On the hunt for Aliens

Having been under the weather for just over a week I'm now feeling better and was keen to get back in the water. So with the forecast looking good a trip out with Penny and Marc was arranged for this morning and we decided to go down to Churchill Barrier No 3.

This barrier lies across Weddel Sound linking Glimps Holm to Burray. At the South end of the barrier on the East side lies the wreck of the 'Reginald' an iron schooner built in 1878 and sunk as a blockship during WW1.

Moored to the wreck is a pontoon and it was here on a previous trip that Penny had spotted something that looked like a Sea Squirt called Botrylloides violaceus. This is a non-native species from Japan which was recorded in UK waters for the first time in 2004. Since then there have been a couple of Scottish records, both in the Clyde. One record at the Troon yacht haven in 2009 and the other in Wemyss Bay in 2010. There hasn't been any sightings further North than this, so it could be an important finding.

Botrylloides violaceus is a colonial sea squirt forming lobed sheets usually 2-3 mm in thickness. Individual colonies are always one colour, although the colours can vary, such as dark brown, brick red, orange, purple or yellow. The one Penny saw was Orange. The zooids are arranged in a variety of ways, roughly oval groups or meandering, occasionally branching, double rows or chains.

Although there is a possibility that what Penny saw was Botrylloides leachi, which is found in our waters, the indications were that it was Botrylloides violaceus.

So the plan for the trip was to swim out to the pontoon, see if we could find the potential alien visitor and record as much detail as we could and to get some photos to send to the experts for further analysis.

We parked in the layby on Glimps Holm and started kitting up. As we were getting ready a couple who had been walking on the beach came back to their car and stopped to ask us if we knew what the name of the beach was. We all looked at each other shrugged our shoulders and said that we just knew it as the beach at Barrier 3. The couple said they would look on the map. For the record I have checked the OS map and it doesn't give the beach a name, although as it is on Weddel Sound I suppose Weddel Beach would be as good a name as any!!

Once we were ready we descended the steps down onto the beach and before we set off Penny mentioned about the seabed taking a sudden plunge about 10m out. We set off and she was right, the seabed was very shallow initially and then suddenly it just disappeared like a drop over a cliff.

We kept close to the blocks of the barrier exploring all the nooks and crannies. It was teeming with marine life. There were lots of Sea Squirts including red ones called Ascidia Mentula and whitish opaque ones called Clavelina lepadiformis, better known as a Light Bulb Sea Squirt.

Ascidia Mentula & Clavelina lepadiformis - Photo by Penny

Clavelina lepadiformis - Photo by Penny

 There were various coloured Urticina felina (Dahlia Anenomes).

Urticina felina - Photo by Penny

Urticina felina - Photo by Penny

Urticina felina - Photo by Penny

Urticina felina - Photo by Penny

Various marine life including horse mussels, squirts, anemones, barnacles and worms
 - Photo by Penny

Various marine life including kelp, squirts, and anemones - Photo by Penny

There was a large Shore Crab moving between the blocks of the barrier, various sizes of Hermit Crabs and Marc and Penny spotted a Spider Crab.

Spider Crab - Photo by Marc

There were also a whole variety of plants and a large number of what looked like red and green marbles which I believe are some sort of egg cases.

Eventually we made it over to Reginald and despite a good look along the length of the pontoon there was no sign of our alien visitor. A relief in some ways but a bit disappointing in others.

Having swum all the way around Reginald I spotted a Fulmar bobbing up and down on the surface of the water so I started making my way towards it. Fulmars actually nest on the side of Reginald as part of the wreck forms a nice cliff ledge for them. As I got closer to the Fulmar on the water another kept swooping in low over my head and it eventually landed next to the other one. I got to within 3 metres of them before they flew off. I didn't see any rings on their legs though!!

It was time to start heading back to the beach. On the way back we started seeing lots of little Jellyfish and I also spotted lots of little creatures that were dark brown in colour, approximately 1cm in length with a flat looking body and what looked like a couple of little antenna. At first I thought they were just bits of plant debris but the more I saw of them the more I thought they were definitely some sort of creature. No idea what though.

As we approacherd the shallows Marc spotted some small flat fish and both he and Penny spotted at least one small Cuttlefish, but they had to be quick. I saw a tiny little fish that blended in very well with the sandy seabed but its pale blue eyes allowed me to keep track of it.

