucumbers:
The Big Cheese is near the port of Cala Ratjada.
It's a big rock that rises from the water and is riddled with holes
giving it its name. This was without doubt the best dive site in the
area for spotting sea life: octopus, barracudas, lobster, nudibranchs,
moray eel sightings are guaranteed.
St
Kilda is an extremely isolated archipelago located 40 miles West of
Scotland's Outer Hebrides in the North Atlantic Ocean. Its dramatic
topography of plunging cliffs and high sea stacs, abundance of wildlife
(it is home to the world's largest colony of Northern Gannets) and
incredibly tragic human history combine to create a place of almost
mythical status.
Setting off from Oban on the 19th of July 2009 the Elizabeth G stopped off at the following dive sites:
Eigg
Port Napier - the Isle of Skye
Prince Charlie's Wall - the Isle of Skye
Waternish Point - the Isle of Skye
Mina Stac - St Kilda
Sarbstac Arch - St Kilda
Rob's Pillow - Hirta, St Kilda
Cul Cleite - Hirta, St Kilda
An Torc - Hirta, St Kilda
Rbha Bwengahel - Boreray, St Kilda
Penny Gown Quarry - Sound of Mull
Compilation of photos from my unforgettable trip to St Kilda.
This was a very interesting and unique dive. The dive site was in a spring water lake in the national park of Gran Sasso, Abruzzo. The spring water lake was created in the 60s to irrigate the surrounding land. Two medieval water mills are still submerged in the lake with the blades of the mill still visible. It was nice to dive in Abruzzo as I regularly visited the region to see relatives. I stayed with family in the region's capital, L'Aquila, for one month in 2003.
Visibilty was excellent, not surprising considering it was a spring water lake. It was quite eerie swimming around in a lake with the remains of the buildings.
Location: Capestrano Type: Lake Time: 29min Depth: 8 metres Weights: 10 kg
Video by Gianni Maiani
I'll also never forget hearing the dive leader of another group shouting and bawling at his group upon surfacing. Doesn't make for a good dive experience!
Dive #40
While on holiday to Corsica I managed to sneak in one very memorable dive. I'd heard that the B-17 Bomber in Calvi was a good dive and I was really keen to do it. I have since done loads of wreck dives but only on boats and ships making this dive quite distinctive. The weather was quite rough on the day I went with some really choppy waves creating unfavourable conditions but this didn't deter me. I didn't have an underwater camera at the time but the video below by Konrad Dubiel is pretty good.
The
B-17 bomber was used during WWII and was also known as the Flying
Fortress because of its 13 machine guns. In 1944 the B-17 G "Baron" was
on a mission in Italy but was hit by erman fighters. The pilot, Frank
Chaplick, decided to fly to Calvi where he was forced to land into the
sea. The wreck now lies at 28m.
The Isle of Cumbrae is the largest of the two islands known as the Cumbraes. It is located in the Firth of Clyde and is a popular destination for day-trippers from Glasgow. There is a University Marine Biological Station which I attended during my studies.
Dive #20
Dive 1
Depth: 17.6m
Time: 35min
This was a training dive in which we practiced navigation skills and use of the Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (DSMB).
Dive #21
Dive 2
Depth: 11.7m
Time: 33min
This was a drift dive with Alan Ramsay. During this training dive we practiced using the Surface Marker Buoy (SMB).
Loch Fyne was probably the loch where I did the majority of my scuba diving training in Scotland. It is the longest sea loch in the UK. As can be seen in the video the weather conditions weren't always the best, especially for doing surface cover at the end of winter. It was actually a relief to get under water out of the wind and rain.
Dive Marshall Alan Ramsay, Assistant Richard.
Dive #12 Depth: 18m Time: 29min
Air in 210 Air out 60
Dive #13 Depth: 15m Time: 25min Air in 210 Air out 100
