Dive in Llyn Gwynant 24/6/2012

Recent weather prevented a sea dive due to high winds and poor viz of late. A freshwater recce dive was organised at Llyn Gwynant This site was a previously unknown to the Club however we had a successful dive from the little gravel beach by the road. 

6 of us took bearings across the lake in 3 pairs. 1 pair headed across to Elephant Rock and recorded a depth of 12ms. The other 2 pairs remained in the shallower waters which extend quite a long way across from the beach, and contain abundant weed beds. There seems to be a very clear cutoff depth of about 5ms after which there is very little weed.

Visibility was measured using an Opalometer and came in at 10-11 opals out of 12 ( a simple method of ascertaining clarity). If you're interested in making your own water clarity very very low tech device go to http://www.opalexplorenature.org/ (part of Natural History Museum activities)

  

 The rather blurred small fish is likely to be 3 spined stickleback. Probably a female at this time of year; breeding males are spectacular with a bright red breast and azure eye.

Green sacs, unknown -lots of these around weeds

< The green weed on lake bed picture is a nice shot of a stonewort bed, most probably Chara sp. (Nitella is the other common genus but this is
usually a bit more transparent). Chara virgata has been recorded from Llyn Gwynant in 2007 so it could be this one. Looks like quite a healthy bed.

   

A lot of filamentous algae, growing mainly over Isoetes by the look of it.>

 

< Most likely to be a water mite. There are quite a few species of water mite and some of them are bright red. They tend to swim through the water column in a busy manner. Adults are predatory, juveniles parasitise water beetles and bugs.

 Various Sponges were spotted....Spongillida sp - USB microscope 25x mag.

  

 

Various weeds were evident as was a water beetle!!

 

An update on Conwy River and Snowdon Lakes project.....

I know you'all reckon them to be muddy lifeless ponds but not so......the first dive in Beaver pool certainly did it's best to give that impression..... but I remember my first ever dive with Gwynedd Sub-Aqua club. A beautiful sunny day in June and we were skimming the slight swell off north coast of Anglesey on the hunt for a wreck Jeremy swore was located just off Puffin Island. After an hour or so of fruitless searching we decided to shelter in the lee of Puffin Island and watch the seals while we ate our sandwiches. Desperation gaining the upper hand we raced across the bay to Moelfre and last ditch dive on the Royal Charter....my first sea dive since coming back from South Africa, mind! We submerged and I lost sight of everyone including my buddy (Mike) except for his fins, and as I sank I comforted myself with the thought that we'd probably move out of the sediment soon...alas, it took me to bash my nose on the bottom before I realised this was it, in 5m water, and the Royal Charter (at least that's what Mike insisted it was!) was no more than a slight hump in the endless sand and silt....so, the moral in that one, folks, is never, ever give up. There are good times just around the corner as Noel Coward said, or something like that..

The second dive in Beaver Pool, after a good week or so without rain, was a different story....viz wasn't the sparkling 10-15ms one hopes for, but a decent 3-4 metres, and the landscape and life was revealed! Not a lot, but at the end of a cold May not very surprising maybe. The fish were still meant to be wending their way up from the sea, and although there was one brown trout lingering amongst the rocks we didn't see others...probably because we didn't explore the deeper boulders where they tend to hide out, but snorkelled the banks, up and down, both left and right bank, on the search for the bed of freshwater pearl mussels which EAW and CCW said we could go and look at, carefully, but not touch. This is one of the few remaining pearl mussel sites in England and Wales, although no longer viable as it isn't producing any juveniles. Probably due to pollution from farm run off. But we saw 2 large individuals and they can live to 30-40 years, so these were probably venerable elders. Lots of caddis fly larvae masquerading as twigs, leaves, flower buds and gravel, and a host of pretty snails getting up to all sorts of things.....; a hydra - better ask Kathryn about that; some interesting plants and algae. Apparently there are some 70 or so freshwater sponges in UK....if you know what to look for.

We explored the landscape under the bridge and found a narrow chasm, with overhanging rocks and wonderfully sculpted from the current racing down. Not too deep at about 6ms but given the level of the river which we got from the automated level guage down at Cwm Llanerch this wasn't bad. The actual mean level of the pool further in is 9.5ms. This is where the fish hide out, but our main focus this time was to finish mapping the banks and cross section of the pool, so we could write a report that meant something.

We also tried out our new turbidity tool before the dive - very high tech - called an Opalometer and the clarity was, given our previous experience of the site, surprising to say the least. All in all an enjoyable 45minute dive/snorkel. Liz was surface support and splashed about happily in the gravel shallows of the left bank while we sported.

And that's it for this year. A grand total of 2 dives on this site....not a lot to report but perhaps we'll get consent to do a further dive in the summer for comparison purposes....

