Issue 7 June 2007
Off-Gassing...
(Web Version)
Welcome to the seventh issue of our newsletter.
Profile:- Aggi Bellamy
Scotland Trip
22nd - 30th June
There are a few spaces still available if anyone is interested. Speak to Lin.
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Menai Bridge Nature Trail
Sunday - 24th June
if you haven’t already experienced this dive and are interested, speak to Phillipa.
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Camping near Chepstow
16th/17th June
Ready to dive at the NDAC.
Speak to Tim.
In 1990 the furthest thing from my mind was
scuba diving. Then a friend came along and said he had heard about this
club where you could go and have a try dive to see if you liked it. He
didn’t want to go on his own so would I go with him. Of course I said no
problem thinking it would all be a waste of time, but as soon as I got
the kit on and put my head under the water that was it, oh yes this is
for me. My friend never came again, he started flying lessons instead.
In 1991 I got my novice and by 1999 I was an advanced diver. You might
think that took a long time but back then we did things a lot slower,
and as anyone who knows me will tell you I never rush things.
I’ve dived in many places. Normandy, Scapa, Red Sea, Malta, and
Scotland. My favourite of all up till now is the Sound of Mull, it is a
very special place. We have had some fantastic holidays up there. Seeing
a Basking Shark up close is just breath-taking, they are so graceful.
Prima has not been just the diving for me I have had some very memorable
weekends away with a great bunch of friends. Being on the committee has
been a good experience. I think I have served for about 7 years. It
hasn’t always been easy, but it has been very rewarding to see the club
developing and to be part of that. Everyone should be on the .committee
at some time, just to say they have had a hand in making the club what
it is today.
In about 4 weeks time we are off again to
Scotland. This time we are going to have a look round the isle of
Harris. It should be quite an adventure just getting there. If its
anything like Mull or Skye it will be great.
ISLE OF WIGHT - BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND
10 litre Cylinder. In test
£50 contact: Richard Mace
0121 232 6007
If you have any items for sale please let us know.
Due to not enough sacrifices
to the weather god we only managed to get one day of diving. With
weather and sea sickness only 6 of us made it onto the UB1195 the German
U-boat that sank the James Egan Layne. The dive was amazing with the
wreck fairly intact and swarming in Pollock and housing 2 monster
congers. We'll be back to beat the weather and do the other wrecks.
UB1195 - German Submarine with steel hull, sunk in 1944 by a British war
ship. Found in 1982 lying upright on the seabed at 33 metres.
Club Rules for organising dive trips
Editors Corner
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this months issue, and
apologies for any mistakes.
Any further articles for next months edition would be appreciated, (any gossip, scandals, etc that’s printable) so let us know by 20th June.
Hope you enjoyed this issue.
2. All dive trips notifications to be sanctioned & signed by the DO before names added.
3. All dive trips notifications to be posted on the notice board.
4. All notifications to allow for at least 3 reserves.
5. All trips are open to any member subject to qualification level required.
6. Diving outside of BSAC is not recognised by the club & are classed as private dives, as such they are not sanctioned by the DO & no notice is allowed to be posted.
7. Prima members should not be invited or encouraged to take part in private dives outside the club.
8. If Prima members are also members of another club / organisation, their activities with the other organisation should not be promoted within Prima.
9. Non Prima members are only allowed on club trips as a last resort if the places can not by filled from the club. Consent of the Do & Chairman is required before opening the trip to non members.
10. It is strongly recommended that a non refundable deposit is taken on all trips.
11. Your dive plan - this is what you expect to do. If the situation changes, change the plan and let the DO know the changes afterwards.
Grey seal – Halichoerus grypus
In
1985, the world population was estimated to be about 125,000.The males
are 210cm long and weigh 270kg; the females are smaller at 180cm and
140kg. The males are heavily spotted and are darker than the grey
females. The nose is elongated and arched especially in the males, who
frequently have scarred necks from where they have fought with each
other to mate with the females The males reach maturity at about 6
years of age, but do not mate until they are 8-10 years old. The females
have their first young at about 5 ½ years of age. Pups are born from
October to December, with a peak in mid-November. The cow gives birth to
one white pup - which is conspicuous on rocks, but this colouration was
excellent camouflage when seals gave birth on ice. At birth the pup will weigh about 33lbs, the pup is suckled for about three weeks and the mother’s milk is exceedingly rich and so after 3 weeks, the infant will weigh 110lb. It is then is deserted by its mother Over the next two weeks the pup loses its white coat and then takes to the sea.
Their diet consists of migratory and open-sea and deep sea fish (usually large specimens) and some invertebrates such as crabs and other shellfish. Seals suffer the same problems as desert animals in that they must conserve water – they cannot drink sea water as it is salty. They gain some water when they eat fish. Marine invertebrates are very salty, compared to fish, so the seal needs to burn fat to release energy in order to excrete the salt it has taken in. Thus seals get fat if they eat fish and thin if they eat marine invertebrates.
Seals possess other features to conserve water; they have very efficient kidneys and a profusion of passages inside the nose, which capture water lost through breathing.
Males can live to about 30 and females into their mid-40’s.
Wreck of the Month - The Rondo
A beautiful wreck in the Sound Of Mull. Sank in 1935 by accident when the anchor chain broke during a storm, allowing the Rondo to drift down the Sound until hitting a small island. There it sat balanced on top whilst recovery work removed most of the deck fittings. It eventually slipped down the rock face bow first to it current position with its bows at 50m with the rudder at 5m. The best way to tackle this dive is to drop to your target depth then do your dive by doing a very slow ascent criss-crossing up the wreck. If you do get any decompression stops or safety stops these can be carried out looking at the rudder which is covered in soft corals. Penetration is minimal but there are a couple of nice ‘tunnels’ to swim up. Watch out for the huge conger!!