Cuttlefish making a hasty retreat - Photo by Marc

Although we didn't find our alien invaders we had a good swim and saw lots of fascinating stuff.

A big thanks to Penny and Marc for the use of their photos. I have a housing for my camera on order so hopefully I'll be able to start posting my own photos very soon.

Snorkelling in the snow

Am I cracking up? Snorkelling in the snow!!

Having just got back from a business trip South Marc was keen to get me back in the water as soon as possible so that I didn't suffer too badly from withdrawal symptoms.

We agreed that tonight would be good for a snorkelling session and that we would go down to Churchill Barrier No 2 where he had been the other day and seen some interesting stuff.

We put the word out that we would be going and invited anyone else from the Orkney Snorkelling group that might be interested in joining us. Helen said that she was up for a session as it had been a while since she had been snorkelling.

Yesterday the Met Office had issued a Yellow weather warning for snow over Orkney today and tomorrow but  a weather forecast this morning had revised that to say that most of Scotland except Orkney and Shetland would get snow. The weather was certainly looking good this morning however as the afternoon went on the weather started a downhill slide and by 5 o'clock it was definitely snowing.

By the time Marc had arrived the snow had eased and we decided that we would still go for it. So we loaded my kit into his car and set off for Barrier 2. When we got there Helen was already waiting for us.

We got kitted up and headed for the water on the East side of the barrier. As we swam along the side of the barrier there were a wide variety of seaweeds with a range of colours. These plants included the Thong Weed and a species of Wrack.

Thong Weed/Sea Thong - Himanthalia elongata

Wrack species - to be confirmed

The seabed was quite varied too going from sandy bits to rocky areas to areas of weed and the level of the seabed also varied from a couple of feet to probably 8-10 feet maybe more (I've not got the hang of judging distance under water yet).

Marc pointed out my first Sea Hare (a type of sea slug). I then swam over to where Helen was taking pictures and she pointed out a whole load of Sea Hares on the weed.

Sea Hares - Aplysia punctata

I also saw a few Hermit Crabs, a couple of which were quite big, and a Common Shore Crab.

Common Shore Crab - Carcinus maenas

There were the usual limpits and barnacles but I didn't see any signs of the Cuttlefish or any of the other fish that were seen last weekend.

The other thing that surprised me was the size of the blocks used for the lower parts of the barrier. Unless it was my eyes being tricked by looking through the water the blocks looked a lot bigger than the ones you see above the water. From an engineering point of view it makes sense to have larger blocks at the bottom and smaller ones on the top, but as you only ever see the smaller blocks when driving over the barriers you just assume that the same sized blocks are used for the whole structure.

After about an hour in the water our hands were starting to feel the effects of the cold so we returned to the beach and left the water for the snow!! Definitely an incentive for getting out of the snorkelling kit and into a warm car as quickly as possible. As we left the parking spot the car thermometer was showing just 1C!!

Another good session and a new site for me. It will be interesting to compare what was seen with what is on the West side of the barrier.

A big thanks to Helen Hadley for allowing me to use her photos.

If you fancy doing some diving in Scapa Flow check out Helen's website: MV-Valkyrie

Marc's first dip

Marc's drysuit was finally delivered yesterday so he was keen to get in the water and make sure it was ok. So we arranged to meet up on Scapa Beach after work today and go for a quick dip just to check out all his kit.

We arrived about 5:30 and by the time we were kitted up and heading for the water the sun was rapidly heading for the horizon. With final kit checks done we were in the water.

Final checks before entering the water.

First check for Marc was to make sure all the zips were watertight.

Checking to make sure all the zips are watertight.

With everything looking good we set off out into the bay. The water was fairly shallow for quiter a distance out and it was sand all the way. There were a small number of small hermit crabs scurrying about and a few clumps of seaweed but apart from that I didn't see very much. The visibility was not particularly brilliant, the water seemed a lot cloudier than recent trips but I think the setting sun didn't help matters either.

Marc had a couple of issues with his mask leaking but apart from that everything seemed to be working ok.

Instead of an inquisitive seal this time out there was an inquisitive Black Guillemot that swam quite close by.

Two for One

After yesterday's little test swim to sort out the drysuit I thought that would it be as far as snorkelling went for a while as I have other commitments for the next two weekends.

Then at 9:50 this morning, just by chance I checked my emails in between other tasks, there was an email from Penny saying that she was going to be going out at 2:00 pm with Anne Bignall, was I interested in joining them. Of course I was, so a reply was sent back asking her to let me know when and where.

