Subsea 151

SUBSEA Ireland’s Only Diving Magazine

WEST COAST BLUE SHARK DIVING

B4 Galapagos diving Story of submarine HMS D6 Diving below the ice in Russia

Vol. 10 No. 151 Spring 2015 '(()**"!#$+%!&,

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SUBSEA

CONTENTS

ISSN 0791 - 475X Volume 10 Number 151 Spring 2015 5

EDITORIAL Editor's comment

5

BRIEFINGS What’s happening at home and abroad

15 DUBLIN PORT DEVELOPMENT WORKS

By Tim Butter 17 PROJECT ‘BRING HISTORY HOME’ Catherine A Connors’ project on D-Day wrecks 19 ICE DIVING IN NORTHERN RUSSIA

By Brian Murphy Blue shark pictured off Inish Oirr.

Photo by Nick Pfeiffer

25 DIVE IRELAND 15 Dive Show information

Attention SubSea contributors • Submit all material to the Editor at editor@diving.ie or to Head Office • Material must arrive well in advance of the deadline.

• Pictures are essential to illustrate news items and articles.

• Authors must remember that they bear responsibility to ensure that material is not copied from another copyrighted publication.

• Ensure that digital photos submitted are: 120 pixels/cm (300 dpi) and sized at 30cm X 21cm.

SubSea is published by the Irish Underwater Council. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Council.

The magazine is not intended as an invitation or prospectus to members of the public or other interested parties to dive on any of the sites that are mentioned in the text and anyone intending to do so should take appropriate advice with regard to the safety and viability of their proposed actions. Boarding a wreck requires the permission of the owner. Diving on a 100 year old wreck requires a permit.

Edited by: Jean Kelleher

Advertising: Sarah Campbell

Proofreading: Peter O’Doherty Eibhir Mulqueen

Typesetting and Design: Bernard Kaye Honorary Archivist: Michael Moriarty SubSea, Irish Underwater Council, 78a Patrick St., Dun Laoghaire Co. Dublin.

Tel: (01) 2844601. Fax: (01) 2844602.

Web site: www.diving.ie E-Mail: info@diving.ie

Printed by Doggett Print & Design, Dublin.

Tel: (01) 453 3151. Fax: (01) 453 3156.

29 WEST COAST BLUE SHARK DIVING

By Nick Pfeiffer 32 IRELAND: THE FISHING INDUSTRY THROUGH TIME Book review by Eddie Bourke 33 HMS D6 A SUBMARINE AGAINST SUBMARINE CASUALTY

By Martin Baillie-Johnston 36 GALAPAGOS DIVING

By Yvonne Moran 40 KENMARE RIVER SURVEYS

By Tony O’Callaghan 42 LONGFORD FUN FIN SWIM County Longford Scuba Divers host snorkel rally 44 CLUB SPOTLIGHT Garda Sub Aqua Club

Affiliated to

47 THE SEA QUEST Story by Don Baldwin 50 MART AND EXCHANGE

CMAS

Summer 2015 Issue Deadline All articles for inclusion in the next issue of SubSea should be sent to the editor before April 20th.

All advertising should be sent to CFT Head Office before April 20th.

SubSea Spring 2015

3

EL HIERRO

DEPARTURES 2015

A magic, undiscovered little gem of an island on the western edge of the Canary archipelago. Only 25 miles long but 5,000ft high it has an extraordinary diversity of scenery from green fields and stonewalls like the west of Ireland, up on the plateau, through beautiful pine and laurel forests and vineyards down to fertile coastal plains awash with bananas, pineapples, papayas and cereals. The people are extremely friendly and there is zero crime on the island. There are no Irish bars, no English bars, no fast food joints, no golf courses, no snakes or mosquitoes - and hardly any tourists. In fact no nasties at all!

Our departures in 2015 are all on MONDAYS, so book your Ryanair flights to Tenerife on the designated Mondays. I collect you at Tenerife airport and we transfer to a hotel in the nearby resort of Los Cristianos from where we depart by fast ferry next day to El Hierro. We travel back on Sunday evening to the bright lights of Tenerife before flying home Monday. Departure dates:

The scenic driving and hill walking are both dramatic and amazing so it is idyllic for the non-diving spouse who values peace and quiet and an utterly relaxing holiday in the sun.

“OUR FLEET”

We have 4 vehicles and anyone who wishes can take a car for a drive around the island or to nearby swimming spots.

The picture shows “our fleet” of two x 8seater Toyotas, a 5-seater Mercedes and a 4-seater Mercedes, parked beneath the apartments, overlooking the harbour in La Restinga.

Those of you who were with us in the early days may mourn the passing of our old 11 -seater Land Rover but you will find these cars a lot more comfortable!

THE DIVING The best diving in all of Spain. The Spanish Open U/W Photography Competition (a major, heavily sponsored event) has been held here for the last 16 years! Probably the best diving in all of

■ 9 March ■ 23 March ■ 13 April ■ 18 May ■ 12 Oct ■ 19 Oct Euro-land. It is, after all, the most southerly (28 degrees) and the most westerly (18 degrees) point in Europe.

Temperatures are tropical and the Ocean is 25 degrees in autumn so there is abundant Oceanic and tropical life, particularly in the Marine Reserve, situated in The “Mar de Las Calmas” or tranquil sea, an area of several square miles completely protected from the prevailing NE winds by huge cliffs.

The seascape is spectacular with dramatic dropoffs, caves and pinnacles.

Depths are daunting with 3,000m not far offshore. Visibility is 30m plus and the sea is a vivid blue. The variety and abundance of marine life is exceptional.

■ 9 Nov ■ 23 Nov

HOLIDAY COST The diving holiday price which includes all transfers and transport; all ferries; all accommodation and ten boat dives with tanks, air, weights and dive guide is €625. Non divers and hill walkers (5 days guided walking) travel for just €425.

SPECIAL OFFER Quote this special ad and get €50 discount (Divers: €575 and Non- divers & hill

LA RESTINGA The tiny fishing village at the southern tip of the island which is our base for the week; our lovely apartments are on the little promenade overlooking the harbour. Everything is within a couple of minutes’ walk - the Dive Centre, “El Bar” the little “supermercado” and the 5 very good restaurants (fresh fish every day).

There are safe and simple swimming and snorkelling spots and the outdoor dining and wining under the stars are memories to cherish.

walkers: €375)

INFORMATION If you wish to give me a postal address I can send you the information leaflet Contact me on e-mail at any time if you have questions or queries.

Good Diving!

Shane

BRIEFINGS 2014 ends on a high for Cork UWH

EDITORIAL

By John Kinsella

Fellow Divers, Welcome to this spring edition of Subsea which I hope will be an informative and interesting edition.

This issue introduces the upcoming Dive Show and AGM, which is being hosted this year by Loch Derg Sub Aqua club and is being held in Nenagh on 28th February and 1st March. The show is a great opportunity for divers all over the country to come together, meet friends from all over the country, shop at all the trade stands, and attend talks on a large variety of topics. The photography group will be holding talks and displaying some of the amazing underwater photos that they have taken over the year.

All CFT members are welcome to join their club delegates in attending the AGM which will be held on Sunday 1st of March. It is very important that each club as its full compliment of delegates representing them at the AGM. This is where decisions are made that may affect the way CFT is run. Also elections take place for the Executive members who are due for reelection. Please note that clubs need to have a minimum of 5 members registered with CFT before the meeting in order for their delegates to be entitled to vote.

In this issue we again feature mainly on underwater activities here in Ireland although we also feature Ice Diving in Russia, and diving in the Galapagos. Our home grown pieces feature Rose Kane’s account of the Longford Fin Swim, Nick Pfeiffer’s fascinating account of diving with Blue Sharks on the Aran Islands, John Kinsella’s blow by blow account of the Cork Underwater Hockey team who had great success in the Nautilus tournament in Great Britain and Don Baldwin has written us a great piece on an old Irish legend called Sea Quest.

I hope you enjoy reading this issue of Subsea, and if you have any articles or photos that you think your fellow divers would enjoy, please send them on and we will publish as many as possible.

Happy and safe diving for 2015 Jean Kelleher Editor Subsea

The Cork Underwater Hockey (UWH) team was recently crowned Division 5 champions at the British Octopush Association’s (BOA) Nautilus tournament in Ponds Forge, Sheffield. A clean sweep of convincing victories over teams from many well-established UK clubs ensured that the Irish visitors returned to the Rebel County brandishing gold medals.

After enduring disappointing results at the same tournament in 2012 and 2013, Cork UWH was determined to mount a serious challenge at Nautilus 2014.

Preparations began as far back as last February when extra weekly training sessions devoted solely to improving individual skills and fitness were organised. This initial preparation paid off when Cork recorded their first ever win over Dublin UWH Club defeating both the Dublin A and Dublin B teams at the Dublin Invitation Tournament in the National Aquatic Centre in June. Fitness training was increased again in late August to develop the conditioning needed to survive the grueling intensity and the number of games that were to be played at the Nautilus tournament. This fitness work was supplemented by a game plan, which played to the team’s strengths. Players were fully aware of their position and functions within the plan.

Cork’s first opponents were West Wickham C, a club who had narrowly defeated Cork in the same tournament twelve months earlier with a last minute goal. Eva Brennan and Kevin Tobin recorded their first ever Nautilus goals to setup Cork’s first victory of the day. Successive 11 goal tallies in the matches against Guildford Development and York guaranteed Cork’s promotion to Division 4.

Defeating the main challengers to the division top spot, Liverpool University, by 6 goals to nil ensured a spot for Cork in the gold medal playoff. Hard work was made of Glasgow B despite a convincing 8-2 final score line and after Liverpool University defeated West Wickham C, the stage was set for a final match between Liverpool and Cork to determine who took home the gold.

Cork started sluggishly and gave away an early goal. However this galvanised the Cork attack and captain Dave Ahern sprinted past two Liverpool defenders to flick the puck to the goal and level the match. Eva Brennan added a second goal to help Cork lead 2-1 at half time. Cork’s superior fitness began to show in the second half and goals from John Kinsella and Dave Ahern sealed the victory and gold medals for the Rebels. Cork UWH will now eagerly await Nautilus 2015 where they will compete in Division 4.

The Nautilus tournament is a national competition run by the BOA annually in November. Clubs from all over the UK and Ireland compete in five divisions over the course of two days. Each division is run in a league format with winners earning promotion to higher divisions the following year and losers suffering relegation to lower divisions.

SubSea Spring 2015

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BRIEFINGS

New archaeology course As of 16 January 2015, the Irish Underwater Council (Comhairle FoThuinn – CFT) will be an official Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) International Training Partner and will integrate the NAS training programme into its existing portfolio of diving and snorkelling courses.

The NAS training program will assist CFT in raising awareness of Ireland’s rich maritime heritage, which includes many lake and river sites in addition to marine wrecks. Ireland has a vast array of submerged archaeological resources and these courses will provide a strong foundation and framework for the development of educational programming for those with a general interest in marine and underwater archaeology. It will also provide training for those who desire to volunteer on archaeological projects organised by state bodies and other organisations, both in Ireland and internationally.

Underwater classroom Gresham in Stoney Cove. Photo by and © Martin Davies.

CFT plans to begin offering NAS training activities in early 2015.

These will be promoted via the CFT website, www.diving.ie, and booked

South East Dive Rally South East Dive Rally will take place this year July 3rd, 4th, 5th in Slade Harbour, Co. Wexford! We hope see you all there again and some new faces! Diving and snorkeling for all ages. Free camping available at the club house. For more information check out our Facebook; South East Dive Rally!

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SubSea Spring 2015

though COMS. Those who are not CFT members can book via Head Office.

The courses may be of interest to non-divers too.

BRIEFINGS

New underwater photographic competition Organised by the British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSoUP), for the first time, photographers in Britain and Ireland will compete against each other to produce the most eye-catching images from the waters around the shores and within the inland lakes, quarries, rivers and even caves of the two islands.

The British and Irish Underwater Photography Championship (BIUPC) is a ground-breaking competition, open to images taken on any type of camera which is or can be waterproofed, ranging from action cameras, smart phones, tablets and pole-cams to the most expensive professional digital models.

Photographs taken anywhere in our islands over a 24hr period from 10pm on 4th September 2015 and submitted by the same time the next day will be eligible.

Categories will be separated by the sophistication of the cameras and also by the techniques involved – wideangle and close-up. There will be a special category for the best newcomer.

The BSoUP competitions’ secretary, Paul Colley declares an aim to showcase and recognise the talent that exists in the British and Irish underwater community. He believes that the images created will be a fantastic celebration of the diversity of marine life that exists around our shores and within our inland waters.

The major prize will be the Peter Scoones trophy, in honour of BsoUP’s late co-founder. A driving force in the creation and development of the Society, he was one of the great pioneers of underwater photography.

You can find out more at www.biupc.org or from Paul Colley, mpcolley@hotmail.com and Joss Woolf, josswoolf@hotmail.com

Incidents –

Prevention is better than cure

The year 2014 was tinged with sadness for too many families of divers in Irish waters. For 2015 we want to prevent any repetition of the six tragedies that occurred in Ireland last year. We have been very fortunate that so many of our divers and Diving Officers have been diligent in reporting incidents that have occurred over the last diving season, and indeed, many seasons prior to this. It is from these incidents that we can learn how to prevent more from occurring.

The type of incident that has occurred the most frequently in recent years is equipment failure. We all have to do our fitness tests to prove that we are fit to dive. We have to do our medicals to ensure that we are healthy enough to dive.

We also need to ensure that all the equipment we use under water is also fit to dive. In the recent economic doldrums, we sometimes think that we can save a few euros by extending the time between regulator services, or we try to do equipment repairs ourselves. Unless we are qualified to repair equipment, we may be putting our lives at risk by attempting home repairs. Please consider how much value you put on your life, is it equal to the price of a regulator service, or a BCD service?

Another big factor in the reported incidents is buoyancy loss. Mostly, at the start of the season, there are a significant number of rapid ascents. These are

mostly due to incorrect weight being used at the start of the season, or the inexperience of the beginner. For the new divers there is time now to concentrate on some extra buoyancy training. For the more experienced diver, remember each year is a new year and different factors affect us at the start of each new season be it new equipment, old equipment, and variances in body weight over the winter months. We need to factor this into our work up dives and early season dives.

Don’t be afraid to put an extra kilo or two on your weight belt while you are acclimatizing to the new season. You can always remove that extra weight when you are ready after the first couple of dive.

Remember always to dive within your abilities and training. If you are going to stretch yourself and try something new, please do so with the help of a qualified, experience instructor. In CFT we learn from experienced divers and when we are competent we can then decide how best to pass on our knowledge and experience.

The COMS system, to which every current CFT member has access, contains all the training materials that we may need to increase our diving knowledge and ultimately make us safer in the water.

