Dive 1 : 23 January , 2020
The first dive on the Isle of Man ’ s newest wreck took place on 23rd January 2020 , just two months after the sinking . The primary aim was to take video footage of the boat for the insurers , and to help the official report into the circumstances of the sinking , by request .
The divers found an approximate 1m2 hole in the port stern hull . There were planks missing from the port side and splintering damage on the neighbouring planks . As there were none of the missing planks in the vicinity of the hole it was thought that the damage had occurred before the vessel touched the seabed . It was concluded that the damage to the hull had likely been caused by impact from the dredging gear as it was being recovered . The hull failed to sustain the force of the impact , resulting in catastrophic flooding of the underdeck compartments .
As expected after so little time underwater there was very little life apparent on the wreck on this early dive . The nets still contained the catch , which was a sad sight of dead scallops . Barnacles had meanwhile started to settle on the stainless-steel structures of the wreck , and there was a single clump of squid eggs on the wire rigging . A Seasearch form was submitted to reflect this as a baseline for subsequent dives .
Asacidians , sponges and fish among the machinery
The area of damage
PHOTO : JIM SELF
The dive team on board Endeavour
Dive 2 : 8 August , 2020
After several months of lockdown and restrictions in the first half of 2020 , a return to Polaris and the changes that would be seen was eagerly anticipated by the dive team . Dropping down the shot line , the increase in life on the wreck was immediately evident .
The wheelhouse had by now detached and was sitting on the seabed to the side of the main wreck . The nets were full of shells , the remaining evidence of the catch that had gone down with the boat . Small colonies of dead men ’ s fingers coral ( Alcyonium digitatum ) had started to form on the nets themselves , between patches
Starfish on the hull
PHOTO : JIM SELF
UKDIVING
of dense hydroid and the occasional peacock worm ( Sabella pavonina ).
There was a distinct line between a barren section that had been painted with antifoul , and the remainder of the hull , which was largely covered in fluted sea squirts ( Ascidiella aspersa ) and hydroids . Between the squirts , there was a variety of small anemones , soft corals and bryozoans . Prawns ( Palaemon sp .), common starfish ( Asterias rubens ) and a tompot blenny ( Parablennius gattorugine ) were just some the mobile life observed among this landscape . The irony that the hull of a former scallop dredger had become a nursery for juvenile scallops provided us with some
PHOTO : JIM SELF PHOTO : LEIGH MORRIS PHOTO : ETHAN COWLEY
Inside the cabin 41