On to pastures, or muddy holes, new......and we hope to get to dive Llyn Conwy and Llyn Gwynant (which may prove to be a viable club alternative site in future, once we've managed a recce dive to suss it out). There are a series of waterfalls and pools below Llyn Conwy on the Migneint that look interesting - so we'll probably try to get in them before the summer's out. Sole consent now needed is Welsh Water, for Llyn Conwy. 

Last Friday Liz and I donned our wet weather gear and splashed our way round parts of Llyn Cwellyn - a beautiful lake along the Waunfawr to Beddgelert road. We met some lovely farmers and farmers' wives and one rather grumpy person who we don't need to meet again. It's here that Nigel Milner found arctic charr redds (spawning grounds) and we hope to repeat his survey of 1980 (!) and see how they're doing 30 years later. Easy access from various points and 120 feet in depth, with gravel lake bed.

Be there or be square!!

Pembroke 2011

Conwy River Project Update April 2012



Ceirian the Water Nymph



Today saw another practice dive at Cobden’s Pool, Capel Curig, with Liz, Dave (Platt), Kathryn and Helen taking the plunge; and myself and Nigel acting as surface support. Ceirian, Liz’ daughter,  arranged herself gracefully on various rocks, grassy banks and in trees, and did a good imitation of a beautiful water nymph.

After the heavy rain of the past week or so, we were concerned the river would be in spate, but the previous 24hours without rain saw the level falling, so that again, the maximum depth was 3ms in the defile under the bridge. However, the current was 1.5-2knots, and moving deeper than previously, making the swim upstream to the white water fairly strenuous.

This was followed by a drift downstream  to the safety rope across the pool so all could practice grabbing it in the event of a current taking a diver out of control.

Grap rope



A calmer exploration of the pool below yielded some interesting garbage – mostly iron drain pipes - which we salvaged and photographed for the record. This will be added to my scrappy pile to be cashed in one day.

We saw brown trout, minnows, freshwater sponges, mayfly larvae, milfoil, and grasses. As the water warms up and the juvenile fish start to appear, we will see more activity in the rivers, including eels, salmon, sticklebacks, smelt, stone loach, bullheads and various insects/ larvae/animalcules and freshwater flora.

There are otters in the Conwy, pearl mussels, freshwater shrimps, dippers, shrews and voles.



Conwy Falls and Fish Tunnel



We have now explored the upper reaches of the Conwy as far downstream as Beaver Pool, where access allowed. We have met some interesting people and seen some beautiful sites, including the lake, gorges, waterfalls (Conwy Falls is spectacular and worth exploring), Victorian fish ladders, the fish tunnel by the Falls, deep pools and shallow meanders. Everyone has been very encouraging and eager to support the project.  We have permission to dive the Conwy Falls area from the right bank, thanks to Ollie and Rebecca of Conwy Falls Hotel (who have an amazing selection of homemade cakes in their café!), and are waiting on permissions from Dwr Cymru, National Trust and Forestry Commission, as well as other landowners and those with riparian rights. Hopefully, the next dive will be in the Conwy River itself, and, along with the lake, Beaver Pool looks to be a prime introductory site. This pool is just outside Betws, downstream of Fairy Glen and the bridge by the Fairy Glen Hotel on the road to Dolwyddelan. I measured the depth of the water in the pool, and it comes in at a good 8ms. The site measures approx 50ms x 75ms with a variety of habitats.

Meeting at Four Crosses earlier in the week, Nigel Milner, our fisheries guru, gave us some useful tips on methods of surveying the river. As Liz and Kathryn between them have a good amount of experience and knowledge we should be able to provide some interesting material for all those supporting the project, including RSPB, CCW, Clwyd and Conwy Rivers Trust, Conwy Valley Fisheries, Conwy Falls Hotel.

We have a database of 36 potential dive sites along the Conwy. Kathryn has devised a Riversearch Observers record, on which to collect data about the sites, and we are looking at the possibilities of a grant for equipment that would be useful to the project and the club as a whole.

We have also applied for permission to dive various of the lakes in Snowdonia  – the Gwynant, the Dinas, the Idwal, the Cwellyn and the Crafnant. All dives would be to note and photograph the underwater environment and ecology. These sites would be a useful addition to our options in the event of being blown out of the sea.



Otter swimming, courtesy Digital Nature Photography



Please contact Carol, Liz or Kathryn if you're interested in helping with the project

And finally

It's the beans - honest!

