Mulberry Divers Blog

As the waters warm up and viz improves more people will be getting back in the water to look for marine life. Having spotted something interesting how can you identify and record this and if you are looking for a particular species how can you be certain that you are looking in the right place.

Compact digital cameras make it easier to take a picture and have a record of what you have seen however this still leaves the issue of finding and identifying elusive creatures.

PADI Underwater Naturalist or the SeaSearch Observer courses are ideal first steps. PADI Underwater Naturalist provides an introduction to the aquatic realm, classification systems, aquatic life, aquatic organisms and human impact on the aquatic realm. There are courses available every month go to the Training Schedule to check out dates.

SeaSearch Observer is a one-day course aimed at giving divers new to the SeaSearch project and new to marine recording a basic grounding. It covers the aims, history and achievements of SeaSearch as an organisation, a basic introduction to the variety of marine life in British and Irish waters, an introduction to recognising and classifying marine habitats, position fixing, and how to fill in the Observation Form. You can then use these skills either for your own identification and recording purposes or to help in recording data for SeaSearch. There is a SeaSearch course at Selsey on the 13th and 14th July 2013 which provides an opportunity to complete the course and two dives one from the boat and one under Selsey Lifeboat Station. This enables you to put your skills into practice with someone to support you. If you would like more information or to join this course please contact the Dive Centre. We have a program of SeaSearch dives at Selsey throughout the year so if you would like these dates then check out the Dive Schedule.

You want to be certain that when you are diving other water users (boats, jet-skis, surfers, kayaks etc) know where you are and if you are diving from a boat it is even more important to make certain your dive skipper knows where you are! So:
• If you are shore diving then you need to take a marker buoy with you and keep it with you at all times, so those on and in the water and on the beach (fishermen) know where you are. For this use a marker buoy which is inflated when you enter the water.
• If you are diving from a boat then your dive skipper will tell you when he expects to see an SMB deployed. This will normally be a delayed SMB and options include:
o If you are diving on a wreck then deploying the SMB as you commence either your ascent or leave the wreck.
o If you are drift diving then you either deploy your delayed SMB on the surface before descending or as soon as you reach the bottom.
• If you are not certain of local conventions for a dive then contact the local dive centre, boat skipper you are diving with or harbour master.

No one likes to feel that they are limiting their buddies’ dive time however it is a fact that some people breathe more than others. Below are some tips to help you improve your air comsumption:
• Streamline yourself and your equipment. This makes movement through the water more effective, reduces workload and hence breathing rate.
• Ensure that you are correctly weighted, too much weight means that you are working harder to control your buoyancy.
• Stay within your limits, if you are comfortable and relaxed diving then your breathing will be comfortable and relaxed.
• Move slowly , conserve energy if the dive site is that good then come back again.

No one likes to feel cold when they are diving however some of our best diving can be when the water is colder. Being cold spoils your enjoyment of the dive and is some cases may mean that you have to cut the dive short. If you want to stay warm and toasty then the answer is to dive dry – that is dive in a dry suit! Below are a few more tips on staying warm:
• Layer up – it is better to build up layers of insulation with multiple layers each trapping air rather than one very thick layer.
• Start warm – arrive at your dive site warm and then stay wrapped up and warm whilst you prepare to dive. If you are cold when you arrive or get cold putting your kit together then you will not warm up under water only chill off even quicker.
• Stay warm – underwater move around, no need to dash but if you keep gently moving you will definitely be warmer than staying still in one place.
• Eat before you dive – not immediately before you dive but make certain you have calories of your body to burn.

To help you layer up this month’s equipment offer is 12.5% off all under suiting sets (Oceanic, Lavacore and Fourth Element).

If you would like to receive a copy of our monthly newsletter then e-mail us at info@mulberrydivers.co.uk.

With many thanks to Justin Evans for the photos……….the visibility under the Lifeboat has improved with the recent settled weather; this morning (on the HW-4 slack when visibility is not as good as the HW+3 slack) there was 3m visibility until the tide turned – it was noticeable that closer to the shore kept the visbility the longest.

Perfect weather – calm water, good visibility and a slack water time which meant we could dive before Dinner. We spent most of our time on the right hand side of the Station, just seawards of the line to the anchor………..lots of life including cuttlefish, pipefish, many scorpion fish and a Stalked Jellyfish (only seen on the photo afterwards!). Courtesy of David Nardini and Justin Evans there are several photos on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/#!/mulberrydivers.