A happy group of Arden Divers and friends had a fabulous trip to Plymouth this weekend with In Deep Dive Centre.
We were very excited to try out their blue shark snorkelling trip on the first day. This is a bit of a gamble that requires the weather to be perfect and the sharks to be curious. Thankfully, we were in luck, and enjoyed a perfect trip on Panther, skippered by Cam, out to about 20 miles off shore. Shark whisperer in chief, Freya, then baited the water with frozen blocks of mashed fish which seeps fish oil and bits into the water and down the English Channel. This gives the blue sharks the smell of the fish and tempts them close, in the hope of a free lunch, but doesn’t fill them up.
It took 2 or 3 hours, but eventually a 3 meter female came to visit and after she had been happily bimbling around the boat for a while we got into the water. Will was first and got some outstanding pictures. Being in the water, in the UK, with such an iconic animal was really awe inspiring. She was calm and gentle, but grabbed fish bits with great vigour—you wouldn’t want a hand to be in the wrong place! Unfortunately our shark was rather shy and didn’t stick around long once we were in, so it was a short swim but really rewarding.
We then enjoyed two days excellent diving on Seeker, visiting the James Egan Lane, the Cilla, Hand Deeps and the Glen Strathallan. We were escorted to Hand Deeps by a very big pod of dolphins who were playing in the bow wave and putting on a great show for us. The anemone walls and gullies at Hand Deeps were stunning and Sam, our skipper, judged slack to perfection, so we had a lovely, chilled out dive there. Sarah and I met a very friendly cuttle fish and some huge congas on the Glen. The Cilla and JEL never disappoint and the squidge on the Cilla gets better every time I visit. All in all, it was a great weekend with lovely vis and conditions. Thank you to all the crew at In Deep, and all my wonderful Arden Diver buddies!