Then at 10:20 am I got another email to say that there was a change of plan and that they would be going out earlier than planned. Then at 11:20 I got a call from Penny to say that they were just about to set off and that they would meet me at Swanbister and if it wasn't too choppy we would be swimming around the old pier.

By midday we were suiting up and heading for the water.

Anne and me setting off by Swanbister Pier

After swimming around the pier we then headed off to the right of the pier moving from sand to rocks with quite a variety of seaweeds, some sea urchins and a young Great Spider Crab.

Me taking a look around

A young Great Spider Crab

 After a while we grouped up and decided to swim back to the pier and the area to the left as Anne had seen some anemones that she didn't recognise. While we were chatting a seal leapt out of the water behind Penny and Anne but at a reasonable distance. Still hoping to see one up close just hope it doesn't suddenly appear from under me and scare the life out of me.

I found the swim back to the pier quite tough as it was against the current. But got there eventually albeit a little bit out of breath. I should find it easier the more I do and the better my fitness levels get.

Once back at the pier Penny investigated the mystery anemones and concluded that they were a Burrowing Anemone (Cerianthus lloydii) which she hadn't seen in Orkney before. After counting 75 of them Penny stopped counting.

Burrowing Anemone (Cerianthus lloydii)

We emeged from the water after about an hour and decided to move on to Houton and take a look to the right hand side of the harbour and the tidal flow between the mainland and the Holm of Houton.

Although the water here was fairly shallow, arms depth a lot of the time, the current was very strong. Fortunately this stretch was quite rocky and the were some big rocks to hold onto while seeing what was about.

Having got almost to the Holm we decided to go with the current and let it take us back towards the beach near to where we had parked our cars.

Some of the things we saw  included Long Clawed Porcelain Crab, Brittle Stars, Peacock Worm, Heart Urchin (sometimes known as a Sea Potato), Common Urchin, Common Whelks, Periwinkles, a Plaice and a Dab both of which blended in very well with the sea bed. We also saw Sand Mason Worm tubes, Lugworm casts, and a Paddleworm.

 We also came across a piece of old drainpipe lying on the sea bed which contained plumose anemones.

Time seemed to fly by and before we knew it we had spent nearly two hours in the water.

I had a great time and thanks once again to Penny for being my guide and providing the photos including the one in the Blog header.

Wet or Dry ?

After my first time out last weekend and a bit of a damp experience, I had to get back in the water to see whether the leak had been due to user error or there was a problem with the drysuit. I strongly suspect the former.

During the week I had put out a request on one of the local web-based for sale / want sites for anyone with any ankle weights or other weights suitable for snorkelling that were surplus to requirements. Within a few hours someone came back to say thay they had some weights with a belt and a pair of ankle weights and all at a bargain price.

A time was arranged to go and take a look at what was on offer and a purchase was duly made. I came away with a brand new belt, two 3kg lead weights and a pair of ankle weights for the grand sum of £15. I was also able to acquire another belt and a two more 3kg weights for Marc.

I was keen to see if the ankle weights would make any difference and to further investigate the use of a weight belt.

This afternoon the weather was sunny albeit with a bit of a breeze, so with an incoming tide I decided that a second session in the water this time to the west of the pier here in the village would be a good place to have a go. That way if the suit leaked it wasn't far to get home!!

Marc and his wife Penny had called round so I was to be the afternoon entertainment.

I got the drysuit on and then we all set off down to the shore. Claire, my good lady, was in charge of the camera today.

Once I was fully kitted up I headed for the water. As soon as I got submerged in the water I could once again feel the cold, but wasn't sure if it was just the cold I was feeling or cold water. I had a swim around and slowly I got used to the cool temperature and things didn't feel too bad.

Even though I had squeezed some of the air out of the drysuit before entering the water I was surprised, when looking at the photos later, just how much air was still in the drysuit. I looked like I was swimming around with a balloon on my back.

Inflated drysuit

After about 10 minutes I headed back to my audience to see if I had got wet again. The zip across the back of the drysuit was opened and a check of my thermal top indicated that I was still dry, so I was only feeling the temperature of the water through my suit not the water itself. So that was a relief.

Zipped back up I headed back to the water for another look around the rock bed. Again as soon as I entered the water I got an initial cold feeling but soon got used to it.

