UKDIVING
A conger eel in colourful surrounds
to be a feature have similarly disappeared, and in the last few years the donkey boiler behind the main boilers has collapsed and the prominent engine is disintegrating.
Life finds a way
On a sand and gravel bed the Baygitano acts as an artificial reef, a haven for any creature requiring shelter or a point of attachment. It’ s notable for the number of conger eels lurking under the plates or peering out of the old mast- some nearing three metres in length. The size of the lobsters under the plates is legendary. Sea fans have colonised the plates, giving a sense of how fast they grow. Sadly, the largest has been damaged by the collapse of the plate to which it was attached. There are far more on the wreck however than there used to be, as is the case throughout Lyme Bay since bottom trawling was banned.
The most intriguing and obvious change has been colonisation by jewel anemones in a variety of vibrant colours. I cannot remember seeing any 50 years ago, but now they cover the superstructure along the wreck, particularly the boilers and engine. Photographs taken in the 1980s show the wreck covered by a snowstorm of delicate white Actinothoe anemones – all gone now.
One of the most striking features of the wreck are the fish, with huge shoals of large bib lazily hanging around the boilers often obscuring any view of the wreck itself. I have over the years seen bib, bass, conger of course, large pollock, tompot blennies, leopard gobies, angler fish and the odd John Dory, plus four species of wrasse.
My daughters, Sally and Philippa, are third generation divers from my family, and Sally features in some of my photographs. I have been excited in the last few years to regularly see crawfish of a variety of sizes, the only location in Lyme Bay that I have ever seen them. I dived the wreck not so long ago and although it is collapsing, it remains an excellent dive. For me, it will always be memorable for the spectacle of hundreds of fish often obscuring the engine – the one feature that excites anybody new to the Baygitano. �
Life on the wreck from 2024
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Bib are common on the Baygitano these days