We are members of a great club, with members ranging in age from six to over 80. Our collective knowledge is vast; let’s all use it, share it, and keep us happy and safe in our diving for 2015.

SubSea Spring 2015

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BRIEFINGS Noted Irishmen

John Philip Holland Inventor of the submarine Another great Irish scientist John Philip Holland was born in Liscannor, County Clare, on the 29 February 1840. His mother was a native Irish speaker and John and his three brothers didn’t speak English until they went to the local Christian Brothers’ National School in Ennistymon.

He started his working life as a teacher, first with the Irish Christian Brothers in Limerick, later in Cork and then as the first mathematics teacher in Colaiste Ris, in Dundalk. He emigrated to the USA in 1873 and worked initially with an engineering firm, but returned to teaching a few years later and worked in a Catholic school in Paterson, New Jersey.

Holland had a keen interest in science and, after reading ’20,000 Leagues under the Sea‘ by Jules Verne and accounts of the battle between the ironclads Monitor and Merrimack during the American Civil War

The Holland The United States Navy’s first practical submarine, the Holland, made 7 knots while on the surface and 6 knots while submerged. It was powered both by electric motors and petrol engines.

The batteries for the electric motors were recharged by the petrol engines.

8

SubSea Spring 2015

realised that the only way to attack such ships effectively would be from beneath the waterline, and so he drew up the first draft design for an invention which would change the world - the submarine.

Initially he was unable to raise funding for the project. But, making good use of his time while in hospital following an accident and encouraged by a Fr Isaac Whelan, he refined his initial designs and, in 1875, submitted them for consideration by the US Navy. The designs were turned down as unworkable and mocked as the delusions of a ‘civilian landsman’ but, despite this setback, Holland continued his research and development. He was able to quit his teaching job and work full time on the project, thanks to funding from the Fenians, an Irish republican organisation with which he had connections through one of his brothers, and in 1897 he launched a

submarine that was powerful enough to travel for four hours beneath the surface of the water.

It was the first of its kind; superior to similar vessels being developed in France and this time the US Navy was suitably impressed. They purchased the submarine in 1900, named it the USS Holland and ordered six more to be built. Crucially, they didn’t buy out the design which Holland later sold to other navies, including the British and Japanese.

He continued working on innovative submarine designs and created the Holland II and Holland III, although he became more interested in aviation before his death at the age of 74, on August 12 1914.

BRIEFINGS

What kind of member are you?

By Denny Lawlor Are you the active member, the kind that would be missed?

Or are you just content, to have your name upon the list, Do you attend the meetings and mingle with the flock, Or do you mostly stay at home to criticise and knock, Do you take an active part, to help the work along?

Or are you satisfied to be the kind that just belong, (And so the rhyme goes on and on) The above ditty was first published in Subsea back in 1991. It appeared again in 2013 and seeing it makes me think of the nature of our clubs and why some people put all the work in, while others are happy to sit back and enjoy the ride.

How disheartening it is to arrange an open day, a club AGM or any event, and only have half the club members turn up. The question is why? Do people not have enough interest in their club or do they just not have the time? The latter can be understood and hopefully those members will be able to get involved more in future. What we must all remember is that we are all important to our club. Clubs by their nature would not survive without their members so therefore it is important for as many members as possible support them in every way they can. It is easy to become complacent but it is worth considering now and then what you would do next weekend or indeed next season if your club disappeared.

There is, of course, another club that we are all part of and is equally as important as your local one, this club is the community of CFT. All club members are automatically members of CFT. Our AGM is held every year on the first weekend of March and we are all invited. Two members from each club can vote on decisions that affect us all. It is an event that takes careful planning by the host club and is a credit to their organisational skills and passion, and is always a great gathering. Normally about 50% of clubs are represented, and we are hoping this year to attract members from more clubs.

What each club member can do is check to see was your club represented last year, if not maybe this year it could be you. You are a member of an organisation and you pay a fee, therefore you have a voice and really you should use it. The decisions that are made at AGMs affect all of us and your contribution is required and valued.

Sometimes we don’t realize the role of CFT and how it benefits its entire membership, • It coordinates a community of 80 clubs all happy and willing to share their knowledge and skills to assist you in your enjoyment of this great natural asset of ours?

• It manages, updates, and provides training that has been developed here in Ireland specifically for Irish waters

and, and is accepted anywhere in the world, and also envied around the world?

• It ensures that safety standards are maintained for you to ensure that your diving and snorkeling is as safe as it can be?

• It trains us to be independent and flexible in our diving, finding and exploring huge parts of the coast that cannot be reached using by just diving with commercial dive centres who are really great but can be limited in their geographical range and, by necessity, are more expensive than diving within a club.

• It is a self-governance NGB, where divers interest comes first and is not hampered by commercial decisions.

• It provides this magazine our own homegrown magazine, that uses material provided by our members for our members and is not controlled by commercial interests.

• It provides and maintains our fantastic website diving.ie which has so much information including all the training material for members • It supports the generous clubs who organise our Regional Dive Rallies scattered around our coast and welcoming divers from all parts of Ireland.

• It continues to source the excellent insurance cover we have today, something that is very good and value for money and is tailored specifically for all of us.

These are just a few points to emphasis what CFT does for us but the list is endless. We are so fortunate to have such an organisation that looks after the interest of divers. All this cannot happen without the involvement of members. The members who contribute so generously of their time are all divers from all over the country and cover the whole spectrum of diving grades, from Trainee divers to National Instructors. It is run by our members for our members and is an amateur organisation run by amateurs in the most professional manner possible.

So maybe it is time for you to get involved and ensure that our national organisation, that has stood the test of time for the last 50 years continues to train and keep, not only us, but our children and their children into the future, safe in the water.

We take this opportunity to extend an open invitation and a warm welcome to all members to come and join us in Nenagh. Visit the CFT Village and say hello. Take this opportunity to get to know other divers from other clubs and also the people making decisions on your behalf. It’s a great way to meet new friends as well as old ones, and maybe get involved. It’s always a terrific weekend that won’t disappoint. Hope to see you there!

SubSea Spring 2015

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BRIEFINGS

Saying goodbye to John McNally

Eating breakfast on Sunday morning was a sombre affair for a change. Sunday morning breakfast is usually eaten holding a bowl with one hand while double checking the dive gear with the other, making sure that everything is packed. Packing is always done on Saturday night but come Sunday morning, everything has to be rechecked, just for peace of mind, but not this particular morning.

This morning, although we were going to our usual dive location, there was no dive gear to be packed as we were going to say our final goodbye to a dive buddy, a fellow club member and a very good friend.

We had been all up since 7am, as there had been little sleep through the night, just a disturbed slumber, the subconscious going over and over of things in one’s mind.

Nobody wants to have to bid a friend goodbye, whether it be when they leave a job or the country, let alone when they leave this life, and it was not something I ever thought I’d see myself doing, I say it in my head to make sure it is real and not some fuzzy hangover from a tragic dream: he is gone.

The day was overcast, which added to the overall feeling of the occasion, although people were trying to be light hearted. It is a tragedy and the underlying feeling of a loss lingers, we should not be here, this should not be happening, he should still be with us, how could he be gone?

However sad we feel at the departure of our dive buddy and pal, it is nothing like others are feeling: he was a husband, a father, a son-in-law, a brother-in-law, a business partner, a rock, the voice of reason, the problem solver.

I watched a group of club members gather on the slip, and my silly, muddled mind thought where is he? Then clarity descended and I remembered that this was it, this was the final official farewell.

FREE RAFFLE PRIZE DIVING HOLIDAY FOR TWO Shane Gray is again offering a Dive Holiday for two lucky divers to El Hierro – value €1250 – at this year´s Dive Ireland Event.

You can enter at the Show of course but if you do not expect to be there you can be included by e-mailing Shane (sdwtenerife@gmail.com) and you will receive your Free Raffle ticket number which will be included in the Draw on the Sunday evening at the Show

10 SubSea Spring 2015

The memorial took place; the rain let us know its power but thankfully it eased off. Once the ashes were spread and the wreaths were in the water, we stood looking out over the sea. A majestic rainbow emerged over the bay as if planned, and a feeling of finality descended. On a rainy day like this, a rainbow would be commonplace, but the timing, the clarity and location of this particular rainbow added to the surreal feeling of this solemn event.

Although he will never again be physically present, he will be forever in and on our minds. We will often think of him and, no doubt, a club event will not go by without a comment or chat about his ever helpful actions or one of his witty remarks.

Emma Sheehan

BRIEFINGS

Mon 1 theory exam 10th Jan 2015

Eastern Regions candidates

Test in progress West Region

Congratulations to the Club Instructor and Mon 1 Candidates who sat and passed their theory papers on Saturday 10th of January. As is usual, the papers were set to a very high standard and it is testament to all the candidates’ hard work and study that everyone passed. They will now progress to the practical pool work and lecture training schedule which will culminate in a one day exam later in the spring. This will test their instructional skills in open

South and South Western Regions

water, pool, and lecture room. This is a very big commitment but ultimately very rewarding, and it is only by people putting themselves forward for these courses that the continuation of CFT diving, as we know it, is ensured.

If you are interested in furthering your own diving experience, contact your Diving Officer who can inform you of all the courses that are available to you.

New year – New season It’s time to make sure that you are ready to dive As we all look forward to getting back into the water after the winter, we first need to make sure that we are firstly fit to dive and equally important insured to dive. To do this there are a number of things we have to do which involve ourselves, our D.O. our Treasurer and the COMS system on the diving.ie website. In a few simple steps most of us will be ready to dive in time for the new season.In CFT we have very high standards of safety which are designed to keep us all safe and thanks to everyone’s commitment to these procedures hopefully 2015 will be a happy and safe diving season.

Here is what you need to do.

1 Do your water fitness test –You can do this test either in the pool or in open water and your diving officer will sign you off and update this tick on COMS. 2 On COMS complete the fitness to dive form – This is the medical disclaimer form that you fill in online on COMS. It is up to you to fill this in. The procedure here has been streamlined so if you have a medical condition that was cleared last year and has not changed you can be automatically cleared to dive.. If there are any new medical issues that need to be cleared with the medical commission this will be Pending until it is cleared. While this is pending you are not insured to dive.

3 Check the date of your Medical Assessment and ensure that it is in date.

If it is due to expire this year put a reminder in your diary to renew your medical before it expires – The renewal date for you medical depends on your age. Your first medical is due on joining CFT. After the age of 35 you need a medical every 3 years and after the age of 55 you need an annual medical..

When you have completed the medical you must get your doctor to stamp your Log Book and then you need to notify your D.O. that the test was done and show him/her the doctor’s stamp. Your D.O. will update your record in COMS and your medical assessment status will go green.

4 Pay your club fee. Your CFT insurance will only be valid once your treasurer has sent your registration fee to CFT and the website has been updated.

When you pay your club fee to your treasurer, he/she will update your status to state that they have received your payment. Your membership status will be Pending. However, the treasurer may wait until a number of people pay before transferring the money to CFT (this could be to keep bank charges down). You will not be insured until CFT actually receives payment from the treasurer. Please pay your club fee in time to let the payment get to CFT before you intend to start diving.

5 Check in COMS to ensure that your three status ticks are green and your status is current.

Remember it is YOUR responsibility to ensure that you are insured. Your club treasurer and D.O. are volunteers and do not always have the time to update each member’s status the minute they are informed of an updated medical, a completed water fitness test or a fee payment. It may take a few days for the status to be updated and during this time you are not insured. If there are any delays within your club, just contact the CFT office and help with be at hand.

One or more Red X and Status Current – You are not Insured to dive Three Green ticks and Status Pending You are not Insured to dive Three Green ticks and Status Current – You are insured to dive

SubSea Spring 2015

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BRIEFINGS

RDO Changes The start of the 2015 season sees a number of changes in personnel of our regional diving officers. The National Diving Officer, Dermot Moynihan, thanks sincerely three outgoing RDOs for their invaluable contributions over the last few years. They are: Andy Keegan, Dublin South Region Dave Riordan, South Region Nick Murphy, South East Region Andy Keegan ex RDO Dublin South. Photo: Niamh Keegan.

And he welcomes their replacements: Rob Hoban, Dublin South Region Paul Ward, South Region Noel Furlong, South East Region The job of the RDO is often greatly underestimated and perhaps underappreciated by CFT members who don’t realise just how much is done by the RDO do on their behalf.

A lot of members volunteer within their own clubs to help the people they know, but the RDO is constantly helping members of different clubs in the region and facilitating people that she or he may never have met.

Andy Keegan gives a brief account of his three-year tenure as RDO. I took on the role of Regional Diving Officer in the Dublin South region with little understanding of the role’s requirements. In truth, I took on the role without fully understanding its scope, to the point that I sometimes wondered what had possessed me to do it. But I very quickly realised, not so much the scope, but the potential of the role once I got to know the thirteen clubs that make up the region.

The RDO is a facilitator; an organiser and enabler for the running of individual and group tests and courses at a club and regional level.

12 SubSea Spring 2015

The job is to ensure the communication of good practice to the clubs and to act as a link between the Technical Commission and club Diving Officers.

Doesn’t sound like much, but good communication skills are the key – and an ability to herd cats helps!

For me, the role had highs and lows – but the former far outstripped the latter. Over the three years, even with falling membership numbers, the region came together several times with the rejuvenation of the “Paddy’s Day Swim” (Dalkey Island Swim) which for most clubs signals the end of snorkeling and the start of the focus on getting under the water again. For the first time a combined regional weekend, incorporating both Dublin South and Dublin North regions, was organised and this has enjoyed increasing popularity over the three years of its existence – an ability to herd cats came in handy here!

These regional weekends and an increase in communication through social media, under the banner “Try Something New”, has expanded the opportunity for clubs to get diving together and sharing resources.

For me, the position of RDO was an opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. The success of the role is only made possible with the enthusiasm of the candidates who put themselves forward for courses, with

the tireless efforts of club Diving and Training Officers and with the selflessness of the instructors & examiners to whom I will always be saying - thank you all.

Andy

Paul Ward, incoming RDO for the South Region, gives us a short profile and outlines his goals for the job.

I started diving with the UCG SAC in 1988 and I’m currently a member of the Daunt SAC where I’ve been diving since 1999 and where I have held the positions of Chairman, Diving Officer and Training Officer.

I have two simple goals as RDO; 1) To provide a clear training programme for members in the Southern Region.

2) To give as much support as possible to instructors so they can be fully involved in the training programmes without adversely affecting their busy work and family lives.

In addition, I look forward to working closely with the NDO and the other RDOs on national exams, throughout the coming year.

Paul.

Oonasdivers announce John Collins Red Sea Photography Workshop John Collins will be offering photography and video workshops at Red Sea Diving Safari’s Marsa Shagra. For this 5day workshop, John plans to offer a combination of photo and video instruction. This is suitable to a wide variety of divers, from those with entry-level compact cameras right through to DSLR-experienced photographers, and those starting out with GoPro action cameras.

