Duo-Divers

Not as common as in Southern waters or even around Howick but here is a Lesser Spotted Catshark, or should that be dogfish? (Scyliorhinus canicula) Years ago you rarely saw any but they are becoming more common, in 2018 a party of divers got photos of a large Tope out at the Farne Islands.....apex predators you have been warned!

By late summer you can't see the individual pipes on the boiler and it appears as a big dulse covered 'lump' but there is a boiler under there, honest!

A whelk (Buccinum undatum) there are loads of shells around the site and quite a few live ones. They are a popular food in some parts of the country and taste like eating rubber.

Looking along the foredeck of the wreck, it's been heavily salvaged so not a lot of 'Ahhhhhh its a' type photos!

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.

An atmospheric (arty-farty) shot showing one of the large overhangs on the North side of this site.

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.

A white german fire brick, the engine area has been heavily salvaged so there are a few bricks dotted about

My 'northern most' lobbie, she was a good size and provided food for all of us along with rice and a delightful lemon and butter sauce.

Under the thick layer of dulse is a load of angled metal work, I am guessing part of the vessel where there is a step up/down.

A Hermit Crab (Pagurus bernhardus) had set up shop in an old whelk shell, te problem was that it was far to small and spent most of the time looking out of a hole half way down the shell!

Oh and of course our old friend the blue fiend or common lobster (Hommarus gammarus) loads live ion the rough ground but mainly smaller 'wiggies'

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 a sponge encases the stem, making an eco-system up in the water column!

In some areas the broken bottom comprises of large stones covered in life, strange that there is a centre section almost devoid of filters feeders.....

A view of the bottom plus another piece of large debris, again WTF?

A high altitude gun, you would have needed some 'minerals' to be operating this even with the aeroplanes and airships of the period!

And after half an hour the pile of scrap iron had grown significantly!

And again in the rocks you will see lobbies (Hommarus gammarus)

I also like Hermit Crabs (Pagurus bernhardus) and try to get a photo of them wherever I dive!

And the business end of the same gun, in this case a crab has set-up shop but most of the time they are home to conger eels!

In common with most southern sites there were loads of Snale locks anemones (Anemonia viridis) on surfaces where there was sun and water movement.