Duo-Divers

Bizarre clowns at depth......great with a touch of narcosis!

The engine block, the shot-line is tied to this

Common Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), probably why a lot of 'non-locals' dive Babbacombe, I was a touch late this year.

A lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus conicula), well actually there were half a dozen under the plate!

A King....or Common....or Great Scallop (Pecten maximus), they were even sitting on hard rock!

A bit of scrap for you rust heads out there, you will also find a wreckage field from the Mistley.

A view of the business end of an Angler-fish (Lophius piscatorious) there are loads about the sites and once you've spotted one they become easier to see.

More shots of the debris field, later in the year so a 'better' water colour!

A more conventionally coloured Bloody Henry (Henerica oculata)

I - And after lots of investigation into various oils I opted for high quality Danish Oil rather than Tung oil or similar

This is the 'type' of bottom which I was talking about, formed from loads of worm tubes, it's quite soft and sandy so can feel crunchy if your buoyancy control is poor.

Common edible and tasty lobster (homarus gammarus) the area is home to a multitude of them!

I really struggled whilst looking for handles that 'spin or rotate' whilst you turn the reel, eventually I settled on machining a bit of brass with knurling for grip and mounting on a countersunk screw that wasn't tightened all of the way in

More divers on broken ground by the 'paved area', take care as the tide does push through piper gut at times!

A close up inside the mantle of a Lions Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) in this case it was obviously on the way out with no stingers and a large hole where something had tried to eat it. This allowed me to get quite close and get some nice shots of the structure around the mantle. By the start of October the beaches up here are covered in dead jellies, sad and potentially dangerous for children.

A couple of female Ballan Wrasse (Labrus bergylta) I think that they are in nesting mode, certainly the males are bright and flighty!

The Staple Sound side of the site is a wall smothered in Dead mans Fingers (Alcyonium digitatum) and is a great scenic dive!