WATCH THIS SPACE

Menai Straits March 18th 2012

First sea dive of the season, access under the bridge on Menai Bridge side. Mike McCann was dive manager. Dived at low water slack10 45-1100h approx.
Divers - Mike, Kevin, John, John [Gill], Nia, Gethin, Wojciech, Carol

Mike asked me to post some photos of anemones we found on the reef under the bridge, which I've attempted to name - but as there're so many that look very similar I could be totally wrong!

The 2 above - I think - are varieties of Sagartia elegans (Elegant anemone). They look a bit untidy and have thinner longer tentacles relatively than Dahlia anemone and were on rock, rather than on the gravel bed.

The rest are vary coloured Dahlia anemones as far as I can tell, with some interesting fauna around and near them.  This is a very interesting site and I hope we dive here again - there is so much to see! 

Diving at Cobden's

On Sunday 10th March, a hardy group of us set off to do our recce dive of the Llugwy - by way of training for the River Conwy project - at Cobden's Pool. Permission courtesy of Roland Jones, Prop. Cobden's Hotel. Access was via the little beach just below the carpark. 

Equipment consisted of a variety of ropes that Liz mostly brought, including floaty ones, and a heavy one if needed. Mike brought a milk crate to lower the gear down to the beach, but as this was too small, we used an old rucksack and trussed it all up with carabiners and figure 8s, of which we had a carrier bag full. We had an interesting collection of grapples, if we decided to practice anchoring ourselves to the bottom (which we didn't) - including a short handled garden rake and a 3-tined handplough (! lethal), an ice axe, and various assorted other bent metal implements.

The first thing was to set up some grabropes in case the current was so strong we were swept downstream.  Nigel (my other half) waded across various small tributaries and attached floaty ropes to trees and bushes.

That done, we lowered the gear down the wall  onto the beach, devised the dive plan, and then it was 'Who's going in first?' The current looked pretty vicious - a couple of knots? -  and from the bridge Liz measured the depth with a tagged rope as being 3ms....not exactly the deepest dive in the world, but that wasn't why we were doing it!

Mike and Kathryn took the plunge and as vis was quite good (at least 3ms!) we could see them swim down stream, past the grabrope (huh?!) to the large boulders guarding the ouflow.

"Are they going to get swept away??"  Liz and I waited with baited breath......but as it was only about 1-2ms depth the only (?) hazard was going to be crawling on hands and knees with bums in air. There were some great shots of Mike's fins as he did a handstand.....sort of reminiscent of a whale's tail fin...but out of respect for Mike I have not included one here.....

Turning round, they then ventured into the midflow of the current and, standing on the bridge looking down, we could see them swim upstream, through the defile, under the bridge, right up to the white water rapids!

Then it was Liz and my turn. We didn't bother with the shallow bit, more interested in seeing how to deal with the current. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the current was only fast in the top metre of the water column and we could doddle about without much difficulty below that.

The 'landscape' below was very interesting, mostly blue/grey cobbles, and contorted bedrock covered extensively in places by green and purple algae. We followed channels through the boulders and bedrock, and Kathryn found a small fish under a stone (stone loach/juvenile trout?), Liz and Kathryn saw a juvenile trout hanging about by the beach, and there was a patch or two of white sponge deeper within the rocks, plus some weed and grass type flora.

So not a lot of wildlife, at least, not on a cursory glance. And as our prime objective was to practice skills, we didn't do much hanging around quietly, which will be essential for seeing anything in the wild.

The prime beauty of the site for me was the sculpturing of the rocks by the currents and eddies into holes and chasms, in which interesting and colourful collections of pebbles had gathered.

It was exciting swimming up underneath the rapids and we got some great underwater footage of the white water swirling through and over the boulders. As we felt this would be a great incitement to others to plunge in with us, I have now learnt how to capture a single still frame from a video of rushing water...

The temperature was 8C and half an hour was long enough to stay in the water, so we went to derig the ropes. As the rope across the main tributary needed to be released in water, Liz and I allowed the current to gently float us over to it, but the current as it swept round the corner was very fast and the water was shallow, so it was here that the strength of the river could be keenly felt, necessitating hanging on firmly to tree roots! And the grab rope came in very handy at this point too.

During the dives we picked up litter - which included a bicycle bell, a tin can, a yoghurt top, a solar reflector...and underneath there were various heavy rusty iron artefacts that we couldn't identify.

All in all, over lunch at Cobden's hotel, we felt it was a successful recce, and apart from Nigel getting soaked in his riggers boots (not meant for underwater we decided), we felt heartened that we would be able to move on to the next stage, which is the actual Afon Conwy.

Kathryn is devising a recording form which anyone will be able to fill in after a dive, noting location, type of riverbed, flora and fauna and anything else of note.

