Night Chills

Finally conditions look good for a night dive! I got my gear together and trekked out across the long expanse of sand exposed by the low tide, trying to ignore the wind biting through my wetsuit. Mask on, gun loaded camera running and I flop face down into the shallows and get under way. The first thing I notice is that it's very cold, and very clear which is a huge relief as this mark is often a real disappointment in terms of visibility. The second thing I notice is that there is a fish at the edge of my torch light, I freeze and slowly inch forward, it's a Bream, who unfortunately for him is coming home with me for dinner.

After a wrestle in the dark with the fish I realise it's a Gilthead Bream, I've never caught one before but have heard good things about them (and indeed when cooked the next day it was one of the tastiest bits of fish I've ever had, superb!).

It's a great start, followed by an hour of seeing very little, I head off around an island and see some mullet (which I leave to fight another day) but very little other life. In fact I start to get a little spooked out there alone in the dark. The human brain is a funny thing, despite knowing there is nothing to be scared of it still doesn't like being out in the sea in the dark :) At times like this I clamp down on those feelings and don't let them get the better of me.

When I come back into the shallows nearly where I started suddenly the sea comes alive again, in amongst the fields of sea grass, string weed and kelp I come across a fantastic cuttlefish, always one of my favourite creatures to encounter. As I was watching it I notice something big moving in the kelp underneath it and my adrenaline spikes, just for a second I think it's the mother of all Sea bass and I'll be eating well for a week. Then a big old Bull Huss emerges from the weed, certainly the biggest I've ever seen, about 3ft long. I'm torn for a moment between filming the fish or the cuttle, but in the end manage both. What a treat :)

On the final stretch, I encounter lots of crabs, also the area is dotted with mermaids Purses (dog fish eggs) and I also encounter a lovely shoal of Sea trout, rounding off a really fantastic night.

The Best Laid Plans.....

Well I got blind sided by work which has but the breaks on my fitness drive. A month without a proper day off has left me without much energy to run etc.

I have got in the sea a couple of times with mixed results. The good news is there are fish around and I got my first Mullet of the year, which went down a treat barbecued in foil with lemon, line, chilli and soy sauce. Sunshine and fresh fish!

On the down side, on the few shallow dives I tried I got terrible pain in my teeth, probably from sinus blockage or possibly tooth squeeze, a bit of googling informs me that sinus pain can often feel like tooth pain.. A trip to the dentist / doctors may be in order I will see how my next dive goes. I might try some decongestants and see if that makes any difference.

In the meantime I have put together a best of compilation of some of my spear fishing footage. I hope you enjoy it.

It begins....

My breathe holds are shocking. I'm currently struggling with a two minute dry static. However I've started running and today had my first (quick) dive of the year. The water felt freezing, the visibility was quite poor and my suit seems to have developed several leaks. It was great to get back in the water though and my friendly seal came to say hello. She seemed quite cagey probably because I have been away so long.

My gloves have no fingers (wear from loading my gun) and it turns out my boots have holes in the soles which I hadn't noticed. It's definitely time for some new gear. I'm looking at a 6mm Elios made to measure suit, new boots and new gloves. When I'm all wrapped up I might venture in for a night dive, but it will probably take a month or so for the suit to arrive.

In fact I've just ordered the suit ( from Spearo ). In the meantime I'm going to set about repairing my suit enough to get in for a night dive.... watch this space.

Resolutions

The last 6 months have been... up and down to say the least. I've let my training go and lost touch a little with the ocean. But it's a new year and a new start. It's going to be a tough start as I haven't been living the most healthy of lifestyles, worst of all I started smoking again so I have a tough road ahead of me. I went for my first surf in, well in about 6 months, last week and it was quickly evident how out of shape I am.

So – resolutions:

1st and most importantly stop smoking.

2nd cut down on my drinking.

3rd Get fit.

4th Get back in the sea.

5th Update this blog more often.

There is a danger this is going to turn into a fitness blog for a bit but I will try and keep it on topic.

Wish me luck!

