Lundy

ASAC Diving May 2013

May 2013 has been a cold start to the diving season. The rst trip reported temperatures of 8 degrees, but thankfully at the end of the month they've risen to the giddy heights of 10 degrees. As I travel to work this morning (Tuesday 28 May) the mist has descended and the visibility is down to around 200 metres I can only imagine such clarity in the waters around Lundy. The May bloom has been in full production for the last couple weeks and the water visibility has been around 200 centimetres! Despite the temperatures and visibility we've had some cracking dives. It's just a matter of some warmer clothes and focusing in on the smaller hard to nd stuff. At this time of the year the vertical plates of the hull of Carmine Filomena is always a good place to spot nudibranch species.

Nudibranch on the Carmine Filomena

A couple of weeks ago, in better visibility, Mark and I had a nice dive at the western end of the Carmine and the swim through at Rat Island. We came across what appears to be a mast off the Carmine.

Mast on the Carmine Filomena

Following Mark through the swim through. (If you dive with Mark you get used to this view!)

The Club continues to support research being undertaken at Lundy whenever it can. Last year we deployed two C-Pods (devices that record the clicks from dolphins and whales) one on the Ethel and the other on the Robert. We retrieved the one from the Robert earlier in May, but unfortunately the one from the Ethel had been ripped off during the winter storms. Interestingly this one was recently washed up on the coast of Ireland. Last Sunday (26th)we were joined by Lucy, a Masters student at Plymouth University, with a request that we redeploy the C- Pods on the Ethel and the Robert. After some discussion about how best to rig the C-Pods (convincing Lucy that you really can't drag a 1 metre long buoy down to a depth of 10 metres) we deployed one of the C-Pods on the Prop shaft of the Ethel. Located near Black Rock, at the southern point of Lundy, this site is subject to strong tidal currents which make it an ideal environment for oaten pipe hydroids. At this time of the year the wreck is covered in them. Unfortunately we weren't able to deploy the second C-Pod on the Robert, but luckily divers from Obsession II were on hand to complete the task.

Oaten Pipe Hydroid

The beginning of May brought reports of Basking Sharks and pods of dolphins, but no reported sightings as of yet from the Compass Rose. However, we did get to play with a seal at Brazen Ward.

Hope to see you all on the Compass Rose soon. Mike