The content would be adapted to fit the experience and needs of the group, and a broad outline would be modified to suit as the week progresses. John already enjoys running these successful courses, and the instruction is an easy-going coaching style, with an emphasis on working with participants' existing knowledge and skills and building on it.

Dives will be done from Marsa Shagra in the extensive house reef. John will be onhand throughout the day to offer individual advice about any aspects of your photography, and will finish each day with a discussion and constructive criticism of a selection of shots from each course participant.

Camera & Diving Equipment You will need to bring all your own camera and housing.

You will need to have full scuba diving equipment, which you can either bring with you or hire it on site. Please contact Oonasdivers who will arrange this in advance for you.

Clothing at the Southern Dive Villages is very informal.

Flight Notes Flights are only available with Thomson for Gatwick departures direct to Marsa Alam for this workshop.

Date:

9 – 16 September 2015

Tour:

Southern Dive Village Marsa Shagra – Southern Egypt

Diving: 5 Days Unlimited House Reef Diving* Board: 7 Nights full board & selected soft drinks.

Price:

From £1065 per person including flights, accommodation based on Beach Safari Tent, upgrades are available.

Tel: 00 44 (0)1323 648924 www.oonasdivers.com Email: info@oonasdivers.com

Oonasdivers will be at Dive Ireland 2015 Please come talk to us about this workshop or any other tour.

PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY with John Collins in

Marsa Shagra

9-16 September 2015 Successful in competition and widely published, in magazines, brochures and books, John has a big following of underwater photographers, eager to join him and enhance their photo skills.

What better place than Marsa Shagra which benefits from an extensive and diverse house reef with hard and soft corals of offshore quality.

PLACES ARE LIMITED. CONTACT OONASDIVERS TODAY TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

Tel: 01323 648924 Email: info@oonasdivers.com

WWW.OONASDIVERS.COM SubSea Spring 2015 13

BRIEFINGS

introduction to diving

Guests attending presentation and videos in the Hook club house.

In recent years the Hook Sub Aqua Club, like many other diving clubs around the country, has found it hard to recruit new members, so in 2014 the club committee decided to try a different approach. Much time and energy was invested in drawing up a plan to coax people away from their comfy fireside chairs and to come the pool on a cold night in October. The reward for those who would make the effort was nothing less than a chance to change their lives forever – a chance to try-a-dive.

The plan was the brainchild of Denny Lawlor, one of the Hook SAC’s founders and still an active member of the club. But he knew that his plan would stand a better chance of success if potential new members could see what the club was all about before they took the plunge. In late September potential new members were to be invited to the clubhouse to meet the members, have a chat about diving and to go for a spin in the boat. To publicise the event and assure a good take-up on the invite, an extensive (but cheap!) marketing campaign was rolled out, involving local newspapers, radio and social media. The publicity paid off. Fourteen excited newcomers showed up to have their ‘Introduction to Diving’!

14 SubSea Spring 2015

The visitors arrived at the club house at 2pm and the afternoon began with a tour of the facilities. This included the compressor room, changing rooms, boat house, archive and new lecture room. Guests were shown the plaques commemorating the awards given to club members over the years and the boards listing club members who have passed away.

Denny Lawlor gave a short presentation about diving, CFT and the history of the Hook SAC and, to give the guests an idea of what they can see under the water, videos shot at the Hook by Mike Orth were screened.

First time in a RIB.

Ray Furlong gave a brief talk on training and the progression through diver grades within CFT, with a quick question and answer session followed by tea, coffee, sandwiches and cakes for all. There was major participation from club members, who took it upon themselves to answer diving and club related queries, giving the guests a great opportunity to chat one-on-one and really get a feel for the club.

Then it was off to the boat-house where the crew was standing by. The visitors were amused and delighted with the novel way that the Hook SAC launches - with a tractor! Most of them had never been in a RIB before and were both nervous and excited at the prospect. They were taken for a short spin to the lighthouse and back, spotted some seals up close and got a view of the beautiful Hook lighthouse that most people never see. Back on dry land each guest was given a welcome pack which included a club membership form, background material on CFT and information on the up-coming Try-A-Dive pool night.

It was a fabulous day and a great success, and it’s an event which the Hook SAC intends to run on an annual basis. The committee wishes to thank all those who worked so hard to make it happen.

Dublin Port Development Works

By Tim Butter View from Howth looking twoards the Burford Bank – the proposed dump site for Liffey channel dredgings. Photo: Jerzy Bin (dollarphotoclub.com).

The Dublin Port Company (DPC) is proposing a major development of its infrastructure.

The Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) project is currently going through the planning procedure. In October 2014 the project was the subject of an oral hearing under the auspices of An Bord Pleanála. The Bord had originally proposed 19 December 2014 for a decision on this case but, at the time of writing, this decision is still pending. It is a project that may have impacts on diving in Dublin Bay. The project includes a re-configuration of the port itself plus large scale dredging of the Liffey channel, all with the aim of facilitating significantly larger ferries, cargo ships, and cruise liners. These operations have the potential to disrupt diving activity in Dublin Bay. The Scientific Officer for the Irish Underwater Council (CFT), Dr Tim Butter, submitted a written statement highlighting a number of potential concerns including the generation of extreme underwater noise during piling of the harbour walls, and the release of suspended solids into the water, which could reduce underwater visibility for divers.

Dr Butter followed this up with an oral statement at the Bord Pleanála hearing.

It is proposed that the material dredged from the Liffey channel be

transported by barge to the Burford Bank and dumped. The Burford Bank is a licenced marine dump site but is actually located quite centrally within Dublin Bay. The Environmental Impact

“... a likely concern for many members of CFT is that the Burford Bank dump site is located entirely within the new Rockabill to Dalkey Island Special Area of Conservation (SAC).”

Statement (EIS) that was produced by the Dublin Port Company as part of the planning submission used computer models to predict the likely movement

of dredged material after it has been dumped from the barge. The accuracy of these models was strongly questioned

by CFT. One concern, for example, was that the accuracy of models used for previous dredging campaigns does not appear to have been actually checked by taking measurements at the dump site during dumping.

Although not directly connected to diver safety, a likely concern for many members of CFT is that the Burford Bank dump site is located entirely within the new Rockabill to Dalkey Island Special Area of Conservation (SAC). If planning is granted, and before any dredging and dumping can take place, the DPC will have to apply to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a Dumping at Sea licence.

This will be the first such application SubSea Spring 2015 15

Dublin Port since the SAC was proposed in December 2012. The intention is to dump 6.3 million cubic metres of dredged material, including some contaminated material, right into the middle of this SAC. This is a lot of material. In fact, it is sufficient to fill Croke Park almost three times over.

And not just the pitch – the entire stadium right up to the level of the roof of the Cusack Stand! Dredging (and dumping) is scheduled to run from October to March every year for six years, starting in October 2015.

SACs are established as a requirement of the EU Habitats Directive and are chosen to conserve habitats and species of particular concern, known as the qualifying interests of the site. In the case of this SAC there are only two qualifying interests - rocky reef habitats and the harbour porpoise. There are no reefs in the area of the Burford Bank so it must be concluded that the area of the Burford Bank has been included within the SAC for the protection of the harbour porpoise.

Many of CFT’s members will find it hard to understand the logic behind the plan to dump such a vast quantity of material in an EU protected area for the harbour porpoise.

Porpoises, in common with many marine mammals, are very sensitive to human disturbance, particularly underwater noise. The Environmental Impact Statement recognises that the underwater noise and surface disturbance caused by the barges at the dump site will have a negative impact on harbour porpoise and that they are unlikely to approach areas of high human activity. To try to reduce the impact of this disturbance, the EIS includes a number of “mitigating measures”. For dumping, the primary measure proposed is for an experienced marine mammal expert to undertake a visual check to make sure there are no porpoises or other marine mammals within 250m of the barge before operations start. In the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) guidelines for managing the risk of underwater noise to marine mammals this distance is set at 500m.

Clearly, reducing the distance at which a marine mammal has to approach the

16 SubSea Spring 2015

Map of Dublin Bay showing location of Burford Bank dumping site.

dumping barge makes it less likely that operations will be prevented from starting up. It seems unusual to suggest relaxing the National Parks and Wildlife Service guidelines that are designed to minimise the impacts of human activities on marine mammals for an activity that is occurring within an SAC that has been established for the protection of marine mammals.

If dumping is already in progress, there is no requirement to stop operations, even if a marine mammal approaches the area. Once operations start, they will run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week over the dredging period of 1 October to 31 March. This continuous dumping activity is likely to drive harbour porpoises away from the vicinity of the dump site even though the dumping is taking place in an area that has been specially designated as a conservation site for harbour porpoise!

In the NPWS document that describes the conservation objectives for this particular SAC it indicates that the distribution and habitat use of harbour porpoise inhabiting the SAC is not fully understood. Furthermore, the NPWS states that “all suitable aquatic habitat [in the SAC] is considered relevant to the species range and ecological requirements at the site and is therefore of potential use by the harbour porpoise”. This includes the area of the Burford Bank. It is also noted that the SAC is an important calving/breeding area.

It will be interesting to see how An Bord Pleanála will assess the application to dump 6.3 million cubic metres of dredged sediment (including contaminated material) in the middle of an EU designated protected site for harbour porpoise. Should planning permission be granted, the Dublin Port Company will then have to apply to the Environmental Protection Agency for a Dumping at Sea licence. This application process is open to comment from interested parties as well as the general public. It would also be of interest to see the reaction of the EU to such actions within an SAC. Although it has been suggested by some divers that the poor visibility in Dublin Bay was connected to the activities of dredging and subsequent dumping of the dredged material within the bay, this remains the subject of speculation as there is currently insufficient data to either support or refute this opinion. What is certain is that dredging will be required on an on-going basis to maintain the Liffey channel for current levels of shipping activity. However, the use of dump sites further out to sea would take the dumping outside the SAC and maybe also result in improved visibility at the popular inshore dive sites in Dublin Bay. For more information on the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment project, go to: www.dublinportabr.ie. ◼

Project ‘Bring History Home’

U.S. Navy LSTs and other vessels unloading at low tide at Normandy, soon after the June 1944 invasion. Photo: U.S. Army Signal Corps (Public Domain).

Catherine A Connors originally hails from a small village just outside Templemore, Co. Tipperary.

Fourteen years ago she moved to France and for the last five years has been living in Normandy. It was there, while restoring her three-hundred- year old house and researching its history, that she discovered its connection with WWII and the brave soldiers of the US 2nd Infantry Division who fought to liberate it - and the German soldiers who died there defending their post. As a result, her interest in the history and stories of the area flourished.

A few years ago Catherine gave herself a gift of a ‘Try-a-Dive’ – and, from the moment she dropped under the surface, she fell in love with diving.

Now an accomplished FFESSM N3 (Fédération Francaise d’Etudes et de Sports Sous-marins) deep diver, CMAS *** diver and, with her PADI Dive Master almost completed, she likes to keep herself challenged in dive training and continued learning.

In 2013 Catherine set up an English-speaking international diving group in Paris - the Scuba Ninjas. This group has gone from strength to strength and is a great source of

knowledge, support and information for its members. Many great dive trips, training sessions and good friends have been made, but it was only a matter of time before her interest in history and her love of diving stretched out over the waters off Normandy, and so was born a passion for the wrecks of WWII. By now a dedicated wreck diver, Catherine made plans to dive and record the sunken vessels/wrecks/ wreckage of WWII off the coast of Normandy to mark the seventieth anniversary of D-Day. The BSAC was running a project (the Neptune 70

project) to record the WWII wrecks on the English side of the Channel and Catherine got in touch with the project organiser, Alison Mayor, to see if a joint project, bringing together divers from both sides, could be achieved.

They successfully organised a multinational diving event in Normandy in September 2014.

Alison Mayor learned to dive with the Southsea Branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club in 2002, after being given a try-a-dive as a fortieth birthday present. Now an Advanced Diver and assistant instructor, Alison has a passion for anything connected with SubSea Spring 2015 17

Bring History Home the undersea world.

Twice a winner of the BSAC Duke of Edinburgh Award, Alison has led several projects to investigate WWII wrecks along the south coast of England and was recently appointed as the BSAC Southern Region Projects and Expeditions Advisor. A keen photographer and underwater model, she and her partner Martin Davies write for a number of diving magazines.

Martin has been diving for thirtyseven years, since the tender age of fourteen, and for much of this time has been taking underwater photographs.

A BSAC Advanced Diver, Martin is an accomplished photographer/ videographer and a long-time member of the British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSoUP) and the Royal Photographic Society and has represented BSoUp in international underwater photography competitions.

However, he is also interested in wrecks and their history and is a licensee for the protected historic wreck of HMSm A1, the first Britishdesigned and built submarine. He is a regular contributor to SCUBA magazine, specialising in articles about wrecks.

Catherine and Alison’s shared interest in these historical wrecks quickly became apparent and, after a few emails to each other, a week-long diving and historical recording expedition to Normandy was organised for September2014. It quickly became a much sought-after mission, with twenty-three wreck divers from six different countries taking part. Divers from the US, Burkina Faso, France, Spain, Ireland and the UK, brought together by a common goal of diving and history, dived, photographed and recorded a total of ten wrecks in one week.

Of those twenty-three divers three were Irish, not including Catherine herself. Pat Normile, Peter Brady and John Bolger heard about the project from an old dive buddy of theirs, Des Mulreany, who spotted it on Catherine’s Facebook link (Bring History Home). Des would be known to very many divers who were around in the ‘80s and ‘90s, as he worked in the dive department of the Great

18 SubSea Spring 2015

Outdoors in Dublin. Des had already spoken with Catherine and, having heard all the details, the other three quickly bought into the idea.

Unfortunately, Des had to withdraw from the project, but the others confirmed their participation.

Peter, Pat and John started diving in 1980, 1984 and 2006 respectively and are all members of a Dublin based diving club, Kish SAC. Each would be well known on the local, regional and national dive scene in Ireland because of their involvement as dive instructors and examiners, but their hearts have always been into diving at club level, in particular helping novice divers in their newly chosen sport - they’re the

“Many of the lives lost on that faithful morning known as D-Day were brave young men who didn’t even get to come ashore, much less back to their homes and to those who loved them” current Kish SAC Training, Diving and Equipment Officers, respectively. The vast majority of their diving has been in the Dublin area and around the Irish coastline, with short forays to the Isle of Man, Wales, Oban, Scapa Flow, The Red Sea, Mauritius, Switzerland, the Canary Islands, Azores and diverse locations in the Mediterranean. Apart from minor flirtations with technical diving, 99% of their diving has been open circuit air (or Nitrox) diving, in trusty wetsuits (or a drysuit in John’s case, as he’s a true ‘better sweat than wet’ diver), with drysuits getting an airing when required for the occasional decompression dive.