It was interesting to see how much of the rock bed was actually exposed rock. When you see it at low tide most of the rock is covered in seaweed, but with the tide coming in a lot of it rises up forming a forest to swim through. Swathes of rock bed were lit up by the sun and it was quite pleasant swimming about.

This time I saw a couple of crabs, lots of hermit crabs of various sizes and whelks. I also saw lots of what looked like tiny limpet shells on the rock surfaces, but these had a little hole at the top with very fine hair like fronds sticking out of the hole and waving about in the current. Not sure what they were and I couldn't find anything that looked like them in my book. I think I will need to get Penny M down to take a look and she what she says.

I saw at least three different types of what I'm going to call seaweed for now, until I have mastered the art of plant identification, although I think one of them was a species of Wrack.

I also noticed a few of the rocks shimmering in the sunlight with what looked like silver speckles. Closer inspection revealed that they were tiny air bubbles.

Once again visibility straight down was pretty good but foward vision was quite cloudy.

When I got back to the shore Marc told me that I was being watched by an inquisitive seal again, but it was keeping a safe distance.

As far as the weights went, I found that even though I had done the belt up quite tight with the weights positioned on my back, once I had been moving around in the water for a bit the weights slipped off of my back and slid round to my front.

I found moving through the water was a bit easier when using the fins today but I'm not sure whether I'm improving my technique or whether having ankle weights is helping to keep my fins a bit more under the water. Perhaps it is a combination of both!!

After about another 15 minutes of exploring the rock bed I emerged from the water and was pleased to note that I didn't feel anything cold and wet running down my back.

A dry end to the test swim

We headed back to the house and the removal of the drysuit revealed that I was totally dry this time so it was looking likely that maybe I hadn't done something quite right last time. The only thing that I conciously did different this time was that, following a couple of conversations during the week, I folded the top edge of the collar seal back inside itself to effectively give a double layer of seal around my neck.

So now I know that the drysuit doesn't leak I can put an extra couple of layers on underneath the drysuit to hopefully keep me a bit warmer on the next swim.

Marc should hopefully be getting his drysuit next week so we will soon be able to start exploring other spots around the Orkney coastline.

The first dip

Well after weeks of waiting the time had finally arrived for me to take to the sea.

I met up with Penny Martin down at the pier as arranged at 2pm with Marc Herridge there to capture the event on camera.

As we started to get ready Marc spotted a spectator in the form of a seal out in the water keeping a close eye on us. It would be nice to get a close encounter with the seal once we were in the water.

Phase 1 was to get into the water with the drysuit on to make sure it didn't leak. So with drysuit on, I started making my way down the slipway only to find it was quite, well, slippery. Probably why it is called a slipway!! Not wanting to slip and break my leg again, I went back up onto the pier then climbed down the ladder only to find it ran out just as I reached the water.

Heading for the water and the leak test

Once in the water I found the suit was very buoyant and all appeared well so it was time to move onto Phase 2.

Happy that the leak test went well

I got out the water, donned the fins, got back into the water and used the water pressure to force more air out through the neck seal. Then I masked up, fitted the snorkel to the mask strap, a task that reminded me of my air force days trying to fit a new canister to a gas mask - fiddley and not being able to see what I was doing - and I was ready to embark on my first snorkelling adventure. Note to self, next time attach the snorkel to the mask before putting the mask on.

Ready to set off

Penny joined me in the water and we decided to make our way along the East side of the pier to the end and then take a look at the rock bed on the West side of the pier. We set off and within a couple of minutes I had a cold sensation working its way down over my chest. I wasn't sure if the suit was leaking or whether it was just me feeling the cold through the drysuit. The feeling soon seemed to go away so I concluded it must have just been me acclimatizing to the water temperature.

As we worked our way along the pier it was interesting to see what was on the sea bed and the pier wall. Apart from human rubbish, bits of old creels, an old bottle, bits of broken floats and so on, Penny pointed out some Common Starfish and I spotted some Sea Urchins on the sea bed.

Exploring the pier wall

As far as marine life goes you'll have to bear with me as it is a whole new world to which I'm not familiar. The sea bed next to the pier was mainly sand and there didn't seem to be too much going on. Visibility straight down was pretty good but looking ahead it was quite murky. As we rounded the end of the pier the surface water started getting a lot choppier so after a brief discussion we decided to leave the rock bed for another day and head off to the East and take a look at an area of rock closer to the shore.

