A Whale of a time!!

Here we go again this diving Bank Holidays is getting to be a habit. Usual faces with one stranger in the camp" Mary" a friend of Trevor's who has decided to risk all to dive with Redditch SAC. Weather forecast not so good this time, start OK but rain wind forecast

Leave QAB not gone more than a mile into Plymouth Sound when we come across a pod of Dolphins this really got the day off to a good start. Unfortunately trying to take pictures on a boat rocking and rolling is not so easy.

We spend about twenty minutes with them before moving off to Rame Head. It has been some time since Mary last had a sea dive so we plan to put a shot in at 15m so she and Trevor can have a more controlled descent and if Mary is not happy she will have a reference point to help.

The first thing we notice at Rame is the number of sail boats about I actually counted 53 visible at one stage? Mr Grubb is running the boat for us again so whilst everyone else is helping Mary and Trevor to kit up I sort the shot out and get it over the side into 15m. I also get the "A" Flag up to give all the sail boats plenty of warning we are diving or about to dive so they give us plenty of room.

Unfortunately there is always one who decides the "A" Flag is not for him and comes charging at us passing about 10m from us, Needless to say I informed him about our flag!!!

Meanwhile the plan for Mary and Trevor was if they were OK they would send up a delayed and have a drift dive. We would recover the shot and follow them. It was during this period I was watching two boats some distance away converging, just as they passed each other I saw something come up out of the water. I shouted to the others and pointed thinking it may be more Dolphins.

After what seemed quite some time I was beginning to think I must have imagined it and so were the others when suddenly a Whale raised right out of the water, turned and dived back down. I just could not believe it I rushed to get my camera and tried to get some pictures. Unfortunately he was gone. We where all so amazed. If their had been a lot less boat traffic we may have risked running the RIB over to were we had seen it John suggested getting the divers up but I thought if we did that and spoilt the dive and then the whale never appeared again it would mean messing them around. The whale did rise up again but was moving further away. The only photo that I got was the huge splash as it hit the water.

So to all my fellow divers on this weekend I have a confession to make. The picture I showed you on the camera of a Whales tail slowly gliding under the water was actually taken in New Zealand and just happened to have been left on the camera. Sorry Trevor and Mary just could not resist it. You were not the only ones!!!!!

Anyway back to the diving the first two divers had found the recent hot weather had brought the Algae out in force and it was like diving in Pea soup. This is usually found down to about 20m when it appears the other problem is it creates is to make for very dark diving even when you are below it.