Kirsty Andrews’ crawfish preconceptions have undergone a paradigm shift, thanks to a revealing dive in the Mull of Kintyre
KIRSTYANDREWS
Shifting baselines
Kirsty Andrews’ crawfish preconceptions have undergone a paradigm shift, thanks to a revealing dive in the Mull of Kintyre
Earlier this year I gave a talk to Totnes BSAC, who wanted some pretty tales and pictures of South Coast offshore reefs to inspire their burgeoning Dive Leader cohort. I’ d shown a few pictures of the crawfish that are increasingly present in numbers on South Coast reefs( a recurring theme in recent columns), and commented that in one particular crack on Mewstone Ledges, I’ d counted 16 individuals, of varying sizes, with adults at the front and smaller crawfish hiding at the back. Quite the cute family picture.
One of the‘ old timers’ at the back( if I may respectfully call them that, a comment on their years of diving experience rather than advanced age, although those two may have some correlation) spoke to me afterwards, much to my delight. The general theme of our conversation was“ you call that an adult crawfish, that’ s nothing, back in my day their carapaces were the size of my thigh...” I do love these conversations and often enviously wish I had been diving years before I started, hearing these tales of plenty. Sadly, although I did believe it, there was no evidence to show me that night – there wasn’ t a GoPro to be had so many decades ago and underwater cameras were far rarer.
I’ ve reflected before and since on the phenomenon of‘ shifting baselines’. I may look at the population of a species and think, wow, I’ ve never seen so many, but that’ s just based on my own experience and it may be unreflective of trends over the years. What feels like plenty could be barren in comparison with the richness of the past( or vice versa of course). It’ s not just applicable to a single species; the same could be observed of a wreck where every winter storm takes its toll and changes the remaining structure; or entire habitats may be fundamentally changed, perhaps by a new nearby fish farm or some other major development. To be more specific, the concept of shifting baselines means the gradual change in the accepted norm for something over time, often due to a lack of awareness or memory of what it was like in the past. We privileged few can document the world underwater, and recording and sharing information, in whatever format we can, feels meaningful and worthwhile.
Please humour me while I now regale you with a recent trip to the Mull of Kintyre. And no, before you ask, not the far-morefamiliar-to-divers Sound of Mull, but that
“ You call that an adult crawfish, that’ s nothing”
finger of land that sticks out South-West of Glasgow and points directly at Northern Ireland. When visiting a lesser-dived area, the sites aren’ t necessarily set in stone, but we might take a punt somewhere, based on charts and local knowledge.
In this case, my favourite dive was‘ Smithson’ s wall’, a top tip from experienced local diver Terry, whose caravans we were conveniently staying in. Terry said Smithsons was dramatic, a vertical wall from the shallows to 35m( sounds appealing), with crawfish on it( less exciting as, well, I’ ve got those aplenty closer to home). Still, we tried it, and were very glad we did – there they were, the bruisers, the mammoth crawfish, kings of the reef, surveying their landscape, carapaces the width of my thigh. These were proper crawfish: it was like finding that woolly mammoths still existed. Except more crustacean-y.
Where am I going with this? Dive the Mull of Kintyre! Or, some lesser dived hidden gem where there be dragons, or might be big things anyway. And don’ t forget to share and record what you see so those discoveries aren’ t just the stuff of legend. �
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