Collecting discarded rubbish and old fishing gear has taken on new dimension for a group of local divers.
The Scarborough Sub Aqua Club 83, which was founded over 60 years ago, has many Bridlington members amongst their number and regularly go out on location in the sea along the East Coast.
Recently the club took up a unique and unusual task by swimming and diving around Flamborough Head and the surrounding caves in search of rubbish and lost fishing gear.
Spokesman and Bridlington resident Danny Myers said: “We are a friendly and diverse club that has members with a wealth of diving experience and knowledge to help you start or progress your diving journey with our qualified instructors.”
The project, named SEA (Snorkel Environmental Adventures), saw members of the group swimming and diving in and around the caves and inlets of the Flamborough Headland in search of rubbish and fishing debris that pollutes the coastline and causes problems for the indigenous sealife and wildlife.
“We all met up at the Flamborough Lighthouse car park and got kitted up in our wetsuits and snorkelling gear. Our event organiser, and Training Officer Edmond Ulliott, held a safety briefing with us all and explained the plan of what was happening. We all walked down to the ‘Drinking Dinosaur’ rock formation and as this beach is difficult to get to, we litter picked it before making our way into the water – which was pretty clear with about 3-5m of visibility.” explained Danny.
“As we made our way round the headland, we saw lots of sea life – both in the water and above. We adventured into the caves in search of washed up litter and debris which was great fun. As we were snorkelling we saw over 50 seals basking in the sun on the rocks near Selwick’s Bay – one curious little seal pup even swam up to the snorkelers.”A large amount of fishing gear, which included ropes, buoys and damaged crab/lobster pots was found in one of the caves that couldn’t be accessed without swimming around the headland.
“We used the buoys and bottles as floatation devices to help carry the crab pots through the water. We landed them at Selwick’s Bay (below the Lighthouse) and carried them up to the car park for the council to dispose of correctly. There is still plenty more fishing gear and rubbish that is yet to be recovered from one of the caves and we are planning on recovering this in the near future. We do have a very unique coastline that is rich in sea life and many volunteer organisations do their part in helping to keep it clean.” added Danny.
The club has a hard boat in Scarborough Harbour and a rigid Inflatable boat (RIB) in based in Bridlington. During the season the group regularly dive off the local coast as well planning dive trips around the UK and abroad.
Any prospective members who are interested can find out more information via the club’s Facebook page: Scarborough Sun Aqua Club 83. Website: www.ssacdiver.co.uk. Email: Scarborough.diver@gmail.com. The club meets every Wednesday either at their Scarborough HQ (25 St Mary’s Street, Scarborough, YO11 1QW) or on location.