All of the guys have an interest in the historical aspects of the wrecks that they have dived in the past, irrespective of period, and they were thrilled to get a chance to dive the Normandy wrecks because they were part of such a pivotal moment in the Second World War. That they did so on the seventieth anniversary of the invasion added a special poignancy as the surviving combatants are beginning to pass away. Maybe it’s an

age thing, but, as Pat Normile observed, when he was growing up, his reading was heavily influenced by this period in history.

Their expectations for the Normandy Project was what they would have had for any of the WWI or WWII wrecks they had the pleasure of diving around Ireland and Scotland hope for reasonable visibility, a chance to come face to face with history and, maybe in this case, to add a little to the knowledge of the events of June 1944.

The aim of this international project to dive those wrecks unseen since they lost their grip on the surface and dropped forever more to the seabed off Normandy was simply to bring this underwater history home through photography, video and recording how these wrecks look today.

To make this information freely available and to create an easily accessible central website showing how WWII stretched out beyond the coastline and across the waters. Most of the lives lost on the fateful morning of D-Day were of brave young men who didn’t even get ashore, much less back to their homes and to those who loved them. They drowned in the shallow waters, or their vessels were hit - the exact number of lives lost in the water that day will never be known.

Future projects by Catherine, which come under the global heading ‘Bring History Home’, will continue to dive and record the large number of shipwrecks lying on the seabed off Normandy, to collect the history of the area, the stories of those who remember this time and who can share with us what it was like to come ashore on the landing beaches of WWII - to give a voice, a face and a history to all those lost in the turbulent waters and to acknowledge our debt to these brave men. We owe it to them to bring their history home.

(Catherine ran this project on a volunteer basis. If you would like to make a donation to help with upcoming projects, or if you would like to learn more about them, you are welcome to contact her at cat.connors@yahoo.com, or visit her Facebook page ‘Bring History Home’.

She will be speaking at this year’s dive show in Nenagh). ◼

Ice Diving in Northern Russia

By Brian Murphy

Photos Sarah Tallon & Brian Murphy

Anyone who has seen David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet will understand the attraction to diving in the Arctic. Ignore the cold for a moment and consider the remote, isolated and vast expanse of Arctic wilderness. Imagine dropping down through a small hole in the ice to a rarely visited ecosystem. Think about those first breaths as you peer into the ice-sealed ocean. Yes, it’s about now that you also become aware of the cold as your face protests at the icy water gnawing at your exposed skin.

Arctic Reflections.

SubSea Spring 2015 19

Ice Diving

Mina from below.

I had often thought about an ice-diving trip, but never put much time into researching it. Then, while working with David Attenborough and the BBC wildlife unit in Scotland, I met a cameraman just back from the Arctic and his stories encouraged me to give

it some real consideration. My first thought was to go to northern Norway in mid winter; I’d been to Norway before and it’s an easy country in which to travel and it has all modern conveniences. However, having made contact with the dive centres up the

Traditional Russian house.

20 SubSea Spring 2015

north west coast, it transpired that, as a result of global warming, they often don’t get any sea ice at all during the winter months and so, while they would welcome our group from Ireland, they couldn’t guarantee an ice diving experience.

So I phoned Iceland and again was surprised to hear that they don’t have winter ice either. That left Canada and Russia. Canada is expensive and Russia - well I really wasn’t sure about Russia.

Things like language, accommodation, food and the general logistics of getting there were all unknown entities to me.

Would divers be happy staying in a leaky igloo and eating seal blubber? Do the Russians eat divers if food is scarce?

I wasn’t sure, having grown up on James Bond and American propaganda, but I decided to make some enquiries by email. Probably safe enough, I thought, they can’t eat you over the internet. My first contact was with a Russian lady called Diana, based in the Arctic Circle Dive Centre’s Moscow office, who couldn’t have been more helpful. Once I talked to her I was sold.

In November and December of 2011 the first trip with the Arctic Circle Diving Centre was planned.

Nilmagoba is in the Karelia region of

Ice Diving

Basking in light.

the White Sea and that’s where we would be going in March 2012. That gave us was plenty of time to start piling on the layers and preparing our equipment for some real cold water diving. Water temperature would be 1C to -2C with air temperatures ranging between -10 and -20C. Portroe Quarry in January and February is a pretty good testing ground for cold water diving equipment and a few dives there would be good preparation for the trip.

Snowmobile safari.

Getting to Nilmagoba on the White Sea took a couple of days, with flights to Helsinki and then on to Kuusamo in Finland for an overnight stay. From here it was an eight-hour drive to the Finnish/Russian border and across the vast forested landscape of northern Russia. The Arctic Circle Dive Centre, based in the small 400 year old fishing village of Nilmagoba, was the team’s base for the next seven days. The accommodation was in traditional log houses with all the comforts of home;

the cooking was done by local people who produced a wonderful, and seemingly endless, range of traditional foods that kept everyone feeling full and well nourished against the harsh Arctic weather.

All the divers had to complete an Ice Diver course with the centre which included theory about equipment, safety and emergency procedures and access through the ice. This was coupled with the first ice dives, where divers practice underwater checks, the

Wrapped up well.

SubSea Spring 2015 21

Ice Diving

Diver under Ice.

use of lines and line signals and underice rescue procedures. The Russian instructors are ice experts and the course is very informative and great fun - and my concerns about Russians

were quickly dispelled. The team at the Arctic Circle Diving Centre are big strong softies who couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful. Our team of new ice divers was now ready to start

Tendering diver shore site.

22 SubSea Spring 2015

exploring this strange environment and all the features that make ice diving so interesting and attractive. Firstly it’s an overhead environment, meaning that divers are cut off from direct access to

Arctic fish.

Ice Diving

Dancing on kelp.

the surface. This required the mandatory use of lines to ensure that divers could always find their way back to the “mina�, which is the Russian word for the divers’ access hole cut in the ice. The ice sheet varies in thickness from about 50 - 100cm, which in turn is often covered in a layer of snow. This means that much of the natural light is filtered out, leaving divers in a luminous green sea. Bubbles get trapped by the ice and gather to form mercury-like pools in the underice undulations. Walking upside down under the ice sheet, between the pools of bubbles, is a fun thing to do and gives a bizarre perspective to the whole experience. It looks weird but feels great! Time now to take a closer look at the flora and fauna of this alien space.

For divers used to diving in Irish waters, much of the marine life will be familiar, except that things like anemones, sponges and soft corals grow bigger in the colder nutrient-rich waters. There is plenty of colour on the

rocks and, whilst there are not so many free swimming fish, wolf fish lurk under the ledges and lots of crustaceans are happy to live here,

feasting on the plentiful supply of micro-organisms. There are some very unusual creatures here as well; basket stars look a bit like brains walking

Crawling brain.

SubSea Spring 2015 23

Ice Diving

Ice Brian.

Soft corals White Sea.

Warming gear post dive.

24 SubSea Spring 2015

around the sea bed, and sea angels are translucent free-swimming slugs with angel-like wings. Filter feeders abound and there are lots of shrimp and krill living happily under the heavy ice shelf. The underside of the ice is also a good place to study the unusual ice formations called “brinicles” which form beneath sea ice when a flow of extremely cold, saline water, or brine, is introduced to an area of ocean water which is slightly less cold; it’s the undersea equivalent of a hollow stalactite.

The ice is tightly packed against the shore line and, as the tide rises and falls, it causes the ice to fracture and break into gigantic slabs and boulders. This creates wonderful underwater features which twist and bend the light, making superb backdrops for underwater photographs and presenting a whole new set of challenges for the photographer.

After a couple of days - and some deep technical discussion - great images started to emerge and the buzz was really growing. The Arctic provides truly wonderful opportunities, both above and below the ice, for anyone interested in photography.

On the ice, buddy teams have their own personal wooden chalets, heated by a wood-burning stove, where the divers kit up and change in cosy comfort. On returning to the surface regulator first stages will be encased in ice and sometimes toes and fingers feel a bit like this too. But it’s so warm in the huts that you instantly feel that wonderful tingling sensation as the blood returns to your extremities and, just as wonderful, your equipment dries completely between dives! Lunch, eaten in a larger communal hut, consists of Russian fish or meat soup, savoury pastries, chicken, meats, fish, bread, garlic and lots more. After lunch we dive again and, at some point, everyone does a stint as a “tender” or surface minder, to gain valuable experience as both diver and tender. Standing on the ice in this wilderness

environment and monitoring the activities of the divers down below is another new experience, and the days on the ice passed all too quickly.

Travelling home on the sledges is an opportunity to chat about the dives and, of course, the occasional snow ball fight might break out during the journey! Back in the quiet fishing village, showers and aperitifs are called for, in that order, followed by a wholesome dinner and an assortment of desserts. By now, darkness has fallen and the options on offer for passing the evening are: chilling out around the fire, reliving the day’s dives; stargazing with the chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis; or the most revitalising experience of all, the Russian Banya. This is their version of a sauna, incorporating the liberal use of leaf covered birch branches, hot hot water, ice buckets and snow.

Blended together in the hyper heat of the Banya, and topped off with a roll in the snow, divers won’t forget their first Banya experience and they won’t want to go home either.

Whatever way you end the day there is always tomorrow and you get to do it all again – in a different spot. Each day, the huts are moved to new sites where the dive depths will vary between 10m and 30m.

The centre also arranged excursions to the Black River village, remote in the forest with no access roads; snorkelling with Beluga whales; snowmobile safaris and ice camping. Despite the busy schedule it was so quiet and peaceful, with no roads, no traffic, no phones, no fuss - so different that everyone could really unwind and come away feeling like they had been away for weeks and not just days.

Oceandivers have been to the Arctic twice and will return in March 2016. Everyone is welcome to join the trip and live the experience. For more information contact Brian at Oceandivers. info@oceandivers.ie 01 2801083 www.oceandivers.ie ◼

Dive Ireland 2015

Dive Ireland International 2015 in association with Comhairle Fo-Thuinn (Irish Underwater Council) and hosted by Lough Derg Sub Aqua Club will take place in the Abbey Court Hotel which is located in “The Market Town” of Nenagh County Tipperary on February 28th and March 1st 2015.

The conference aims to provide a list of high profile speakers spanning a wide range of diving specialities such as technical diving, wreck diving as well as marine wildlife and conservation.

The Weekend will include the CFT diving/training officer conference, CFT AGM and PADI conference.

There also promises to be an excellent trade show.

N.B.: Admission one-day-pass €8.00, two-day-pass €12.00

EXHIBITORS

DIVE IRELAND 2015 GUEST SPEAKERS Catherine Connors

Paul Kiernan

Diving into D-Day

Irish Whale and Dolphin Group

Catherine is an Irishwoman living in France for 14 years, and an accomplished FFESSM N3 (Fédération Francaise d’Etudes et de Sports Sousmarins) deep diver and CMAS *** diver who likes to keep herself challenged in dive training and in continued learning. In 2013 she created the Scuba Ninjas, the only Englishspeaking international diving group in Paris. This group has gone from strength to strength and is a great source of knowledge, support and information for the English-speaking dive community there. Now a passionate wreck diver, Catherine aims, along with other interested wreck divers, to dive and record the sunken vessels/wrecks/wreckage of WWII off the coast of Normandy and to bring this history to the surface, so to speak. Her work on the WWII wrecks will be featured in several dive magazines in the coming year. Mention D-Day and most people will instantly think of the soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy and, through their bravery and sacrifice, created that first foothold on mainland Europe which changed the course of the war. But, in the biggest maritime invasion in history, how did D-Day look from the water? What did those soldiers face, and what still lies beneath the waves off Normandy’s beaches?

Catherine and her team take you to that historical seabed as they dive into D-Day.

Stewart Andrews Impressions from Ireland’s deep wreck diving Stewie Andrews has been fortunate to dive deep wrecks off Donegal, the south coast, the Irish Sea, the North Channel, Greece and Norway. He has been involved in trimix diving for over 11 years using a rebreather and his favourite dives are still the war losses off Donegal, including the ‘classics’ such as HMS Audacious (64m). Stewie has been involved in many ‘first’ dives; the wrecks of HMS Curacao (125m), HMS Carinthia (115m), RMS Amazon (117m), SS Flavia (105m), HMS Viknor (86m), as well as some very deep dives such as SS Assyria (140m) and RMS Empress of Britain (163m).

He has been involved in several TV documentaries on both sides of the video camera and in 2014 took up the challenge of deep wreck still photography.

Stewie’s talk covers the exploration of many of Ireland’s finest deep wrecks and matters relating to this type of diving, with a nod to Lusitania’s 100th anniversary.

John Breen Sites that divers overlook We need to vary our dive sites to maximize the variety of wildlife we see on our dives. This talk will show that some pretty spectacular wildlife is there for us to see – in the fairly shallow waters and on the very soft mud bottoms that many club dives avoid, but where some divers, including Seasearch divers, boldly go!

John Breen is a zoologist – mainly interested in bees and ants – who has been diving with Limerick Sub Aqua Club since 1990. In recent years he has brought a camera with him on his dives and his talk will include pictures from sites that many divers overlook. He studied at UCC, where he completed a BSc and his PhD on ant ecology, then at the University of Bergen, Norway and TCD before becoming a lecturer at Thomond College of Education, now part of the University of Limerick. He retired as an associate professor three years ago, but is still involved in research on honeybees and ants - and diving!

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) is dedicated to the conservation and better understanding of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) in Irish waters through research and education. Since its foundation in 1990 the IWDG has increased public awareness of Irish cetaceans and their habitats through a broad range of research, conservation and education initiatives. Over the past 24 years the work of the organisation has evolved greatly to address the many challenges facing cetaceans in the modern oceans. Much of the work of the IWDG today involves the application of modern sciences, such as animal welfare science, in the protection and promotion of healthy, sustainable cetacean populations into the future.

Paul Kiernan is a long-time member of the IWDG and a lifelong advocate of animal welfare. He graduated from UCD with an honours degree in Animal Science through the then Faculty of Agriculture and went on to complete a Masters in Animal Welfare through the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Paul first developed an interest in the oceans when living and working with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the northwest coast of Ireland. He has since become a qualified scuba diver and free diver, recently completing his AIDA 4 Star and SSI Level 3 certifications in free diving. Paul developed an interest in cetacean welfare while working in the dive industry in Australia and he continues his passion for the oceans and cetacean welfare through his work as Welfare Officer with the IWDG. Join Paul for a presentation on the whales and dolphins of Ireland, including information on the twenty-four species of cetaceans that live in Irish waters, the habitats important to their conservation and the threats impacting their welfare. The publication of the IWDG Cetacean Welfare Policy in 2014 will be discussed, as will the contentious issues of live-stranding and eco-tourism (whale watching).

