The afternoon dive was a second preparatory dive on a wall , covered in life ; the topside scenery was just as stunning . We popped on to an island in the Jura channel post dive for a little explore and leg stretch , the Island only appears to be occupied by some goats , and a lot of diverse plant life .
DAY 2 . We were diving a secret site , with the working name of ‘ Pirate Island ’, where we were hoping a colony of native oysters may be in residence . We were working with Seawilding , an organisation attempting to rewild the native oyster colonies , seagrass beds and other projects that could have huge benefits in the long term , giving us cleaner and healthier seas . Our first project dive was survey work – some teams were doing transects from a datum , others were laying out BRUVs ( Baited Recorded Underwater Video stations ), and one team was mapping the rock face . Our second dive that day would have us swapping around , so we were doing different survey techniques .
Ian and I headed out to do a transect dive from datum point 4 – we headed down the slope to 25 metres at which point we headed back . Ian led the way , videoing the surrounding area while I brought up the rear , reeling in a tape measure as we went and noting any major oyster shell finds in my notebook as we went ( we found two old thin shells ). We then headed out 90 degrees to the right , then left . We had a couple of finds in all three directions , which was a good start – most were at depths between 8-10m . For our second dive we used the same datum point and loaded a BRUV at the base then went off to further explore the 8-10 m window – first to the right and then to the left . On our route to the right , we were really happy to find a pile of old but very thick oyster shells , which we duly filmed and recorded . These are no-take dives , as the oysters like to make their home on old oyster shells or shingle , so removing them from the seabed could have wider implications .
Karen and Pete getting ready for a deployment dive
Andy and Pete loading the bait station
Andy gives a briefing
Oyster samples Tanya Tredwell-Coleman
Karen Brown demonstrating a marker pellet
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