Duo-Divers

As you approach the debris field you will find little lengths of lead coated wiring sticking out of the sand or protruding from under stones.

Ribs on the port side near the bow of SS Thesis, you can see from the 'raw metal' that this area has not had a chance to be colonised by sea-life since the last lot of hull plate fell away. Sad but considering it's age not surprising.

To have a swim and try to........

Sea Hare (aplysia punctata) you get loads and loads of them on the south side of the point feeding and breeding!

Over the boulders and further along the bottom becomes 'paved', again, plenty of filter feeding life but not much opportunity for crabs and lobbies.

Head 'straight down' from the propellor and you will land on two large boilers, just follow the debris!

A flatfish, species TBC!

A Topknot (Zeugopterus punctatus) you will see these flatfish stuck onto the bottom and underside of crevices if you look carefully on dives over rocky ground. The skin is coarse so you can easily get hold of this docile fish and bag him for tea, should you wish. A word of warning they tend to be infested with worms!

It was a bait-ball but obviously not sandeels, on closer examination they appeared to be Sprat (Sprattus sprattus). Locally they would be called Brit which is a catch all name for immature herring, mackeral and sprat which form a pillar to the local food chain.

You will find this particular sponge all over 'shallow' sites around the Northumbrian coast, not being an expert I can only guess that it is Stelletta lactea and if someone wishes to correct me then great!

Move away from the face and you reach a jumble of boulders, some with dead-mans fingers

Broken bottom and divers!!

A general topographical shot, there are several large stone pinnacles on the site, the largest rising maybe 4m from the seabed and with a circumference of 50m. They do degrade over time as they are formed from a softish rock and do receive a battering every year from Southerly and Easterly storms.

The rocks, which are a soft 'holey' shale are coated in a pretty pink coralline growth

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

Everywhere that you look the bottom isn't bedrock, it is formed from sections of ship.