It was an interesting feeling just floating on the surface looking down onto the seabed and just letting the current move you along. Probably a bit like free-fall parachuting, not that I have ever tried that. I also became aware of how easy it was to get disorientated. Having been swimming toward the rocks, so I thought, I lift my head out the water to see where Penny was and I was facing in totally the wrong direction and looking at the end of the pier!!

Now facing the right way I set off to catch up with Penny. There must be a technique to using the fins, something I will need to learn and master as I was struggling to get any forward propulsion at times. After we got out of the water and werer discussing how things had gone, Penny said that I might benefit from some ankle weights to keep the fins below the water's surface. Now added to the shopping list.

As we got into the shallower water I started feeling the cold sensation on my chest again which continued down towards my stomach. Moving back into deeper what seemed to reduce the effect so I put it down to just feeling a change in water temperature being felt through the suit.

We had a look around the area of rocks nearer the shore and it was an interesting experience swimming through the forest of plant life. Althought there didn't appear to be very much going on amongst the plants or the rocks.

Heading back towards the pier we left the rocks and moved back over a sandy area. Here there were plenty of Hermit Crabs of various sizes, from some quite small ones to quite a large one, scuttling across the sand. Some of the larger hermit crabs had an Orange fuzz on their shells which was a type of hydroid called Hydratinia echinata or Hermit Crab Fir to you and me.

Hermit crab with Hermit Crab Fir on its shell

There were also what I shall call Whelks for now until I have found out from Penny what they really were.

At this point Penny lent me her weight belt so I could see if it made any difference to the buoyancy. The main difference was that I could feel the weight on my lower back. Whilst it made me a bit more stable in the water I think for now I will be alright without one but I'll add it to the shoping list for a later date.

Finally we got back to the pier and emerged from the water after about an hour of swimming around. Time certainly flew by.

The end of my first snorkelling trip

As I stood up I could feel cold water trickling down my back, so there was definitely somewhere on the drysuit letting some water in. Afterwards I wondered if when I had moved the neck seal to let some of the air out I hadn't made sure it had formed a tight seal again and had got rucked up letting some water in. When I took the drysuit off my undergarments were quite damp so I guess I'll have to get back into the water and immerse the suit a stage at a time to see if I can find a leak. Fingers crossed it was my error in putting the suit on.

Did we get our close encounter with the seal? Talking with Marc after we got out of the water it transpired that the seal had come in to take a closer look once we were in the water. At one point it was following me until I made a splash with the fins and then it was away. Hopefully there will be a closer encounter soon.

Being watched

So apart from what has already been mentioned what else did we see? There was lots of Pink Paint Weed, Corallinaceae crusts which are red seaweeds that are hard due to calcification and encrust rocks etc and some large Kelp fronds which had the hydroid, Obelia geniculata, Kelp Fir (looks like "fuzz") and bryozoans on.

A big thanks to Penny for joining me in the water and acting as my guide and to Marc for taking all the photos, except the one of the Hermit Crab which taken by Penny.

Sink test

Having got all the kit I needed to start on my snorkelling adventures, I thought it might be wise before getting into the sea to try the mask and snorkel out. This would give me the confidence that I wasn't going to get a mask full of water when I got into the sea and also would get me used to breathing through the snorkel.

So I filled the kitchen sink with cold water, might as well simulate the sea temperature, got kitted up with the mask, snorkel and hood and stuck my head into the water. Straight away I could feel cold water trickling down the right hand side of my face and filling the nose compartment up. Glad I decided to do the the sink test!!

I lifted my head out of the water, removed my mask and drained the collected water. Then adjusted the straps on the mask. As I adjusted the right hand side the roller pin in the buckle flew out of the buckle and I heard it bounce on the kitchen floor. Ten minutes later I found it and went to fit it back into the buckle but could not get it to seat properly. Closer inspection of the buckle showed a slight distortion in the moulding which was preventing the pin from seating properly.

Yesterday I was able to get back across to the dive shop from where I had purchased the mask from and explained the problem. They replaced the mask with another one and it was back home for another sink test. This time all went well apart from a slight trickle below the nose which appeared to be due to my moustache. The woman in the dive shop had said that the mask might leak because of it but a dab of vasaline should stop it, which it seemed to. However I have decided to shave it and the beard off.

So now I'm keeping a close eye on the weather over the weekend and hoping a for reasonable spell so that I can finally get into the sea. With a full moon today the tides over the next few days will be higher and lower than normal, which could be interesting.