Seal Hugs

It has been a slow year so far for me in a number of ways. Blog posts for one, so apologies on that front. The fish also have been reluctant to show themselves to me and the Basking sharks haven't put in an appearance - reports suggest record low numbers of sightings which is a real shame. Still I can't complain because the seals are really coming through for me :)

I have always been jealous of some of the films I have seen on youtube of scuba divers getting seal hugs and wondered what the main differences are. Is it the fact that the divers are deeper and more static? That they are in a location where the seals are friendlier? Or just the familiarity of constant exposure to scuba divers? Well I have just returned from an incredible dive with a new seal at one of my favourite spots. He was a young male and was MUCH more friendly than any other seal I have yet encountered.

I had spent some time hunting (and failing to find) Bass and was frankly surprised not to have bumped into one of my regular seal friends. It was only when I returned to the shallows along the shore that I noticed I was being tailed by a seal I didn't recognise. I unloaded my gun and turned on my camera and waited to see how this newcomer was going to react. It was quickly apparent that he was extremely inquisitive, he glided elegantly around me and straight away decided my fins looked tasty. Unlike the other seals he was happy to swim right underneath me and was attracted rather than nervous when I dived down.

I began to realise this was going to be a special dive and I wasn't wrong. The seal played with me for over an hour, getting bolder and bolder, clearly completely unphased by close proximity he would pop up right next to me and look around turning his back on me. Or swim right underneath me, even sniff my hand and let me scratch his chin. It was like playing with a friendly underwater dog :)

I will let the video do the talking. Suffice to say it was a magical experience! (HD Fullscreen and chuck me a like on youtube if you er like it!)

Reacquainting myself.

I had arranged to take my photographer friend diving again to try and get some good shots of grey seals after our last failed attempt.

We rendezvoused in the afternoon at one of my favourite spots which is home to the friendly seals I have blogged about in the past. From my experience I knew that there was about a 90% chance of encountering the seals and likely getting to swim with them. Through my binoculars I could see two of them basking on the rocks just above the water line, and as we got ready the tide reached them and they slipped into the sea.

Knowing that they were around and swimming I felt confident that we would get a good dive. As we entered the water we saw that the visibility wasn't great but certainly acceptable and we struck out towards where the seals had been resting. As we drew near I saw the recognizable head of what I had always though of as the 'mother' which we were informed later is a male. In my experience the males are usually more standoffish which is perhaps why I always assumed he was a female despite his masculine features.

We dived with him for some time but he was not as playful as usual and I didn't wasn't to pester him so we finned off around the rocks to a gully I know the females and younger seals like to frequent. I hoped that he might follow us but he had obviously lost interest at this point. Luckily the younger seal (probably the pup I first met last year) was in the gully as I had hoped and she immediately began circling us and acting in a very inquisitive and brave manner. Two other females showed up but kept their distance, on occasion racing past us very quickly, they put on a great show!






(As usual it's best in hi def/ full screen.)

Unfortunately my friend had only brought his compact camera and not his large high quality rig so although we got some nice shots and some fun video he didn't get the images he needed for his project. It was a great dive though and I was thrilled to find the young pup growing up into a beautiful adolescent, much braver than she was the first time I met her. She even approached me and gave my fins a little sniff so I'm hopeful of many more great dives with her In the year ahead.

On the fin home my mullet sense started tingling so I loaded my gun and sure enough found a couple for dinner in the murkier water close to shore.

Another Season begins!

Well it's been a long winter and I'm sorry for the dearth of updates! Still Spring is in the air (if not the sea quite yet) and the diving season approaches.

The surf has been outstanding so I haven't felt like my lack of diving has meant I'm missing out on quality sea time. There have been lovely sunny days and offshore winds, you can't beat it! So far this year I have only dived twice. Firstly at a secluded cove to take a friend hunting (with a camera) for seals as part of a photography project. The day was calm and sunny but the sea was cold and murky and although we found three or four grey seals who did investigate us quite closely, the visibility unfortunately meant no photographs were got. They seemed defensive rather than playful, probably due to the proximity to a cave they may use to rest.

My second dive was my first spear of the season and once again the water was cold and murky. My breathe holds were also terrible and I felt a distinct lack of confidence which reduced my bottom times considerably. The incredibly low tides were a good opportunity to visit a local wreck which was in very shallow water and great fun to dive around. Especially as a lot of the sand that normally covered it had been washed away and the kelp that normally festoons the metalwork has yet to grow back.

Finally as I returned, shivering to shore having seen nothing but a few Wrasse, a small shoal of Grey Mullet emerged out of the murk, the largest of which came home with me for dinner.

A good start to the year!