Welcome
I write this at the close of an unseasonably grim April , a cruel month that promises renewal but all too often delivers a final wintery blast . All the same , people have been diving , and doing so in the style BSAC members make their own . With the best months of 2024 ahead of us , there is still cause for optimism !
I ’ m aware we haven ’ t run as a many features on diving around Wales as we perhaps should , so for this issue I asked cameraman and conservationist Jake Davies to give us a sense of his favoured spots around North Wales . Jake ’ s one of those people who started diving at a young age , having discovered Llŷn Sub-Aqua Club .
A prolific explorer of his local shallow seas , Jake achieved nationwide recognition in 2021 when he filmed an angel shark in his home waters , a species long considered extinct in British seas . The discovery sparked widespread interest and a complete re-evaluation of the need to protect the species and its likely birthing ground . You can read Jake ’ s perspectives on North Wales on page 36 .
While we ’ re on the subject of Welsh matters , Dai Atkins is stepping down from the post of National Diving Officer after a two-term stint . I just wanted to take this opportunity to personally thank Dai for the time and effort he devoted to the role , and for sharing news from the Diver Training Programme with his Dive with Dai ( plus friends ) column over the years .
That column is currently on hiatus pending the election of a new National Diving Officer , who should be announced in the July issue of SCUBA . That being said , we are always keen to look at the lives of our volunteers , so this month we introduce a new two-page section , Volunteer Life , celebrating some of the figures on BSAC ’ s instructional scene . It kicks off with a profile of Paul Crinnion , the new North East Regional Coach , on page 46 .
Elsewhere in this issue we have Paul Naylor on the mini monsters of the sea lochs ; dive kit decisions for those entering their second year of membership ; Paul Cox looking at ‘ virgin births ’ in the shark world ; a new player in undersuit tech in Test Centre and a shipwreck book by erstwhile columnist Dr Michelle Haywood .
Safe diving and see you next month !
Simon Rogerson – Editor simon @ scubamagazine . co . uk
Cover photo : Diver Paul Doyle investigates a surge gulley at Kinlochbervie , by Cathy Hollingdale
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