Peter Walsh The Diaphragm: A Forgotten Muscle Peter Walsh is a AIDA**** free diver and Director of Positive Breathing Institute Ltd, trading as “Tri-Logic Body Rhythms”. In 2006 he developed a programme that he called “Tri-Logic Rhythms™” which allows people to analyse their wellness from their breathing.

With a background in physiotherapy and a passion for free diving Peter has combined research and experience to discover how important the diaphragm is to health and wellbeing!

DIVE IRELAND 2015 GUEST SPEAKERS

Saturday Feb 28th 10.00 am - 11.00 am

11.00 am - 12.00 pm 12.00 pm - 1.00 pm 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm

Main Room

Dive Officers and Training Officers Meeting

2.00 pm - 3.00pm

3.00 pm - 4.00 pm

Sunday March 1st

10.00 am - 11.00 am

11.00 am - 12.00 pm 12.00 pm - 1.00 pm 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm 2.00 pm - 3.00pm

3.00 pm - 4.00 pm 4.00 pm - 5.00 pm 5.00 pm - 6.00 pm

Speakers Room

Tommy Furey – Infomar Dive Site APP & U/W Mapping

Main Room CFT AGM

Photography Room

Joe Hyland – Compact camera U/W photography John Collins – Mirrorless camera technology

Have lunch and enjoy some retail therapy

Catherine Connors – Diving into D-Day

Nick Pfeiffer – Blue Sharks off the West Coast of Ireland

Paul Kiernan – IWDG, Whales & Dolphins, Protecting Native Species

Q&A session with John, Nick & Nigel

Speakers Room

Photography Room

Search & Recovery CFT/Irish Coast Guard

4.00 pm - 5.00 pm 5.00 pm - 6.00 pm

PROGRAMME

John Breen – U/W wildlife

Peter Walsh –Tri-Logic Body Rhythms, The Diaphragm: a Forgotten Muscle Catherine Connors – The Forgotten Wrecks of WW2, Normandy (Diving into D-Day)

Nigel Moyter – U/W photography Maldives/S. Africa

Martin Kiely – Macro Photography Sarah Tallon – Under the Arctic Ice

Have lunch and enjoy some retail therapy

Brian MacAllister – A Weathered Diary on Commercial Deep Sea Diving Stewart Andrews – Lusitania & The Donegal Wrecks

Richard Thorn – U/W Composition

Ken O Sullivan – Making Ireland's Ocean Mike Orth – Go-Pro Tips & Tricks

Retail Area Trade Stands Latest in diving equipment & technology, refreshments & dining

Tommy Furey is the Marine Institute Co-Programme Manager for INFOMAR, and he has led the Advanced Mapping Services team since 2008. Prior to this he had an operations coordination role as Team Leader within the group since 2003. A 1995 graduate of Earth Sciences from NUIG, he completed an MSc in Marine Geotechnics in 1997 in Bangor, N. Wales. He worked in 3D Exploration Seismic for Schlumberger Geco-Prakla until 2001 when he returned to Ireland, working offshore as a contractor on the Irish National Seabed survey, before taking on a role in the Marine Institute.

The INtegrated Mapping FOr the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s MArine Resource (INFOMAR) programme is a joint venture between the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Marine Institute.

This programme is a successor to the Irish National Seabed Survey (INSS) and concentrates on creating a range of integrated products mapping the physical, chemical and biological features of the seabed in the near-shore area.

The programme is funded by the Irish Government through the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources as part of the National Development Plan and has recently secured funding until 2020.

Over the course of the weekend INFOMAR hopes to get as much feedback as possible on its data and how it can be made to work for the Irish diving community.

Towards the end of 2014 INFOMAR delivered a mobile diving app that enables the user to plan a dive by identifying seabed features (sites of interest, wrecks, wildlife etc.); to download weather reports and relevant tide info; to retain info on entry/exit points like slipways and piers (shore dives vs. boat dives); to rate locations and sites and to upload pictures. Essentially the application is designed to be a one-stop shop for the Irish diving community to create more effective dive plans and it is hoped to get the opinions and ideas of as many divers as possible during Dive Ireland as to what are the most important features and what else should be included.

Retail Area Trade Stands Latest in diving equipment & technology, refreshments & dining

Tommy Furey – INFOMAR

THE IRISH UNDERWATER COUNCIL UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY TWO-DAY SEMINAR In recent years underwater photography in Ireland has been growing at a tremendous rate. The rise of digital cameras and compatible housings has led to most people carrying a camera of some description with them on their dives.

Small, waterproof, high definition video cameras allow top class footage to be captured above and below the water and posted online within hours of a dive. Social media sites allow these images to be seen and discussed worldwide and help to promote scuba diving and snorkelling in Ireland as a wonderful activity.

This increase in the popularity of underwater photography has been helped by the fact that the governing body for scuba diving in Ireland, the Irish Underwater Council, has developed a course on the subject.

The last course was run in Killary in the summer of 2014 and plans are in place for a similar event in 2015. The Vincent O’ Brien Memorial

photography competition was held in July 2014 and there were some great prizes up for grabs, including a top-of-the-range camera supplied

by Canon Ireland. It is planned to run the competition again in 2015 and it is worth noting that, in the last two years, underwater pictures won awards in An Taisce’s Cleancoast photography competition.

On Feb 28th and March 1st 2015, in association with Lough Derg Sub Aqua Club, the Photography Group is holding a two-day seminar at “Dive Ireland” in Nenagh. On display will be an exhibition of photographs taken by Irish divers, but the major selling point of the seminar is the guest speakers talking about the images they have taken and how they achieved them.

If you have any questions about getting into underwater photography, then the Group would like to see you over the weekend at any of the talks.

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY SEMINAR SPEAKERS Joe Hyland Joe Hyland dives with the NUIG/GMIT SubAqua Club in Galway having joined the university club as a trainee in 2004. He has a keen interest in photography, above and below the water, and in recent years has given talks to local photography clubs on a range of topics.

Nick Pfeiffer Nick Pfeiffer started diving in 1980.

Having worked as a marine scientist in the US and with the Marine Institute in Ireland until 1999, he established and operated the Aran Islands Dive Centre from 2000-2007. Nick now lives and works in the west of Ireland where he runs MERC Environmental - an aquatic environmental consultancy working in marine nature conservation and fisheries and aquaculture sustainability. Underwater photography and video are his day-to-day tools for much of his work with MERC. After a very expensive induction period into UW photography, during which he flooded more Nikonos cameras than he can remember, Nick finally moved onto housed digital SLR’s in 2005.

He presently shoots stills using a Nikon D200 in a Seacam housing as well as an Olympus OMD EM1 in a Nauticam housing, both with twin Seacam 150 strobes. Nick uses various video configurations with underwater lighting and remote video systems for RIB-based underwater surveys. He is as interested and passionate about underwater imaging in his free time and the line between work and pleasure is not quite as sharp as he likes his images to be!! Recently Nick was featured in the Irish Times for some stunning images of the blue sharks which he swam with off the Aran Islands in September 2014.

Nigel Motyer Nigel Motyer is a well known teaching and speaking personality on the Irish underwater photography scene. He began diving in the early 1980s and picked up his first camera in 1987.

Since then it is his passion for the challenge of underwater photography that has kept up his interest in diving.

Nigel’s photography has been widely published around the world including Subsea, Diver, Sport Diver, Dive as well as National Geographic Magazine. He has travelled widely over the last twenty five years, most recently focussing on great shark destinations. Sharks have always been his passion despite being bitten by a rather over curious silky shark in the Pacific in 1995.

Nigel lives in Malahide, Co Dublin with his wife Sinead and their two children Hannah and Ben. A speaker at many a dive show, his level of photographic knowledge and his love for diving will be evident for all to see.

Sarah Tallon Sarah Tallon grew up in Dublin and took a camera underwater for the first time in 2009. Starting with a simple Intova compact in the southern Red Sea, Sarah found herself immediately and passionately drawn towards underwater photography. She upgraded her first underwater camera to a compact Canon Powershot S95 with Ikelite housing and now uses a Nikon D7100 dSLR in a Nauticam housing. Sarah dives all year-round, with a particular fondness for the west coast and she has had great success recently in the Scubadive West photography competitions.

Sarah’s lifelong fascination with the Russian Arctic brought her to venture under the ice in the White Sea in 2012 and again in 2014. She will be sharing her experiences there at the show.

John Collins John Collins from Kinsale in Co. Cork, is one of our best known underwater photographers. John learned to dive with Dublin University SAC in 1984 and became a PADI instructor in 1991. He went on to start the Cork Dive School in 1992, while continuing to develop his own diving skills and was an early adopter of Advanced Nitrox and Rebreather certification.

With an interest in photography since his teens, he began to capture images of life beneath the waves. John went digital in 2002 and continues to innovate, embracing new technologies as they evolve, including digital video and filmmaking. Many of his images have been successful in competitions and have been widely published in magazines, brochures and books – including SubSea, Sport Diver, Diver Magazine, and Scuba World. John has given presentations of his work at diving and photographic conferences at home and abroad and his book, ‘Cool Waters/Emerald Seas’, published by Atrium (2006), has been critically acclaimed as a wonderful celebration of the marine life in temperate seas. John continues his love of teaching and coaching fellow photographers and regularly leads workshops in both landscape and underwater techniques.

Martin Kiely Martin Kiely began diving twenty-two years ago and is currently a member of Aughinish Diving Club and Limerick Camera Club. Like most divers, he started shooting with a compact Sea and Sea, moving to an Olympus C8080 and, finally, to an SLR - a second-hand Nikon D70 with a Ikelite housing. He claims that he has been lucky enough to win a few competitions at CFT, Scuba Dive West, Nikon and was thrilled to have pictures on the cover of Subsea and Sports Diver as well as in the national press.

Jacques Cousteau and Éamon de Buitléar were his biggest influences growing up. Martin’s love is for close-up shots and he uses a torch rather than a flash. Martin’s winning macro image at the Vincent O’ Brien Memorial competition in 2014 graced the cover of the winter Subsea.

Ken O’Sullivan Ken O’Sullivan makes ocean wildlife documentaries and has been an underwater cameraman for eight years, working for RTÉ, BBC Natural History Unit, TG4 and CBC Canada.

In 2014 he produced ‘Ireland’s Ocean’ a fourpart ocean wildlife series for RTÉ, documenting dolphins, sharks, stingrays and all the wonderful macro creatures in Irish waters. Ken will be on hand to explain the trials and tribulations of his line of work.

Mike Orth Mike Orth is the current President of CFT. His job description on Facebook lists “Irish Underwater Council’s Diving Evangelist”. Mike uses GoPro footage to create short videos promoting the club diving scene - with more footage above water than below. With technical know-how rather than artistic skill, he hopes that his hints, tips and advice will help a few dive show attendees to create their own advertisements for the next dive season.

Mike’s compilation of the South-East Dive Rally won the award for best video at the Vincent O’ Brien Memorial competition in 2014.

Richard Thorn Richard Thorn has been diving since the early 1990s. He has been making photographs for almost fifty years and taking underwater photographs for the last six years. He is a regular contributor to Subsea, with his writing and photographs.

Richard is currently studying photography with the Open College of the Arts, in the UK, as a way of improving his own skills.

West coast blue shark diving

Text and photos copyright Nick Pfeiffer SubSea Spring 2015 29

Shark Diving

Curious. Picture by and © Nick Pfeiffer.

As the operator of Aran Islands Dive Centre between 1999 and 2008, you could be forgiven for thinking that the dive centre crew was spoiled for choice in terms of after hours diving and that we would never want for anything more in terms of scenic diving in Ireland.

Well that was the reality - for the most part at least. When students and visiting divers were all done for the day, the crew would often kit up one more time for some after hour’s fun. In this way we spent many summer evenings locating and exploring new dive sites as well diving some the many ‘big’ dives that islands were already so well known for, as often as we wanted and for free!

But as anyone truly committed to adventure will know, it’s always good to push the boundaries a little, some times more than a little. Even the best dives on the islands could become humdrum after a few evenings. We were always curious and knew that there’s usually great fun to be had finding something new as it usually involves learning (!) and a certain amount of making it up as you go.

Over the years on the islands, stories from fishermen on Inis Oirr who happened upon floating dead whales being scavenged by blue sharks off the back of the islands made their way to me, as did others. Included in

30 SubSea Spring 2015

these stories was one, recounted by an old timer from Inis Mor that described annual gatherings of porbeagle sharks in Gregory Sound. According to his reasoning they gathered there in order to feed on shoals of returning salmon as they herded into the funnel like Gregory Sound. But that was in the days of plenty before foreign long line fleets took an interest in our waters.

Reflected. Picture by and © Nick Pfeiffer.

Another story came from a herring man in Connemara and told of thresher sharks caught while chasing the autumn herring shoals that used to frequent Galway Bay. To this day, angling boats catch and release quite a number of blue sharks every year around the islands, while a couple of porbeagles are usually captured too.

Anyone looking for hard evidence of the shark diversity in our coastal waters need do no more than keep an eye on the Inland Fisheries Ireland site, on whose webpages the weekly angling reports from around the country confirm the range of shark species present in our waters. Even the odd shortfin mako shark gives itself up to hook and line in Irish waters. Of course, no article about sharks and the Aran Islands could be complete without mentioning the basking shark, heavily fished in the past but which is still commonly seen in summer time around the islands.

And so it was inevitable that the idea of diving with blue sharks would eventually make its way onto our agenda for Atlantic adventures. It had always been clear that ‘blues’ were around the islands in the summer time - they seemed to appear every summer once the sprat showed up, closely followed by shoals of mackerel. Many a

Shark Diving blue shark fin was seen on the surface over the years while waiting to pick up divers, but no one ever seemed to happen upon a blue shark underwater.

Blue shark are a circumglobal species and blue shark diving is carried out in many parts of the world. So common has it become nowadays that it would be easy to form the view that blue shark diving is a simple or routine thing to do…. just a case of hanging some mackerel over the side of a drifting boat and waiting for the sharks to converge. We kind of hoped that would be the case when we made our first few attempts to attract blue shark to a drifting dive boat off the Aran Islands. Fuelled by our own curiosity and reports of others experiencing sharks in Irish waters, at least six or seven times over the past 15 years we loaded up with buckets of chum, cameras and dive gear and drove out to one of a number of fishing marks west of the islands, in search of blues. But it never happened quite like we hoped it would. For all our sincere efforts and hard work, we only ever came back with empty cylinders, empty films and empty stomachs. Everyone would be in pieces, feeling really awful after spending hours drifting miles from land on a roly boat, broadside on, in marginal conditions at best. Only through blue shark diving efforts do I now know that you need a reasonably good breeze for a sea anchor to work in a rib! Few diving experiences are likely to be quite as memorable as such a day. Given the mix of a rolling boat, decks awash with minced mackerel, fish oil and entrails, spilled buckets of fish oil mixed with bran and sand….throw in a leaky fuel can for good measure too and even the hardest sea dog will succumb.

