Dogfish Reef

After a relaxing evening yesterday it was an early start. We met at a cafe on the West Coast to get everyone together and decide on what site we were going to do. The scenery on the way over to Loch Fyne was spectacular, with snow-capped mountains in bright sunshine. but one way or another it was a day of delays (some particularly unwelcome), but once we got in the water my mind was freed immediately. I am so often taken by a sense of wonder when diving, that's what I love about it.

Visibility was pretty good for Scotland (5-10m) and there was plenty of light even at 28m. Dogfish Reef is a steep slope down to 50m or more, composed of dumped waste from the quarry. This means the rocks are unusually angular as they haven't been weathered for more than a few years. It provides plenty of hidey-holes for life, and Dogfish seem to particularly like it at this time of year (mating season) for all its places to hide.

From never having seen a dogfish when diving, I saw maybe 50 on this dive! Some in holes (sometimes with 2 or 3 piled on top of each other), some swam up when disturbed and mistook us for a safe place to shelter - they got pretty up close and personal!

The dogfish were the highlight of the dive for me (like the scorpionfish the other week) but the sea loch anemones and delicately coloured sea squirts are gorgeous, I can't resist... ...blip!

Of to the cinema (same one as Joe) with my wife now - what a great weekend!