[Ian B]

Just thought I'd put a plug in for the Seasearch marine life identification course.

I recently did this in Kent. The two day course was organised by the local Seasearch organisers, Bryony Chapman and Jon Bramley, and they had Paul Biggin from the Marine Conservation Society as the guest lecturer.

Day one was classroom based with illustrated guides to the classification of marine plants and animals. A lot was covered and all was made interesting, with good slides, hands on specimens and a fun quiz to reinforce what we'd learned.

Day two was a trip to study shore life at low water, covering different intertidal areas including rock pools. The highlight of this for me was when I found a group of eight immature cuttlefish and watched one change colour over different backgrounds.

The course was about £20 and can count as the BSAC SDC in marine ID if you want to pay for the sticker.

I've only recently got involved with Seasearch, but doing a dive based on recording marine life, especially if the info is collated and put to good use, is a nice alternative to the usual wreck dives.

I think its a case of the more you know where to look the more you see.