This Month Underwater - May

This Month Underwater - May

May feels like the real turning point for the season down here in Cornwall. You can see the change happening underwater. We’ve had a long stretch of dry weather, smaller tides and the end of a pretty hefty algae bloom, the result? Some of the clearest conditions I’ve ever seen in the UK. Glassy water, visibility for days. This particular dive was off the coast of Falmouth. The bay’s fairly sheltered, which means huge amounts of Egg Wrack are able to grow here, undisturbed by the rougher seas.

When they’re free from being battered by currents and basically unburdened by gravity, these wracks get massive. I was diving to around 6 metres and some of the strands looked like they were pushing 4 metres themselves — absolute forests down there. At first, I thought the candyfloss-like fuzz growing on them was part of their reproductive process, maybe spores or something. But after digging around (and with help from Cornwall Wildlife Trust), turns out it’s actually a reddish epiphytic algae called Polysiphonia lanosa — basically, a plant that grows on other plants.‍

These wracks and algae create cover for loads of marine life — including this Ballan Wrasse I spotted winding its way through the forest. Further along the dive I came across a Common Dragonet, usually parked up on the sea floor, and massive shoals of sprats darting through the water — millions of them, everywhere you look. See the full video and photos from this dive on my Instagram: