Diving in the English Channel
The Paul O’Grady Show’s Marc Abraham tells us about the wonderful creatures that can be found in the English Channel
With the recent great weather, our thoughts naturally turn to planning that precious annual holiday abroad, and ‘getting away from it all’. We may live in the best part of the UK, but there are still times when life, work, or the mother-in-law, get you down.
Indeed, we all have our own ways to escape, but there is one true getaway that’s right on our doorstep, and so underused. I’m talking about the English Channel, and the benefits of spending time below its surface.
“I couldn’t have predicted the amount and variety of life we encountered”
It’s so simple; learn to scuba dive. I took my first dive of the year in our local waters a couple of weeks ago and it was fantastic. Together with a few other divers, I entered the water from the beach (known as a shore-dive) just by the marina, and couldn’t have predicted the amount and variety of life we encountered in the next fifty minutes.
As well as massive crabs, lobster, shrimp, snails, mermaid’s purses, giant starfish, flounders and an impressive eel, probably the most numerous and comical of all fish down there was the Tompot Blenny. These medium-sized, deep brown, orange characters live commonly in our shallow rocky waters, and can easily be identified by a pair of ‘lappets’ over their eyes. With hundreds of beautifully ornate heads popping out of every nook and cranny, they proudly guarded their territories from the strange dark rubber human being shapes carrying big ugly tanks on their backs swimming overhead!
A typical dive, either beside the marina or under the Palace Pier averages only eight to ten metres – perfect for beginners to experience the thrill of a dive and also shallow enough to let ample sunlight through, encouraging maximum life and activity on the ocean floor.
Our underwater adventure was finally crowned by coming face to face (literally!) with a fairly large cuttlefish. This highly intelligent creature communicated with us by raising its tentacles while displaying aggressive colour changes, before swimming off. It was then time to surface, and we finned to shore in the calm water under the setting sun.
And please don’t let the temperature and cleanliness of the water put you off diving here. The visibility of our coastline in fair weather is pretty good, and with the right equipment and conditions, you too will enjoy spending quality time with Sussex’s aquatic flora and fauna – the ideal way to explore and be fascinated by our sea’s incredible treasures.
For more info on learning to dive contact The Brighton Dive Centre on 01273 606068 or visit www.thebrightondivecentre.co.uk
