Cork Sub Aqua Club

The village of Allihes was the location for the Cork SAC August week long diving holiday. The coastal village is overlooked by eroded hills and a worked out copper mine (top right). The houses are brightly painted. Strangely for a village with three pubs and and only one shop, there is also a disused methodist chapel that was used by the miners from 1812 to 1884 (bottom left). Abstinence has not been an enduring success here, least of all for the members of Cork SAC.
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Ballinskelligs weekend June 2007. Clare drives the ‘garda’ boat with ‘Su’ in front and ‘ddy’ behind. (replacing the boat’s name with a crossword clue because I don’t want that kind of internet traffic) . One of the Declans looks a little concerned, the other enjoys his lollipop.
A wet and windy Saturday saw no diving, some went for a swim, others for a walk, and it was difficult to know who got wetter. Sunday was much better, and Monday glorious. But the sea had been churned up a bit, and was still too choppy for the Skelligs.
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http://northantrimdiving.wordpress.com/2006/06/25/did-you-know-birds-like-to-dive/

This is the unidentified species that had us reaching for the reference books.

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Just caught an interesting programme on the BBC called Seawatch. Unfortunately, I missed the first 20 minutes or so; I switched on just as they were talking about the Lumpsucker (Cyclopterus Lumpus). I’m not sure what they said about him, but I think that the implication was that seeing him around our shores is a sign that the waters are in good health. That’s good news, since I’ve spotted lumpsuckers in Cork waters – not many, mind you, just one this year and one last year, both around April, I think.

The programme had some interesting things to say about pollution, overfishing and climate change. For example, did you know that a cotton bud flushed downthe toilet has a good chance of ending up being eaten by a seabird, or that to a leatherback turtle a plastic bag is easily mistaken for a jellyfish – their staple diet? At least in Ireland the government levy should go some way to alleviating the latter problem.

I’m not sure if this was just a once-off or if it’s going to be a series, but it’s worth catching if you get a chance to see it again. The link above is worth a look too.

I really just wanted to give any new recruits a perspective on just how colourful and interesting diving in Irish waters can be, and show some photos.

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Niamh T, Seamus (007) and I can across some spider crabs having a bit of a go at each other. The winner of the fight then thought he was tough enough to have a go despite being outnumbered three-to-one!

All in all, a great dive with lots of life down there!