And then in September 2014 our luck changed, in a dramatic way. A small group of divers – Jerome McCormick, Brian Stone and Nicky, my 11 year old son, had a truly superb series of encounters with blue sharks while drifting 3 miles west of Inis Oirr on a day that was pretty much perfect in all respects. Having anchored our chum out in deep water the night before, we arrived on site mid-morning to find several blue sharks passing beneath the boat every few minutes. In

Checking out the boat. Picture by and © Nick Pfeiffer.

Blue dorsal colour blending with the deep. Picture by and © Nick Pfeiffer.

hindsight now it seems that perhaps it was not just luck that made the day happen, more the culmination of a lot of lessons learned during previous attempts. But the learning was not over. While the sharks were definitely around – we could clearly see them – they remained skittish and once we entered the water they would disappear. So we abandoned diving and spent the next few hours chumming hard, playing the shark’s natural curiosity so that they would relax and approach the boat. And approach the boat they did. After a couple of hours of chumming we had gained their confidence to the point that they were chewing on the fendering of the boat!

All the while we were shooting stills and video from topside only. Only after a long time and when they appeared relaxed did we enter the water. And

what an experience we had for the next two hours. A total of three blue sharks showed up that day, one female 7’-7.5 ‘, the other two about 6’. The sharks became completely relaxed to the point that they were snapping at rafting seagulls, bumping masks and repeatedly circling freedivers, most of the time swimming merely inches away from my camera lens.

All in all it was perhaps the most amazing day any of us ever had on the water in Ireland. Plans for 2015 shark diving are advancing and hopefully all the lessons learned over the years can be put together to try and make a repeat of 2014. I’m happy to share knowledge and will be talking further about blue shark diving and photographing blue sharks in Ireland at Dive Ireland International in February 2015. ◼ SubSea Spring 2015 31

Ireland: The Fishing Industry Through Time

by Mike Smylie

Book review by Eddie Bourke

32 SubSea Spring 2015

This book of photographs is the Irish section of a six part series covering Britain and Ireland. By comparing historical photographs with images captured during a coastal tour in 2007, the author illustrates the changing designs of fishing boats down the years – and the contrast is striking. He describes how fishing techniques evolved and changed over the one hundred-and-fifty year scope of this book and contrasts the views of the crowded harbours back then, so full of fishing craft that it is difficult to tell where one ends and the next one starts, with the few lonely trawlers tied up at quay walls today. The bustling quayside scenes, as hundreds of women processed herring in the open air, make a vivid tableau - but there are no views of modern fish factories. However, the boat-building yards do get honourable mention for their native styles and designs.

The house style of Amberley Publishing works well for this sort of

study, with its emphasis on the photographs and with rich captions providing the text. The book assembles the material in a readable and economical way and avoids the lavish and expensive coffee-table format that requires high definition illustrations which are usually hard to come by, especially from times past.

Mike Smylie does not attempt to give a comprehensive commentary of the Irish fishing industry, nor is this an economic or social study.

The value is in the photographs of the boats, the harbours and the people. The overall result is a very readable, illustrated description of fishing around Ireland in years gone by. Anyone with a maritime interest will appreciate this book and the fishing community will find it a fine reminder of their heritage Amberley Publishing, The Hill, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England 2014. £14.99. ◼

HMS D6 A Submarine against Submarine Casualty

By Martin Baillie-Johnston

D6 at sea6

The Royal Navy Submarine Service was formed in 1901 when the admiralty ordered five “Holland� submarines for experimental purposes.

An agreement between the Electric Boat Company which owned the Holland patents) and Messrs Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd allowed the five Holland submarines to be built under licence at Barrow-in-Furness. The launching of HM Submarine No 1 was on the 2nd of October 1901.

The first Inspecting Captain of Submarine Boats was the then thirtyeight year old Captain R.H.S Bacon who would later go on to become an Admiral. Captain Bacon immediately began to recruit submariners for the new service and had his first ten volunteers by September 1901. By 1904 the seven man crews of the Holland boats were deemed to be sufficiently competent to participate in the 1904 Royal Navy annual manoeuvres. Also accompanying them was the new A1 submarine, the first of the newer, larger A-Class submarines. It was during these exercises that the first submarine disaster occurred when the A1 was

sunk in a collision. All aboard were lost and these were the first casualties of the Submarine Service. Over the next few years the service was expanded in both men and submarines, with BClass and C-Class submarines being developed and launched, the C-Class being the last of the petrol-engine submarines.

Development of the D-Class submarine began in 1905 and was to be very different from the earlier classes of submarine. The D-Class was the first submarine to be designed for overseas use and to enable this many new features were incorporated into the D-Class design. These included twin diesel engines each having its own drive shaft and propeller, external saddle tanks, a stern torpedo tube and an over-and-under design for the forward torpedo tubes. The D-Class was also the first class of submarine to have a deck gun fitted, which was a 12 pounder and featured a fold-away design.

Production of the D-Class began in 1907 with the D1 and was completed

in 1912 with the D8. A further 11 DClass submarines had been planned but, by this time, the next generation of submarine, the E-Class, had been designed and production moved to this instead.

The D-Class submarines were more than twice as big as the previous classes and were 162ft long, 20ft 6in maximum width, a surface displacement of 500 tons and a submerged displacement of 620 tons.

D-Class submarines had a surface speed of 16 knots, a submerged speed of 9 knots and a range of 3500 miles.

The use of the saddle tanks and increased hull size allowed larger accommodation areas for the crew and more space for extra batteries to be fitted. This meant that the D-Class could stay submerged for longer and undertake longer patrols, and the stern torpedo tube meant that the D-Class could spend less time manoeuvring into position for an attack and that it could defend itself against pursuing enemy ships. All eight D-Class submarines served in World War I with four being lost.

SubSea Spring 2015 33

HMS D6

D6 in Dock6

HM Submarine D6 was laid down on the 24th of February 1910 and launched on the 24th of October 1911. It was commissioned on the 19th of April 1912 and was first commanded by Lt Max Horton who later went on to become the decorated Commander of HM Submarine E9 during World War I and the Commander of all home-seasbased submarines during World War II. D6 served as part of the 8th Flotilla up until October 1914, by which time World War I had begun. By 1914 nine submarine flotillas had been established, five of which were used for coastal defence. The majority of HM Submarines, and all eight D-Class submarines, were used in this role during the war.

In August 1915 D6 was transferred to the 4th Flotilla, for Dover Patrol. The Dover Patrol’s main role was to stop German shipping from entering the English Channel en route to the Atlantic, forcing the Germany navy to use the much longer route around

34 SubSea Spring 2015

Scotland. This route, in turn, was defended by the Northern Patrol.

D6 returned to the 8th Flotilla in October 1915 and was again transferred, in July 1916, to the 3rd Flotilla. In March 1917 D6 was transferred to Lough Swilly to participate in anti-submarine patrols and, in July 1917, along with the rest of the 3rd Flotilla, D6 was moved to Killybegs in Donegal.

On the evening of June 24th 1918 D6 was patrolling off the west coast of Ireland. By this stage of the war D6 was commanded by Lieutenant Samuel Brooks with Lieutenant Frederick Secker Bell as the second-in-command.

D6 was following a six to eight point irregular zig-zag on the surface approximately 12 miles north of Inistrahull. At 5:55pm Brooks relieved Bell on the bridge. The starboard engine was out of action due to a leaky exhaust pipe and D6 was proceeding at a dead slow speed using her engines to save battery power.

Brooks had been on the bridge for

twenty minutes and had sighted nothing when a torpedo exploded on the starboard side abreast of the fore hatch at 6:15pm. No visible external damage could be seen and all hands were called to deck. Brooks then sighted a periscope breaking the surface around 30 yards away before it turned around and disappeared again beneath the sea.

About thirty seconds after the explosion D6 sank very quickly, going down by the bow. By this time nine other crew members, including Bell, had reached the bridge. Brooks was taken under the water by the sinking vessel, and when he reached the surface again he could see some of the other men in the water. Brooks removed some of his clothing and swam towards Bell, but by the time he reached him he could no longer see the others in the water. After half an hour the U Boat UB-73 surfaced and picked up Bell and Brooks. The U Boat commander told them that he had been afraid to surface earlier in case he came up under the sinking D6. Brooks didn’t believe him and concluded that UB-73 did not surface because they didn’t want to find

HMS D6 any, or very few, survivors. UB-73 had been on the surface when they first sighted D6, then dived and prepared its attack on D6 for two hours before finally launching a torpedo from 80 yards away.

Brooks and Bell were kept prisoner on the UB-73 for fourteen days before being transferred to the flagship Kaiser Wilhelm. After being taken ashore in Wilhelmshaven, Brooks and Bell were kept in solitary confinement for three days before being transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp.

In 1932 a former engineer of UB73, Herr Stren, wrote to the Daily Mirror enquiring if Brooks and Bell had survived the war. A Daily Mirror reporter tracked down Bell and subsequently wrote an article about the loss of D6.

In 2005 technical diver Norman Woods was making one of his annual trips to Donegal to dive marks (fisherman or chart soundings) in an attempt to identify First and Second World War losses. This included diving and marking off the German submarines that had been scuttled by the British in Operation Deadlight after Germany’s surrender in 1945.

Each trip included one or two unknowns (a mark that has not been validated). On the 23rd of October 2005 Norman and another diver were debating whether to dive on an unknown. They believed, from the length and height of the wreck, that it was a Deadlight sub and after some discussion they decided that they would dive it and mark it off as a Deadlight, if that’s what it was.

In Norman’s own words “this was the start of a very interesting dive”.

They found that their “unknown” was 1 2 3 4 5 6

Diver Above D69

indeed a submarine, but having dived several German submarines and being very familiar with their design, Norman knew that this was not a German sub. Using a video camera, Norman recorded the shape of the conning tower, the stern and bow torpedo tubes and the hydro-planes, and from his recording and research Norman identified the submarine as HM Submarine D6.

The wreck is approximately 12 miles off the coast, lying in around 90 metres of water and is relatively intact. The

D6 conning tower draped in fishing nets8

[Beneath The Waves, p. 15 - 19 by A.S.Evans] [British Submarines of World War I, p. 7 - 10 by Innes McCartney] Submarine Database, Royal Navy Submarine Museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover_Patrol) Accessed 15 Dec 2014 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Kennedy_Horton) Accessed 16 Jan 2015 Ian Lawler Collection

conning tower has been pulled over on the wreck due to the snagging of fishing nets and this has opened up the control room allowing divers to see inside. On the starboard side the damage done by the torpedo is quite evident. Other prominent features on the wreck are the hydro-planes, and the torpedo tubes.

1 HMS Holland 1 was the first ever Submarine to be commissioned in the Royal Navy. She can be seen on display at the Royal Submarine Museum in Gosport.

2 Lt Bell was the captain of the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter in 1939 when she was involved in the Battle of the River Plate. It was Exeter’s guns that did much of the damage to the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee.

My thanks to Norman Woods, Barry McGill and Ian Lawler, and to George A. Malcolmson of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, for all their help and assistance. ◼

7 8 9 10

Royal Navy Submarine Museum Archive File A1996/337 Norman Woods Barry McGill (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Navy_Submarine_Service) Accessed 15 Dec 2014 11 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._S._Bell) Accessed 15 Jan 2015

Copyright for underwater photograph referenced as 8 in this article resides with Mr Norman Woods.

Copyright for underwater photograph referenced as 9 in this article resides with Mr Barry McGill.

SubSea Spring 2015 35

Galapagos Diving

By Yvonne Moran Shoal of scalloped hammerheads.

Out of the blue, they gradually appeared.

Two hundred scalloped hammerhead sharks slowly swam past the entranced divers – and then, as mysteriously as they had appeared, they were gone. It was the biggest school of these strange-looking creatures seen thus far on this trip, diving the Galapagos - but it wasn´t the first or last sighting of them.

It became routine to dive to thirty metres in the cold water, holding firmly onto the rocks to avoid being swept away in the very strong currents, and then to wait for the slow-moving shark show to begin. After staying for some time in the same place, the divers were often treated to a repeat performance as the sharks habitually swim in a figure-of-eight.

Wolf and Darwin Islands, in the extreme north of the Galapagos archipelago, are famous for the big schools of fish that frequent their protected waters - and the top predator is the most famous resident.

The hammerhead´s eyes, which are positioned on the sides of its distinctive head, give the shark 360

36 SubSea Spring 2015

degree vision in the vertical plane. This enables them to see above and below at all times. The scalloped hammerhead is one of eleven known species of hammerhead, three of which can be dangerous, but these Ecuadorian islands, located a thousand kilometres off the coast of mainland Ecuador, are one of the few places in the world where divers can observe them without fear of being attacked.

Liveaboards are the only way to get to these tiny island outposts. This diver spent one week on the Humboldt Explorer and a second week on the Aggressor. Wolf is seventeen hours sailing time due north from the archipelago’s main cluster of islands, and twenty-two hours returning south

against the current. Darwin is three hours further north of Wolf and, although hammerheads were sighted in fifteen metres of water during a day dive from Santa Cruz Island, the really big schools are usually only seen around those two volcanic spots.

Observing these magnificent pelagics, listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature´s red list, made these long trips worthwhile. Silky, Galapagos, white and black tipped sharks were also frequently sighted here.

Major warm and cold water currents are responsible for an unusual assembly of around five hundred tropical to cold water fish species in the Galapagos. A super-rich supply of

Galapagos

Whale shark and entourage.

Galรกpagos giant tortoise.

SubSea Spring 2015 37

Galapagos

Galapagos marine iguana.

The Galapagos Agressor III liveaboard.

38 SubSea Spring 2015

plankton, which may result in poor visibility, depending on the season, makes this one of the world´s best dive areas for “the big stuff ”. The Galapagos Marine Reserve, which was established in 1998, protects the waters around the thirteen main islands and some one thousand-plus islets. Forty kilometres to sea from all land points is also protected.

Large shoals of Peruvian grunts, yellowtail tuna and barracuda were frequently seen up close and personal and male bigeye trevally, also known as bigeye jack, which turn black during reproduction periods, closely escorted their silver mates in large romantic schools. A young, three to four metre Tiger Shark made an appearance at Landslide dive site, off Wolf Island, during a particularly brilliant dive from the Aggressor liveaboard. It was just the sixth time in thirteen years that the guides had seen this rare and solitary creature. Up to a hundred bottlenose dolphins were sighted after the same dive and two of the divers also saw a whale shark.

