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2004
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Members of Fishguard BSAC discover possible Napoleonic shipwreck from 1797 invasion attempt off Strumble Head

  

( Fishguard is the site of the last invasion of the British Isles 1797, for more information on our fascinating history please check this link; French Invasion )

The divers recovered artefacts from a wreck site they had discovered in 30m off Strumble head. This find has been reported to the Receiver of Wrecks and Fishguard Subaqua Club are now the licensed custodians of the site.

Copper drift pins, large pieces of iron, a swivel gun and three cannons that possibly date back to the Napoleonic era have so far been found.

Four ships were involved in the invasion; two frigates, Vengeance and Resistance, each with 40 guns, the corvette Constance and the lugger Vautour; there were however no ships reported sunk.

While the the events of the invasion are local common knowledge, not much is known about what happened to the vessels after the French surrender.

Richard and Rebecca Hughes first found the wreckage towards the end of a drift dive. Richard spotted large piles of ballast stones, shapes and debris which suggested the remains of a shipwreck. In the short dive time remaining, they recovered some 17 1/2 inch-long keel pins attached to oak timber and this was enough evidence to persuade the club to investigate further.

The dive site is exposed to strong tides, two divergent currents meet and visibility is not good making diving quite difficult. The club have continued to meticulously examine the site over the past year, conditions permitting.

Their hard work has now paid off as the likely historical value of the site has generated great interest, with Cadw, the Welsh historic monuments agency and the Nautical Archaeological Society, both of whom are now involved.

The site is to be surveyed in detail and three cannon will be raised to help identify the wreck.
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November - Our new RHIB "Janhazel" is officially launched. She is a Humber Ocean Pro 6.3 with a 150hp Yamaha V6 and licensed for 10 persons.
 

  

Autumn Sea Trust newsletter - Click here ______________________________________________________________________________
 

October - Mark completed his IDC Staff Instructor training; he will now be able to help train PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors.

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September - We sadly had to sell our old trusty RHIB "Ivy May".

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August - We completed the work for the Countryside Council for Wales Intertidal Survey in Pembrokeshire.

The Pembrokeshire survey has had to be spread over a number of years as the bird-breeding season at the beginning of the summer and the seal-breeding season at the end of the summer limit the survey to the middle months.

A couple of marine biologists	Archidoris pseudoargus Sea lemon?? Sea slug

The intertidal team has experience of many different habitats in Pembrokeshire as it is one of the most varied areas in Wales. There are steep rugged cliffs of North Pembs, off-shore islands of Ramsay and Skomer, long sandy beaches such as Newgale and Whitesands, the deep muddy inlet of the Milford Haven and the Limestone cliffs of South Pembs, all of which support rich unique communities of life. 

Hymeniacidon perleve with Palmaria palmata Dulse on jetty piling	Ciona intestinalis Sea squirt

North Pembrokeshire is dominated by steep cliffs, exposed rock on headlands and cliffs are often populated by wide bands of yellow lichens and black lichens, which often get mistaken for oil. Barnacle and small mussels cover much of the rock with kelps such as dabberlocks on the lower shore. In more sheltered rocky bays there is a wider variety of red algae including dulse (which is edible), fucoids and kelps, including thongweed which can occur as small buttons on the rock which later grow into long strands of seaweed. Also serrated wrack and the kelp Oarweed can be found. Rockpools and boulders within the bays increase the biodiversity of the areas with numerous crabs, anenomies and fish.

Halichondria panicea breadcrumb sponge	Botryllus schlosseri Star ascidian on Fucus serratus frond

Off shore islands, both large and small, stacks, arches and other interesting geological features can be seen around the coast of Pembrokeshire. These are a haven for seabirds but also provide an unspoilt habitat for other sea creatures. There are numerous caves around the cliffs and islands of Pembrokeshire which not only provide excellent shelter for seals but also the surge within the caves encourage many different sponges, sea squirts and encrusting coralline algae.  Areas of strong currents cause tidal rapids, which create a unique habitat in Wales. Here the fronds of fucoids and kelps are encrusted in colonial ascidians and bryozoans.

Sea sponge, not sure which ???	Hymeniacidon perleve again

The survey has been an extremely interesting and educational experience for all of us, special thanks to Natasha, Monica, Gabrielle and Paul for making this such an enjoyable project.

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July - Celtic Diving provided safety/press boat cover and is also the official photographer for the Atlantic Challenge. This is the first time the international event has been held in the UK.

After the storms that threatened the whole event, the weather improved and we saw some very exciting competitions.

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June - The Discus Project; a Duke of Edinburgh outdoor activities group brought 2 teams to us for learning about scuba diving and local conservation.

Celtic Diving ran the scuba sessions and Cliff Benson from Sea Trust did the talks about conservation and the wild life in Pembrokeshire.

  

Congratulations to; Richard, Mark, Junior, Jamie, Antony, Lee, Warren and Declan for taking part..

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May - We started work for the Pembrokeshire part of the Countryside Council for Wales Intertidal Survey.

  

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April - Harry starts to teach his mother to swim.

April Sea Trust newsletter - Click here _____________________________________________________________________________

March - We secured a tender with the Countryside Council for Wales with the Phase 1 Intertidal Survey in Pembrokeshire.

 

Intertidal Habitat Survey
Description	Set up in 1996 this project aims, for the first time, to map the intertidal communities of the whole Welsh coastline by 2005.
	A line where the land meets the sea skirts Wales' 1,000 miles of coast. The intertidal is that part of the shore which lies between the high and low tides, from the lichens at the top of the shore, through to the kelps at the bottom of the shore. It is home to a huge variety of seaweeds, starfish, shellfish, crabs, sponges, sea slugs and anemones. Each plant and creature lives in its specific habitat on the shore, whether a rockpool rich in seaweeds, boulders with many crabs, sponges and sea squirts, mud and sand flats with myriads of worms and shells or open rocky coasts with barnacles and mussels. Each community is different, revealing subtle differences in the environmental conditions which give rise to it. But how do you make sense of the variety, and find out where the rarest sponges or the most sensitive communities occur? The answer for CCW is the current ambitious project to survey and map the shores of Wales. The survey aims to map the marine communities that are found around the coast of Wales between the high and low water marks: known as the Phase I survey. Maps made from this survey are useful in helping us to conserve the rich variety of marine life around our shores.

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February - John Liddiard's article about diving in Pembrokeshire is published in Diver magazine - here are is a nice shot of an octopus he took whilst diving with us.

To read John's Feature please click here.
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January - Underwater filming for Videotel at the Fleetwood Offshore Training Centre.

We took the underwater shots for a FRB (fast rescue boat) training video. The facility at Fleetwood is great, they have wave machines, rain, smoke etc.

  

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Tel :  01348 871938
Mob: 07816 640684

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