Sandy bottom

[HughH]

Hi I have already told this story on the other forum, but worth mentioning again for all new to diving. I was just about to land on a nice piece of sandy bottom When Geoff (Atlantic Diver) hauled me back and told me to watch him. He scatched the surface with piece of plastic gear and out came an angel shark almost two metres long. Quite a shock but also a great experience. I asked the others in the group if they had seen it, they hadn't, so I didn't feel such a fool. But I have now purchased goggles with bifocal lens.

[ShinyD]

Bah! You had me worried then about Angel Sharks in the sands at Chesil...until I realised you're a warm water diver

Oh well, you live and learn. Glad to hear you didn't land on top of it though!

[HughH]

Hi ShinyD If I lived near the south coast I would dive there, but its easier for me to get to Tenerife, and be sure to be able to dive every day, so I am geared up for warm water diving. I'm spending 10 weeks in Tenerife this winter increasing to 16 next. Great diving no crowds and clear blue waters most of the time. Didn't know there was a place called sandy bottoms down south. Glad I didn't land on that angel because it had a good set of teeth, and didn't haif bite that piece of plastic, but it was great seeing one at close quarters.

[adam f]

Didn't know there was a place called sandy bottoms down south

There's not, but their is a Sandy Balls!!

Sandy Balls Holiday Centre

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by ShinyD

Bah! You had me worried then about Angel Sharks in the sands at Chesil...until I realised you're a warm water diver

Oh well, you live and learn. Glad to hear you didn't land on top of it though!

Err careful Dave

Close cousin of the Angel Shark and very similar in a lot of ways is the
Thornback Ray.

We came across a 1.5m beastie off the IOW a few weeks back and to put it mildly,
I've seen my fair share of Angels and this was equally as impressive.

Coming to Chesil soon :-)

[Smiling Dragon]

Not a shark but I once nearly touched down on my backside in a field of huge sea-urchins - in a tropical wetsuit. I was doing my (very silly) thing of drifting backwards in the current, watching my buddy and sitting crosslegged holding my fintips, _thinking_ I was slowly descending down the slope and had several m below me to go. Lucky for me, my buddy made some enthusiastic "look behind you" finger points and got the message across before thinks got... ahem.. prickly

[HughH]

Hi S.D. We have our fair share of urchins in Tenerife waters been washed up against them once and they hurt. I came off light compared to my buddy whose hand got much larger. If you had sat on one, you wouldn't be sitting down for a while

Hi Terry how are you? As a matter of interest how do you split your time between UK and Lanzarote? Hugh

[Scubee]

I would be a bit wary of 'scratching the surface with a piece of plastic'. If they are seen hiding in sandy areas, another way of making sure people see it rather than it just swimming off into the distance is to gently waft the sand away in a fanning motion.

[HughH]

Hi Scubee. Now I've seen one I would leave well alone. The piece of plastic was trailed on the end of a piece of line a safe distance away. It taught all the party a lesson, my self I will always avoid touching down unless I really have to.

[HopperNE]

Hi Hugh, Ive dived in Tenerife with Geoff loads of times and have never seen an Angel shark. I'm off over there in 4weeks time wonder if I'm lucky enough to see one this time??

What dive site was it on?? I could ask Geoff to head that way when I'm there.

Not at all jealous, not at all jealous....

well perhaps a bit,


Dave