Two gigantic marbled rays, one resting, one gracefully moving up and down the cave walls, greeted night divers at Wolf Island. A curious sea lion then followed the divers from one cave to another, and out into the open water. Unusual sightings included a school of steel pompanos cleaning algae from green sea-turtles’ shells; a sub-endemic Galapagos hornhead, or Galapagos bullhead shark dined on coral, a piece of it sticking out of its mouth; several strange-looking red-lipped batfish were spotted (it´s difficult to see those pouty lips unless up close and very personal). There were also welldisguised Pacific seahorses and some shy, brilliantly multi-hued, tiny harlequins.

A six metre whale shark, ten to fifteen years old, made an appearance at Darwin´s Arch during the week trip on the Aggressor. A massive shoal of bigeye trevallies created beautifully artistic watery circles during another dive and a large shoal of rainbow runners, which usually follow silky sharks, were seen hanging around with Galapagos sharks. They might have been hunting, our guide said.

Again and again, over two dives, thousands of pelican barracuda were spotted at Puerto Coca, off Isabela Island and, watching the strange primate lifeforms below them, gorgeous big-eyed fur seals dexterously turned upside down and then weaved and wended their way down among the delighted divers.

With their incredibly graceful antics the fun-loving fur seals seemed to relish hanging out with a species not normally present in their habitat.

The divers on the Aggressor got a chance to dive and observe marine iguanas feeding underwater off Fernandina Island. This special treat came about through a company request made to the Park Service.

A thirty minute dive was permitted to watch these unique animals as they dived to about ten metres, sideways chomped on rock algae and surfaced. Then

Galapagos they’d either dive again for more or clamber back onto the rocky shore and catch some rays to warm up their cold-blooded systems.

The more usual sightings included yellowtail surgeon fish, king angel fish, Moorish idols and Panama sergeant majors, which turn a beautiful blue when guarding their nests. White spotted and guineafowl puffers - some of this diver´s favourite underwater creatures – also hung around during dives off Isabela Island. The cute, comic-looking largebanded blennies bravely nibbled this writer’s fingers when she got too close to their home turf of barnacles or holes, depending on their size.

The wonderfully unexpected seemed to just keep on occurring during a lucky week of diving.

An orca was spotted just as divers were about to return to the boat after one dive at Punta Vicente Roca. The two dinghies followed the magnificent black and white beauty around the tranquil bay for about forty minutes before it finally disappeared.

However, it’s important to remember that things may not always go according to plan. The cold, choppy, waters and the very strong currents, (sometimes vertical) which can carry divers away from their groups, demand a high level of experience.

It is recommended having a minimum of a hundred dives logged before diving the Galapagos. ◼

Fact Box Getting There KLM flies Dublin – Amsterdam –. www.klm.com AeroGal flies daily to the Galapagos from Quito and Guayaquil cities on mainland Ecuador. www.avianca.com

Hammerhead.

Liveaboards Divers can bring their own equipment or rent from the boat. Renting from a land based dive shop may be less expensive. Galapagos Blue Evolution, on San Cristobal Island, is recommended. www.galapagosblueevolution.com.ec Two land excursions are included in the liveaboards’ weekly itinerary.

The Aggressor in Galapagos is part of the largest fleet of liveaboard dive yachts in the world. www.aggressor.com The Humboldt Explorer is part of Explorer Ventures. www.explorerventures.com On arrival, $100 National Park fee and a $10 visitor’s visa fee must be paid in cash. Ecuador’s currency is the $US. Blue-footed booby.

SubSea Spring 2015 39

Members of Seasearch Ireland were invited to take part in a week long survey of Kenmare Bay in July 2014.

Kenmare River Surveys

by Tony O’Callaghan, Seasearch Ireland Co-ordinator Claire Goodwin gets up close & personal with some seaweeds.

Saturday involved an early start and a long drive to south Kerry, but it was rewarded by a lovely dive in the afternoon, across mixed weeds, some rocky outcrops and eel grass, as Benny Derrane, Claire Goodwin and I started off the week with a 70 minute 10m dive. Lots of life, plenty of time to look at it, good company, operating from a pier beside a pub and B&B and some sunshine - what more could you want? That first dive certainly set the tone for the week!

Sandwiched, as the survey was, between regional dive weekends, there was always going to be a struggle for numbers. However, we did get a good mix of people showing up during the week and at the weekend, so there was a lot of recording and chatting about sea life and marine ID, with Claire Goodwin from the National Museum, Northern Ireland, providing lots of help.

The first three days were spent diving from my inflatable inside Killmackilloge harbour, with us doing sample dives around the bay. On Monday afternoon we were joined by

40 SubSea Spring 2015

Adrian Thomas and Rory McShane from Limerick SAC with their 7.4M rib. Adrian was suffering from a cold and had decided to cox for the week, during which he demonstrated some excellent boat handling skills. Conditions for the week were good, with little

or no rain and moderate winds, at worst. The shape and the direction of Kenmare Bay, with its numerous harbours such as Killmackilogue and Ardgroom, makes for good diving, with good options available in all wind directions.

Handstands from spiny star fish (Marthasterias glacialis).

Kenmare Surveys The week went by in blur of good dives, good company and good discussions, some about certain diver maladies, such as TB, and the various smells that emanate from bees’ fur! (Check with John Breen from UL for more details…)

The weekend saw more folks showing up, with Cork SAC members boosting numbers and enjoying the dives. The wide variety of dive sites makes Kenmare a good dive base, with everything from shallow eel grass and marl beds to rocky pinnacles and, basically, everything in between. Memorable sights included a number of snakelocks anemones (anemonia viridis) munching on compass jellyfish and spiny starfish (marthasterias glacialis) doing handstands on the kelp – and now we know why! (hint: highest point for dispersal). Of particular interest were the marl beds in Ardgroom harbour, the fireworks anemones (pachycerianthus multiplicatus) in Sneem harbour and the northern sea fans in Killmickiloge harbour. There were also some burrows in Sneem harbour which looked a lot like those of red bandfish, but we didn’t get time to investigate them – so it looks like we will have to go back again!

In summary, there were fifteen people involved over the week of the surveys, during which we did seventeen dives with twelve Surveyor forms and fifteen Observer forms completed and returned to Seasearch Ireland.

Finally, my thanks to all the Seasearch folks who came along - I hope you all enjoyed the dives. Very special thanks to Claire Goodwin, who came down from Belfast, to Limerick SAC for providing a boat for the week and to Adrian Thomas for his boat coxing & general assistance. Last, but most certainly not least, thank you to Ken May, who showed up with a compressor from Kilkenny SAC JIT.

Snakelocks Anemones (Anemonia viridis) teaming up for a snack

Fact file

If you want to get involved in Seasearch, see the web site for a list of courses and planned events http://www.seasearch.org.uk/, email SeasearchIreland@gmail.com or Facebook Seasearch Ireland.

Local dive operator Paul Tanner of Kenmare Bay Diving can offer boat charter, fills, tuition and lots of advice on good dive sites http://www.kenmarebaydiving.com/ We stayed at Teddy O’Sullivan’s 00353646683104, Lauragh, Killmakillogue good accommodation and nice food. ◼

Stunning fireworks Anemones (Pachycerianthus multiplicatus)

SubSea Spring 2015 41

County Longford Scuba Divers

Fun Fin Swim,

Clondra, Co Longford August 2014

Snorkel rally in full swing in the Royal Canal.

To celebrate its 25th anniversary County Longford Scuba Divers hosted a snorkel rally with a difference. A first of its kind, the rally took place on Saturday, August 16th last and, as part of the club’s celebrations, the event was free and open to members of the public. This proved to be a great success in showcasing and promoting the sport of snorkelling and lots of people took the opportunity to try it out in a controlled and fun environment.

Snorkellers head for the water.

42 SubSea Spring 2015

Diving clubs from across the region were well represented, with the families and friends of many of the members joining in the fun. “We did this to promote the sport and the safe use of our waterways” explains Rose Kane, Snorkelling Officer with County Longford Scuba Divers, “and we’d like to acknowledge the great help and support we had on the day from the Longford Triathlon Club, the Royal Canal Amenity Group and the Canoe Club.”

The swim started at Burke’s Lock, on the Shannon, and finished at the last lock of the Royal Canal in Richmond Harbour. The total distance was 900 metres, but the pace was leisurely enough to accommodate everyone. “Clondra has three main

Fun Fin Swim

Brendan Kelly with Tony Dooner and Joe Kelly going to send Pat the Pan for a swim. Photo: Michelle Ghee. www.gphotos.ie.

waterways; the Shannon and Camlin rivers, and the Royal Canal” says Rose, “It’s very picturesque, with a lot of history attached and it’s an wonderful amenity to have.” The Royal Canal itself was recently restored and the walkway along the canal has re-opened as a recreational amenity.

To enable the event to take place, Waterways Ireland closed off the route so it was a great opportunity for people to hop in and enjoy this unique event.

This is not the first time that County Longford Scuba Divers have held fundraising swims in the Shannon, but this is the first time that they invited the public to swim with them.

Longford County Council, The Longford Leader, Waterways Ireland and Longford Tourism got behind this unique event to ensure that it went safely and to plan. “We had fantastic support from everyone and the turnout was much bigger than we expected,” Rose continues, “and when the water was tested it came back as excellent bathing quality, so it couldn’t be any better than that.”

“Many people around the region see scuba diving as just a search and rescue operation, but there is a great fun element to it too. It can be

expensive to get fully scuba equipped, but it’s not expensive to start snorkelling and if people want to get further involved they can build up the equipment over the years.”

The day finished up with a great free barbeque for everyone who took part and all agreed that the event was a marked success in promoting not only County Longford Scuba Divers, but all the clubs in the region and the sports of snorkelling and scuba diving.

The minimum age to take part on the day was 12 years and participants’ ages ranged up to 70 plus! National Snorkelling Officer, Martine McCarthy and Regional Snorkelling Officer, Bernard Larkin helped out in promoting the event and both brought along their club members for a great day out!

The 2015 event is already set for 15th of August, so make it a date for your club to come to Longford! ◼

John Grogan and Noel Downes. Photo: Michelle Ghee. www.gphotos.ie.

SubSea Spring 2015 43

Club Spotlight

The GSAC fleet. Picture by Diarmaid Frain.

On Saturday 4th of October 2014, past and present members of the Garda Sub Aqua Club gathered at the MV Cill Airne, floating on Dublin’s North Wall Quay to celebrate fifty years of club diving. Founding members John D Brennan and Frank Tracey were there to share in stories of how it all began back in the sixties, when a group of young Gardaí from the Swimming and Lifesaving Club thought that scuba diving was worth a whirl! Special guests in attendance were Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan, Jim McGowan from Coiste Siamsa, CFT President Mike Orth and National Diving Officer Dermot Moynihan. Capturing the mood, one former member reflected that for those few hours it felt like time had stood still, feeling years younger and reunited with ‘buddies’ from years ago. It was a proud moment to be a member of GSAC and spotlighted the enduring friendships formed through years of diving together. Friendships which had come to define the club.

Today our membership made up of over 40 divers and snorkellers from all different backgrounds, both Garda and civilian. We are always open to new members, and this civilian would like to highlight that no you don’t have to be a Garda! From humble and creative

beginnings of homemade wetsuits, weightbelts and trailers for inflatables, we are now based in Dublin from our Clubhouse in Westmanstown, diving with the aid of 3 RIBs, 1 (long retired but fully functioning) Zodiac, 2 mobile and 1 fixed compressor. We have a

Glencolumbkille 1964.

44 SubSea Spring 2015

boat mooring in Dun Laoghaire for Dublin diving but travel the country over on dive trips every chance we get.

Long standing member Larry Keane best chronicles the early history of the Club alongside founding member and lifelong friend Mick Barrins (CFT No.192). Mick organised and rallied the club from its infancy and no GSAC history could be complete without mention of him.

Sadly he passed away in 2010. It was watching Long standing GSACJacques Cousteau and his adventures into The Silent World that inspired him to venure into diving, he just could not resist the lure of the depths, Mick Barrins, a young Garda, whose family origins were in County Sligo.

The nucleus of the Garda Sub Aqua Club was formed around Neil Bracken, Paddy Morgan, Willie Stratford and Tom Mason. Neil Bracken, who is regarded as the first Garda Diver, had already qualified as a Third Class Diver with the recently formed Irish Sub Aqua Club. Mick

GARDA SUB AQUA CLUB Barrins , together with a number of other young Gardaí, (such as Frank Tracey, Bill Scanlon, Tom Knott and John D Brennan) helped to put a formal club structure on this original group of divers, resulting in the formation of the Garda Sub Aqua Club in 1963. Thus began a life-long association between Mick and the very many of GSAC divers who had the honour and pleasure to share his company. GSAC went on to become one of the four founding members of CFT that same year thereby helping to shape the future of diving in Ireland from the very beginning. Incidentally, Neil Bracken was CFT’s first elected Treasurer.

In the ‘outside world’ in 1963 the following events occurred:• Troops were sent to quell race riots in Alabama.

• President of South Vietnam is ousted by military coup.

• President John F Kennedy is assassinated.

• Bloodless military coup in Greece.

• Kenya gains independence from British rule.

Back at local level, Mick and GSAC members were used by the authorities to carry out searches, and as a result, an official Garda Sub Aqua Unit (now the Garda Water Unit) was formed from the Club members who were seconded from their stations to perform such duties as required. The Unit was housed in an ex stable in Depot H.Q. Police Diver training was provided in Portsmouth and Surrey.

The Unit was active nationally throughout the 1960s conducting many searches and other duties. With the passage of time and because of official administrative difficulties the Unit wound down for a time. Today the Club remains wholly separate from the Water Unit. However, many Unit members first discovered their love of diving with CFT and GSAC, and remain members of the Club.

In 1972, Mick, Tony Breen and Charlie Byrne decide to commence training in the St. John of Gods pool in Islandbridge. They trained many a new diver including myself. Anyway using an old Dunlop compressor and Mark II compact Zodiac inflatable, we made our first away-trip to Inishbofin in 1972. Thus began a decade of superb diving adventure for that group of trainees led by Mick.

In the ‘outside world’ in 1973, the following events occurred:• January ceasefire agreed in Vietnam followed by departure of last US troops.

• IRA bombs Central London.

• World Trade Centre NY is built.

• Sydney Opera House opens.

• Greek army seizes power in Athens (not again!)

Back at Club level, membership hovered at about fifteen members. In 1975 Mick undertook the then Club Instructor course and propagated CFT standards throughout the Club – yes we must wear life-jackets! Two almost-new Mark II Zodiacs together with a new compressor were purchased. Finances were bolstered by member’s boat subscriptions, payment for bottle fills and the making of dive

Michael Barrins boat naming 2010. Picture by Stephen Jordan.

SubSea Spring 2015 45

Club Spotlight • Polish government lifts martial law.

• Grenada invaded by US. • Argentina elections usher in a new era of democracy.

Kilalla 2014.

weights for the dive shops. We supplied dive weights coated in plastic in different colours and weights. All went well until the Revenue came after us for VAT, whereupon production immediately ceased! We leased a property in Dun Laoghaire Port as a club house/equipment store. Due to financial constraints we neglected to pay the rent, tus ceding the lease, this was a huge error on our part!

Unfortunately, like the late 1960s, the club went into major decline towards the end of the 1970’s, this time because of promotions, transfers and other appointments. Once again Mick is left holding the baby!

On this occasion Mick went in to overdrive and brought Colm O’Brien, formerly of the Curragh SAC (CFT No.140) on board. Colm’s arrival ushered in a new era of on-going recruitment and training. The Club went on its first foreign outing to Brittany in 1983.

Under Mick‘s safe stewardship and Colm’s input, the Club entered its most active and productive phase ever.

In the ‘outside world’ in 1983, the following events occurred:• President Reagan announces ‘Star Wars’ initiative.

• Civil War begins in Sri Lanka.

GSAC 50th with Garda Commissioner.

46 SubSea Spring 2015

At Club level, the club participated with increasing success in CFT Galas, hosting the event in 1986. It repeatedly set new record times in the Men’s Aqualung Event. Club finances were stabilised with the introduction of the ‘500 Club’. In 1990 Mick Barrins retired from being an active club committee member, but continued to participate in club activities and to encourage members to participate in and enjoy the sport he loved dearly until the day he passed away.

It was an education to be in Mick’s company. His depth of knowledge on world affairs was astounding. His opinions were dearly valued. One of my greatest treasures is a copy of Mick’s thesis which he submitted for his degree in History in TCD. Yet he was amazing fun, so many of us have great memories of great times and he was responsible for bringing so many people together to share those times. I shared a lot with Mick, I enjoyed all the Club activities, we were contemporaries in the Traffic Department and in retirement we both worked for the same company.

Michael, old friend, I salute your memory.

The 2000s marked a period of major development in the Club with the building our Clubhouse at Westmanstown, overhaul of the fleet and compressor facilities and active participation in charity drives (most notably the Special Olympics Summer Games of 2003) and various fundraising initiatives. Membership rose to over 80 in the boom times before settling back to 50 in more recent years.

Over 400 divers have passed through GSAC since its formation.

Many lifelong friendships, marriages and children have been cultivated during the past fifty years of club diving May there be many more to carry the Garda Sub Aqua Club into the future.

For more information on our Club visit our website gardasac.org or contact us by email gsacsec@gmail.com. ◼

Celtic legend is rich with heroic undersea adventures, reflecting our forefathers’ deep sense of wonder for the magic of the sea!

THE SEA QUEST

By Don Baldwin

SubSea Spring 2015 47

The Sea Quest “We can’t go on looking for this godforsaken place forever” snapped Iucharba, irritably reefing the foresail in the swirling breeze. “We’re not even sure if this ‘Isle of Women’ really exists”. “He’s right Brian”, agreed Iuchar with his twin, trimming Wave Sweeper’s mainsail to soothe the boat’s passage through the skittish sea. “It’s been months now and we have no idea what it is we’re looking for out here”, he lamented, gesturing towards the desolate vista of slate grey sea and leaden sky which surrounded them, devoid of land or life except for three huge gannets which plunged into the sea near their boat.

The tiller gripped with grim determination, Brian tried hard to ignore the grumblings of his younger brothers, as he scanned the horizon for the fabled Isle of Finchory. Chart work for the island had, of course, been just as elusive as the Isle itself, mused Brian wryly, as the chill wind whipped about his cloak. Sailors’ tales about the legendary isle had hovered between the fantastical and the downright lurid. “It rests neither upon the land, nor upon the sea, but exists in the shadowy realm between both” crowed a drunken Bard, whom they had plied with ale in a harbour tavern. “You must go far beyond ‘Erin’s Crown’, concluded the Bard cryptically before promptly passing out. With precious little else to go on, the trio had set out with heavy hearts upon the cheerless Northern Seas in search of the mystical Isle and, more importantly, the magical ‘Cooking Spit’.

Brian, Iuchar and Iucharba, the sons of Tuirenn, had been placed under a heavy ‘blood fine’ by Lugh, King of the Tuatha De Danaan, for the murder of his father Cian. Part of that fine was to be the inexhaustible cooking spit from the Isle of Women, a treasure which the brothers were now honour bound to retrieve, in order to clear their family’s name. “We killed the cat, we could just go back and kill the kitten too”, suggested Iucharba, scrutinizing the blade of his sword.

“Besides, I’ve always found it easier to clean blood off a blade than rust”. “And I say we will finish this cursed quest, no matter how long it takes!” bridled

48 SubSea Spring 2015

Brian. “Simply killing Lugh would not solve our problem, because we have given our oath before the nobles of Tara’s Hall, and it’s that which binds us now, even if Lugh is sly and devious.”

“Those gannets never did resurface” interjected Iuchar, pointing at the strange swirling which had inexplicably gathered where the sea birds had plunged into the ocean. “Is that whirlpool natural?”, wondered Iuchar aloud, as the sluggish vortex gathered in speed, startling a gang of passing herring gulls which wheeled away in a crescendo of raucous shrieks.

“I doubt it”, answered Brian, heaving to, and surveying the malevolent maelstrom as it increased in intensity.

“And I very much doubt that those were normal gannets either”, Brian added, the heavy taint of sorcery bristling the hairs on the back of his neck. “Never thought I’d see the ‘Northern Lights’ down there”, called out Iucharba casually as he hung over the bow, mesmerized by the pulsating yellow-green lights which undulated in the depths below. “They’re not the strange lights that dance in the northern skies, little brother”, smiled Brian, patting Iucharba on the back as he hung over the boat beside him.

“You’ve just found the ‘Isle of Women’”, he beamed, springing to his feet, “and that over there is not simply a whirlpool, it has to be a portal, a gateway to the Otherworld!”

The twins watched Brian in amazement as he stood in Wave Sweeper’s bow, weaving unseen elemental forces with his outstretched arms as a supernatural static charged the air. Quietly Brian chanted in the archaic language of the ancient ones, as luminous veins of light spasmodically arced between his hands. Iuchar and Iuchabara had desperately wanted to join their brother as they had always done, but there was only one magical cloak, and Brian alone had the arcane skills to use it. So the twins would remain aboard to handle the small craft in the tempestuous Northern Seas.

“I am the Wind that torments the Wave”, proclaimed Brian, his voice forceful above the agitated gusts.

“I am the Wind that haunts the High Lonely Hills”.

“I am the Salmon that knows the Secret Paths beneath the Sea”.

“Great Giver of Life, sustain me!” finished Brian solemnly, then he dived over the side and was gone.

Brian surrendered to the irresistible force of the bewitched eddy as it sucked him down, the enchanted cloak and his dark arts allowing him to assimilate to the alien environment as he fell steadily through the cold primordial gloom. A sperm whale paused to observe

the

peculiar anomaly which drifted down through its domain. Brian gazed entranced into the Leviathan’s hypnotic orb, as he sombrely recalled the bloody trail the three brothers had blazed across the Western World in pursuit of Lugh’s list of priceless treasures, which he greatly desired for his impending war with the Formorians.

The Sea Quest At face value the seven items and one undertaking had seemed innocuous enough: three apples, the skin of a pig, a spear, two horses and a chariot, seven pigs, a hound, a cooking spit, and three shouts from a hill. But the real value of each thing had been treacherously concealed by Lugh until the brothers agreed to the ‘blood fine’.

The truth revealed a different tale.

The three apples were from the famed ‘Garden of the East’ and they cured all pain and sickness and continually replenished themselves. The pig skin belonged to the King of Greece, and it too healed all wounds and sickness, while the spear was the deadly ‘Luin’, which was jealously guarded by the King of Persia. The two horses and the chariot were those of the King of Siogair (Sicily) and the sea was as the land to them, while the

seven pigs were the prize possession of Easal, King of the Golden Pillars.

Although the pigs are killed every night, they are found alive again the next day, and no sickness or disease will befall anyone who eats of them. As for the hound, it was the famed beast of the King of Ioruaidh in the Cold Country, and all the wild beasts would tremble at the sight of her. The inexhaustible cooking spit belonged to the Isle of Women, a mystical isle shrouded in the Otherworld, while the three shouts were to be given on the Hill of Miochaoin in the North of Lochlann

(Scandinavia), where Miochaoin and his three sons were under bonds to allow no man to break the silence on that hill. Especially those who had murdered their kinsman, Cian.

Suddenly, Brian crashed through a caul-like membrane and fell heavily onto a sward of bluish-green grass, spluttering and sprawling like a new born calf. The mocking sound of women’s laughter filled the warm air.

“Welcome, the great Brian Tuirenn”, hailed a woman’s voice, with irreverent pomp. Brian’s face flushed with anger as he gathered himself up.

Instinctively, he looked up to see if the ocean would crash down through the hole from which he had fallen, but the nebulous membrane had repaired the portal, around which radiated a mesmeric play of lights which both warmed and illuminated this surreal world.

“What a splendid entrance!” taunted the silver haired female to another chorus of stifled twittering.

“We’ve been expecting you. I am Urd, these are my two sisters” announced the matriarch, draped in a cloak of darkest blue, “and we are the ‘Norns’”.

Brian seethed with indignation as he assessed the three weaving women seated on stools before him, the vague impression of other undetermined shapes lurking attentively in the misty background. The Sirens certainly had an unearthly allure, but it was the cooking spit skewering a joint of meat, suspended above the fire before them, which grabbed Brian’s immediate attention. “Walk wisely, mortal man”, cautioned Urd, easily reading Brian’s bold intentions, “Not even the mighty Sons of Tuirenn could wrest that cooking spit away from the Isle of Women. Still, we have woven your trials with some little interest”, she continued graciously, sliding the cut of meat to the ground then offering Brian the spit, “and we would weave that web just a little while longer. Come now, Brian, do you honestly think that this quest is all about you?” chided Urd, as Brian hesitantly eyed the spit. “We would see the Tuatha De Danann defeat the Formorians” explained Urd simply, “so Lugh must have his treasures and, it seems, his revenge.

But the Sons of Tuirenn will not go

empty handed, for they will have what all warriors truly crave, battle!” reasoned Urd, as Brian cautiously accepted the spit.

“Wyrd bid ful araed” added Urd, enigmatically. For well she knew that the three brothers would complete the quest only at the cost of their lives and, although the magical pigskin could heal the death wounds they would receive on the Hill of Miochaoin, Lugh would harden his heart and refuse Brian and his brothers the use of the skin. “‘Fate is inexorable’” translated Urd. “What is it that you weave here, good women?” enquired Brian, in an attempt to show his gratitude, as a cooling breeze diffused his smouldering anger.

“I am called Verdandi ‘The Spinner’”, said the flaxen haired girl in the saffron coloured dress, who was seated on the left. “And I begin the thread of life”, she explained, as she teased out a thread from the tangled mass at her feet, “separating that life from the chaos of existence”. “And I am Skuld ‘The Decider’”, continued the dark haired woman in the centre, wearing the emerald green gown. “It is I who worries and wears, frays and braids that thread”, she said whimsically, drawing several strands nonchalantly through her fingers.

“While here, it is cut!” finished Urd bluntly, a malevolent curl on her lips as she ran the back of her shears over three chosen threads, snapping closed her empty shears to emphasize her point.

“And what of Glory?” asked Brian earnestly. “Glory!” spat Urd, “Glory is the plaything of gods and fighting men, and go you now to Miochaoin’s Hill and find the answer you would seek of me, Brian Tuirenn”. She dismissed him, concealing a sliver of sadness as he ran to the portal. “For you will be mine” sighed Urd, “soon enough!”

Don Baldwin. Dundalk, SAC. Inspired by the Celtic legend, ‘The Quest of the Sons of Tuirenn’. (The First Sorrow of Irish Story telling). The causal episode of this epic tale, the murder of Cian, Lugh’s (Louth’s) father, took place at Kileen, just north of Dundalk. ◼ SubSea Spring 2015 49

Mart & Exchange Mart & Exchange carries small ads for commercial services at a rate of E50.00 for up to 50 words, cash with order. Ads from diver to diver for non commercial services are free.

Send advertisements by fax, E-mail or post to CFT Head Office for inclusion in the next issue. If gear is stolen please advertise to assist recovery and alert the trade.

North Irish Lodge/North Irish Diver Re-Opens ‘NEW 5* Accommodation’ Islandmagee - Antrim Coast Luxury Dive Package breaks for 4 Divers 4 Dives + 2 Nights 5 * Accommodation from £199 PPS 4 Dives + Hostel Accommodation £175 PPS Tel from: ROI 048 9338 2246 Website www.northirishlodge.com Email caroline.steele@btconnect.com

AQUAHOLICS Club rates from €40 - 2 dives per day AQUAHOLICS DIVE CENTRE www.aquaholics.co.uk

Drysuit Repairs We are in the process of moving to the west coast of Ireland and will be closed till the Spring of next year. Jean and Arthur would like to thank all their customers for their support over this time. We look forward to seeing you all once we have settled into our new premises.

In the meantime if you require a repair to your suit please contact Brian Breathnach at Drysuit Tailors.

Diving Equipment For sale As one lot or individually: • O'Tree RI 2100 Compressed Neoprene Drysuit, excellent condition plus undersuit. (Large size, factory shortened legs and arms) Suit 1.70m height.

• Buddy Pioneer BC with Scubapro Balanced Inflator. ( DIN 0.4 litre mini bottle if required) • Apeks DS4 with TX 50 and 40 second stages, 1 metre hoses with 135 deg elbow. (Allows streamlined underarm routing and low drag on jaw) • Scubapro Mk16 with R380 and R 285 Octo, longer hoses.

• Scubapro MK2 R190 2 no., longer hoses and elbows.

• All above Regs are DIN fitting, some 300 Bar, some 232 Bar. All have been serviced since new. Over 1 year since most recent service.

• Assorted HP gauges, direct feeds, suit and BC, etc.

• Scubapro Twin Jet Fin Black. XL size • 15, 12 x 2, (not a pair), 10, and 3 litre steel tanks, all in test.

• Kowalski 620 Maxum Lithium Torch, Halogen Bulb., spare bulbs. Charger and inverted included.

• Barbolight LED Aluminium Backup lamp.

• Dive Rite Reels x 2 with spare line and drums and fittings.

• Shots lines with lifting bag tie in, reel sliding tie in etc, modular for various depths.

• Lightweight Deco station.

• Other accessories.

If interested please phone Gordon Barrett on 087 919 6893.

I live in Sligo: prices of items and delivery to be agreed.

50 SubSea Spring 2015

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