GerryO
05-06-07, 19:10
I had four good dives this weekend in the Oban area, had lots of fun and spotted some new things – new to me that is. On Saturday I took a short rhib ride out to Heather Island in the Sound of Kerrera, practiced a few skills at a max depth of thirty and then ascended to twenty metres to the rocky/wall formation that forms the side of this small island. I followed a fairly similar profile on the second dive. However, both dives were distinguished by some very small yet extremely appealing marine life.
At this stage the ability of my dive buddy who had spent a chunk of last year as a dive guide in Thailand came into its own. He was able to home in on what seemed like every nudibranch in the West of Scotland. From minute specks of things that, with a myopic struggle eventually revealed themselves as almost infinitesimally small creatures, to their vast cousins – maybe two or three centimetres long, trailing elegant, fluid spines, the “nudi’s” just kept popping into view. I’ve seen nudibranches before, but this macro extravaganza was extraordinary. A diver of another boat suggested that some sort of national convention of nudibranches was taking place, as he had enjoyed the same spectacle off Bach Island.
The feeling was reminiscent to diving for the first few times after doing some Seasearch training and feeling that whole new species of marine life had mysteriously migrated onto dive sites that I thought were desolate and stark. This was not of course the case, it was merely that I had slowed down a little and started to really look at things. So, Saturday’s dive made me realise how intensely close observation can be very rewarding. So, my thanks are due to Nick, the man with the spectacular macro vision, patience and very accurate pointing finger.
On Sunday I did a couple of rhib dives at the wall at Ard na Couille. This is a very dramatic formation with steep rocky cliff and the marine life associated with this type of habitat to twenty five metres and then a steeply shelving silt and gravel bed after that.
There were some large and very striking cuckoo wrasse gliding around and the ballan wrasses are big boys compared to those I have seen in the sea lochs this year.
I did some planning using tables on the Sunday dives and I think I made a poor job of it when my computer decided that I needed twelve minutes deco. So I ended up feeling cold, wishing that I had worn my thermals under the undersuit, hanging at five metres on my DSM for what seemed like a short course on eternity. Nevertheless, this did nothing to lessen the lustre of some good diving.
At this stage the ability of my dive buddy who had spent a chunk of last year as a dive guide in Thailand came into its own. He was able to home in on what seemed like every nudibranch in the West of Scotland. From minute specks of things that, with a myopic struggle eventually revealed themselves as almost infinitesimally small creatures, to their vast cousins – maybe two or three centimetres long, trailing elegant, fluid spines, the “nudi’s” just kept popping into view. I’ve seen nudibranches before, but this macro extravaganza was extraordinary. A diver of another boat suggested that some sort of national convention of nudibranches was taking place, as he had enjoyed the same spectacle off Bach Island.
The feeling was reminiscent to diving for the first few times after doing some Seasearch training and feeling that whole new species of marine life had mysteriously migrated onto dive sites that I thought were desolate and stark. This was not of course the case, it was merely that I had slowed down a little and started to really look at things. So, Saturday’s dive made me realise how intensely close observation can be very rewarding. So, my thanks are due to Nick, the man with the spectacular macro vision, patience and very accurate pointing finger.
On Sunday I did a couple of rhib dives at the wall at Ard na Couille. This is a very dramatic formation with steep rocky cliff and the marine life associated with this type of habitat to twenty five metres and then a steeply shelving silt and gravel bed after that.
There were some large and very striking cuckoo wrasse gliding around and the ballan wrasses are big boys compared to those I have seen in the sea lochs this year.
I did some planning using tables on the Sunday dives and I think I made a poor job of it when my computer decided that I needed twelve minutes deco. So I ended up feeling cold, wishing that I had worn my thermals under the undersuit, hanging at five metres on my DSM for what seemed like a short course on eternity. Nevertheless, this did nothing to lessen the lustre of some good diving.