As well as finding out more about the marine renewable industry on Orkney, I used my return trip to the treeless islands to further explore what was on offer both above and below the water. The wrecks of Scapa Flow captivated me during my first visit and so I jumped at the chance to dive out in the Flow again. I also had the pleasure of joining a Seafari Marine Services wildlife tour – which turned out to be incredible!
Before getting stuck into marine renewable investigations I took a day out to do some fun diving. It was refreshing and extremely enjoyable to just dive for the sake of seeing something cool. Following a month on the road completing courses my mind is abuzz with new skills and practices. The skills I learned during my GUE Fundamentals course with Rich Walker were put into practice. Rather pleasingly it was a subconscious effort (for the most part). I attempted to remain in the trim position. I even attempted a backward kick – fail. These dives were also an opportunity to get the Halcyon Wing out again. The more I dive with the wing the better it feels – with your torso largely free of obstruction it is a much more liberating way to dive.
With the rest of my kit hire courtesy of Scapa Scuba, and a boat pass courtesy of Bob Anderson – skipper of the Halton – I was all set. My buddy for the day was Stef; an instructor with Scapa Scuba and my host during my stay. We decided to take my new Light and Motion Bluefin housing for a swim. Like the majority of men, Stef was rather enamored by this shiny new piece of dive kit and was more than willing to act as cameraman for the day. As a result I now have some great footage of me diving the wrecks of Scapa Flow. What’s more, the Sola lights that attach to the housing provided marvelous lighting for our dives. Because the wrecks lie in deep water it can get rather gloomy down there, plus there are a number of great swim throughs that are rather eerie without the aid of light. With a beacon to light the way, the wrecks were remarkable. A part of me couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed by their vastness. I will get the footage up once I have trounced my frustrating habit of leaving camera chargers/software in separate continents to the one I am in…
Stef was an awesome guide. He knows these wrecks as only someone who takes great pleasure in diving and exploring them would. I was given the tour he declares “nobody fails to be impressed by”. I was impressed. However, being stuck looking at an odd shaped hunk of metal for ages while Stef appeared to be doing a monkey impression in an attempt to explain what we were looking at was pretty amusing. Eventually I grasped his miming as washing and turned my head to have the hunk of metal morph into a bath. Penny drops.
Until these dives I had been impressed by the sheer size and history of the wrecks in Scapa Flow. But this time round I began to appreciate different aspects. The fact that these wrecks were once fully operational ships with a crew and a purpose began to really strike me as I was shown specific features. Breathtaking swim-throughs made me feel more involved. The dives became both more significant and intricate in my mind. As I started to realise whislt diving Scapa Flow previously: the more you dive these wrecks the more enlivening they become. More enticing.
Another highlight of Orkney Round 2 was joining Seafari Marine Services on one of their wildlife tours. Iain Hill and Duncan Smallman kindly let me hop on board their snazzy RIB and we started searching the Orkney waters for birds, mammals and fish… Iain and Duncan were also instrumental in my marine renewables research. They provided a super list of contacts within the industry and were undoubtedly the catalysts in helping me find out more, which I am most thankful for.
Seafari have a well established and popular tour running out of Oban on the west coast of Scotland. Iain is now trying to crack the wildlife tour industry a little further north – with full boats and some impressive sightings he certainly seems to be cracking it.
Duncan acts as wildlife spotter and vat of knowledge – his tours are interspersed with quirky facts and Orkney folklore. And he has an eagle eye, as we were all about to find out. As the rib passed into Burra Sound (see map) Duncan was quick to pick up on the amalgamation of boats, divers – still in the water, and a fin?! We passed it off as a bird at first, but with a little experience of diving Scapa I decided it was rather strange that the divers were still in the water a while later. You don’t hang around in 11° water. Duncan was also convinced it was indeed a fin and so we back tracked.
It was a Basking Shark! The first one I have ever seen! I was ecstatic. It stayed around for ages, seemingly un-phased by the presence of 3 liveaboards and our RIB, as it took advantage of the strong current and plankton rich water. In the end it was us who had to leave. Not before I had dunked my Olympus Stylus Tough into the water in what I thought was a vain hope of getting some footage. Watching the shark from the surface was cool – a shark’s dorsal fin never fails to impress after all. However, I was itching to get an underwater view. I have never been happier to have a piece of equipment in my hand. When the shark got nearer to the boat I simply stuck my camera overboard and underwater and hoped…When Andy Bausk presented the 2011 scholars with our Olympus camera gear in New York back in April he popped the Stylus Tough on top of our already heaving haul of gear and said: “and this one is handy for when you’re snorkeling, or on the boat, and don’t want to contend with the larger camera”. Absolute perfection.
