PHOTO : ALISON MAYOR
Small cuttlefish
Undulate Ray
Tompot blenny
PHOTO : MARTIN DAVIES
PHOTO : ALISON MAYOR enough to spot a baby eel , several rays and cuttlefish , and it was wonderful to see how the behaviour of these animals changed by night . Crabs were found in a tight embrace with the thong weed , hugging it – frozen in position about three metres off the ground . They were often lined up in a row , one under another , attached to the weed . Who knew crabs climbed thong weed ?
In August , the site was thick with thong weed , which could be somewhat of a nuisance on a dive ; you often find yourselves disorientated and trailing a heap of it around with you , snagged onto your BCD . At least the crabs could have enjoyed the ride !
The future
Writing this now , I honestly cannot begin to understand why I had never ventured to local shore diving sites before . I regularly dive off hard boats , the club RIB and at quarries , but the club , and its members preferences tended towards boat diving .
Well , in 2020 that changed , and now a year on , we have local dive projects organised around shore diving , as well as a club outreach programme . We aim to explore further , and we have rediscovered the amazing diversity of life on our shallow shores . �
Selsey Essentials
Parking is available roadside in front of the Lifeboat House , onsite toilets adjacent to the Lifeboat House , open 7am to 6pm . The walk to the water is short : follow the path to the left of the lifeboat station , out over a pebble beach , with a small undulating bank . Care should be taken not to lose your footing . Diving should be carried out with a Surface Marker Buoy so that any small fishing boats will know your position ... or for that matter the Lifeboat itself , should it need to launch in an emergency . Never dive directly in front of the lifeaboat station .
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