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AndyW Member  Walk Of Shame Award 2003 & 2004  Member#: 168 Location: Registered: 10-03-2003 Diary Entries: 191 |
30th April 2003 Scuba Diving: Blue Planet Aquarium, Ellesmere Port Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: 20 Weather: Max Speed: Distance Covered: Well this was one for the diary even though not my regular sport, scuba diving in the aquarium at Blue Planet Ellesmere Port in the company of Sand Tiger Sharks amoungst other things. This was a charity even on behalf of the Anthony Nolan Trust in aid of maintaining the bone marrow donor register and Leukaemia research. Not the usual scuba experience for this country, in doors with a warm 20 degrees water temperature and excellent visibility, superb! Anyway, some of the group had never dived so there was about an hour or so going over the basics, watching the PADI video and completing several liability disclaimer forms! Then it was into the training pool for a few dive exercises, a quick recap for me. Our instructor was Gordon McCullock, an entertaining guy originally from California who had stories of many years working his way around the Carribean including working and windsurfing off the British Virgin Islands (oh I wish!). Support diver was Rachel, and rescue diver was Paul. There job was to get between the guests and the sharks if things turned nasty (just how do they put that in the job description!). Anyway, I used the centres equiptment with the exception of my own mask, as I knew that fit well. Equiptment: Wet suit (no need for a dry suit in there), boots, BCD, one tank, mask, weight belt with 30lbs (more than usual but they wanted us to be on the bottom, below the sharks), no fins either as they didn't want us kicking the exhibits, and no snorkel as no surface swimming envolved or allowed (unless you wanted your leg bitten off). Dive time 30 minutes. Depth 4-6metres. pressure Group D. Air in 200. Air out 140 approx. Sightings: Sand Tiger Sharks (largest 9ft 350lbs), Nurse Sharks, Lemon sharks, Rays (huge), Moray eel, barracuda, Porker fish, Hog fish, Puffer fish, Jacks, and many more! This was a totally awesome experience with these creatures swimming all around and right over my head. Also being on the inside whilst spectators were the other side of the glass was an interesting experience too. I had a great dive with Jules, we found some shark tooths in the sand/gravel. The remaining members of the group had decent dives too although two ladies were a bit uncertain. One only lasted a few minutes before panic set in and she decided to hold her breathe and stopped breathing through the regulator. Paul the resue diver swoopped in and hit the weight belt release for a quick emergency assent! Fun to watch! So all in all a totally five star life time experience. If only I could get to windsurf with Dolphins next. Maybe I need a trip to Marazion I think? |
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