Guides
SS Thesis re-visited
Although the original guide for this wreck is contained in the general overview guide it has really changed beyond belief and as such I have produced a new guide which is much more relevant.
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Latest Photographs
A mast, again off into the gloom
When you get out of the kelp zone you will reach a small cliff, varying in height between 2 and 3m
E - And based on the black colouration it was quite old, it was confirmed by experts that the timber was circa 17th century so very, very old!
Mid-way along the site is an area of angular boulders which go further up the wall (?) they appear new, with very little life attached' but have been there over 30 years. Look carefully and you will find crustaceans among the jumble.
A common or garden Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), get to the gritty sand and you will se a few of these tasty fish, if you are so inclined you could bag for your tea.
Dead Mans Fingers (Alcyonium digitatum), a bit of back-lite with the strobe set-up
There are more and more Bull Huss (Scyliorhinus stellaris) in the area and this one was relatively lively and wouldn't let me get close for a photograph.
Usually the top of this boiler is the first thing you see when descending, you can make out the access hole for fuel and the steam pipes
Wreckage from SS Loch Leven which foundered without the loss of life, not an oft dived site but very nice scenery plus rust!
Kelp (Family laminariales) does tend to be quite a long lived plant with the stem above say the first twenty centimeters quite a safe place for a plant to grow without the risk of sea-urchins 'browsing' you away. In this case dulse and other sea-weed encases the stem, making an eco-system up in the water column!
It's easy to see that these are not machine made as the top of the shaft is round whilst the 'point' is square section and the head is simply a piece of shaft 'peened' over.
Again in dating terms nails were machine made from the start of the nineteenth centrury so a useful dating aid providing that you find 'lots'. If you only locate one or two it may be that teh ships carpenter made them for a specific job.
Oh, lots of nails also implies that the ship was copper sheathed, again useful in dating terms.
Something for a sense of scale, I hope!
It's always a good idea to keep looking up when swimming close to the rock-face as you will get shoals of baitfish, be that 'brit' or sandeels swimming around and if your luck is in you may see them being attacked by predators, be that avian or piscine!
A Lions Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata), when they are about deco stops are always interesting!
The engine block, the shot-line is tied to this
The ships were built for speed, with plates rivetted together, the rivets will have been made from a softer material with less cobalt/manganese so have rotted away leaving rows of holes and allowing the paltes to start slipping.
This can only be a section of keel as it is thick, wide steel that would have had no place on the upper part of the vessel
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