UKDIVING
Female shore crab moulting under the protection of an attentive male
Without giving too much away , can you talk us through a few highlights of the latest edition ? Photographs portraying behaviour like blenny soap operas , cuttlefish signalling , co-operative feeding among wrasse , quarrelling limpets , and decorating crabs are my highlights . Other favourites are sequences that show crabs moulting their armour . It ’ s an amazing process that every crustacean goes through numerous times , but how often do we see it ?
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Have you made any observations that are otherwise unrecorded in science ? Yes , there are definitely some in this new edition . For example , it wasn ’ t previously established how long tompot blennies could maintain territories , or that there were ‘ sneaker ’ males . There are also tentative suggestions , such as that hermit crabs use whelks for transport to their next meal , and I would love them to prompt observations from other divers .
I was amused by this small hermit crab that seemed to be considering a much lighter home , albeit one without protective sponge
Where do you do most of your diving ? The majority of my dives are close to home in Devon and Cornwall , or on hugely enjoyable trips to the west of Scotland . Others are dotted around places such as south Wales , Norfolk and Brighton . Apart from on family holidays in Croatia and Brittany , I haven ’ t dived abroad for well over 20 years . UK diving has me totally hooked .
What ’ s it like diving with you ? Slow , and I think it could be described as a ‘ Marmite ’ experience ! Some new buddies love it and say they ’ ve never seen so much marine life , while others say they ’ ve never been so cold ! Fortunately , the former outweigh the latter because people know what to expect and avoid buddying with me if they want to keep moving and cover lots of ground .
Where would you like to dive that you have not yet visited ? I ’ d like to explore the areas of the UK that I don ’ t know so well , such as the south east of England , the Yorkshire coast and the far north of Scotland . I also plan to return to places like north Wales that I remember fondly but haven ’ t visited for many years .