YO-HANCHA
Streaks of grey
Yo-Han Cha ushers in the New Year with a column on his greatest love in UK diving – the grey seals of the Farne Islands
I LOVE SEALS . THEY WERE WHAT GOT me hooked into UK diving . One of my biggest fears of 2020 was that I wouldn ’ t be able to go to the Farnes . I appreciate this sounds horrendously selfish when you look at the big picture , but in my little self-involved world , that was the Big Fear .
I ’ ve been to the Farnes every year since 2009 and when Covid-19 cancelled both of my Farnes trips , the Big Fear looked as if it would come true . But then one of my old dive clubs in Manchester mentioned that someone had dropped out of their Farnes trip . Yes , yes please ! Thank you Sean for dropping out !
If your diving experience is of clear , blue water in the warm tropics , you might be wondering why I so desperately want to return to the Farnes , even after 10 consecutive years of diving these islands . However first we must consider the case against diving the Farnes :
• It ’ s not always sunny ( it can occasionally rain in Northumbria ).
• If you ’ re diving from a RIB , your toilet facilities are a bucket or over the side .
• There are no locals working for tips willing to carry your heavy dive gear .
• It ’ s colder , both in the water and in the boat .
• You normally have to get up much too early for any normal B & B to serve you breakfast before ropes-off ( any B & Bs willing to accommodate breakfast for divers are automatically 5 Star in my book ).
But there are seals . And who doesn ’ t love seals ? They ’ re cute , can be very playful and in the Farnes , you have the best chance of having amazing interactions with them . You can have interactions with them elsewhere around the UK , but I ’ ve found that there ’ s usually one dive in the Farnes over a weekend where you ’ ll get some memorable interactions with them . I can ’ t say ‘ guarantee ’, as they ’ re wild animals and they come and go as they please , which is why I find it amazing when they freely choose to hang out with me . They normally play with my fins , but I ’ ve had them nibble on my gloves and my hood . The only occasion where I felt uncomfortable was when one kept nibbling at my drysuit leg and I didn ’ t fancy having to deal with a punctured drysuit .
My favourite ever seal dive ? There was one occasion when a particular seal had been playing with us for pretty much a straight hour , at which point I had to surface due to my inconvenient lack of gills . After inflating my BCD at the surface , I lay on my back and started finning to the nearby RIB . The seal jumped out of the water and sat on my stomach as if to ask me why I wasn ’ t still playing .
It would have been a great opportunity for a photo , but I was too overcome by the situation to do anything . What do you do when a wild animal acts like a domestic dog ? I didn ’ t know what to do , so I just lay back , stopped finning and all I could think was : “ WHAT ?!”. My mind just couldn ’ t process the image of a seal sitting on my stomach ! The only reason anyone believed this was when my buddy Caroline vouched for me .
Two photographers and neither of us got a picture ! But I ’ ll never need a picture to remember such an experience . �
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