The river dive project needs more divers and cameras, and more people willing to mess around on river banks with ropes and help get gear to the sites.  The thought of summer banks, quiet splashing of voles and trout, and picnics, and pubs, springs to mind....as well as traipsing across moors and abseiling down gorges....anyone up for it?

An initial recce of the freshwater diving group (to go with pictures in Carole’s previous post)

Carol couldn't wait for further responses from Martin Doyle of Plas y Brenin and it was a lovely day the other Friday (13th) so I accompanied her to have a recce around the Afon Lligwy at Capel Curig (the potential site of our proposed river diving training)

We were both equipped with a map each - so no worries there!

We started by the Cobden's Hotel car park (all of this assumes permission etc. to clamber across fields, through woods, along footpaths etc.) Here there is very easy access to the water, a rush of water under the footbridge into a large pool, the river then divides around an island or two, to the right the water runs fast over shallow boulders, this might be a good site to see what speed of running water we can cope with as the entry point is out of the current. Also perhaps to creep towards the bottom of a waterfall and see what it's like with a safe get-out plan – (in case it's not nice).

The water was lovely and clear all along.

We played pooh sticks to time the rate of movement of water along approx. 10m, under this footbridge we got 0.7 knots or 0.8 mph - which sounds a lot slower that it looked!!

Further upstream there were more nice pools after lots of waterfalls (short ones) with possible access across fields from the roadside - or along the footpath on the other side which would be a longer walk.

In one of these pools immediately opposite the old garage with red frontage we measured a flow of 0.65 knots or 0.75 mph (figures for these sums gleaned from Wikipedia so they must be accurate - not to mention our guesstimate of what 10 metres looks like!)

Further upstream again, the banks were part of the Forestry Commission - Bryn Engan - including some mountain biking paths through the woods. By Plas Curig (as marked on the map) there was a new FC bridge and here we found a torn dry suit wrist seal lying on the path?????!!

Opposite the Bryn Tyrch there was what we decided was a riffle bit with an area of calmer water which might be deeper.

We also went to Plas Y Brenin and looked at their canoeing pool - which also looked like a good site but might be very shallow.

Hopefully we'll get more info from PyB people about depths of the water here and there, when we do our survey of the Conwy we will include shallow waters where crawling/wading is required.

The main obvious hazards we noted along this stretch were boulders and tree branches in the water

Thoughts about techniques/equipment etc. as we went along were:

For initial recce's of sites we would need a plumb line (marked in depths) to use from bridges etc.
Ropes could be used for a number of purposes:
- a weighted line for an underwater transect (as used in underwater surveys we've done at other places)
- a line across the river on the surface to catch divers swooshing off unexpectedly in the wrong direction
- a line along a piece of bank for a diver to grab and pull along if examining a short section by a bank
Also initial or second visits - just snorkelling may be best to then decide whether SCUBA gear would be appropriate
Wheel barrows and trolleys would be useful for humping gear

If we used some sort of grapple we would need to consider what if any damage this might do to the bottom - an initial snorkel might confirm whether a grapple would be of any use anyway.

It's going to be handy to have lots of shore cover

Errr - that's it

Lig

Source to Sea – an underwater ‘travelogue’ of the River ‘Conwy’ From Llyn Conwy – Merddw confluence – Lledr confluence – Llanrwst - Conwy Estuary

Prompted by a generally expressed interest in extending our club diving possibilities in winter, and even during periods of bad weather at sea in the summer, at our last club committee meeting in November, Tristan Hatton-Ellis, Fresh Water Officer for CCW, spoke with enthusiasm about how we might informally collaborate with CCW regarding producing some interesting and, hopefully, artistic and inspiring photographs of various fresh water sites in Anglesey and Gwynedd. He talked about green fresh water sponges in Llyn Idwal, for instance, and many other unique aspects of our beautiful rivers and lakes, inspiring us with enthusiasm to go forward.

So, a couple of  Sundays ago, a group of us met in the Panton Arms at Pentraeth to chat about the possibilities of fresh water diving. With us was Nigel Milner, Fisheries Scientist, a once-member of the club, and a member of the Conwy and Clwyd Rivers Trust.

Llugwy Widens

To begin with we were considering both lakes and rivers, and Snowdonia National Parks have given us permission in principle to dive Llyn Tegid (Bala).

Across pool below Cobden bridge

However, after last night’s meeting we came away with the beginnings of an exciting project, that to our knowledge has never been done before in the UK (I stand to be corrected here…) – which is to dive the length of the River Conwy, and produce an underwater ‘travelogue’, consisting of written records, slides and videos of the various environments encountered – riffles, pools, gorges, waterfalls, tidal reaches etc., ranging from a couple of meters only to 5-10 meters deep, and the aquatic life, both plant and animal, that we hope flourishes in them. Not dissimilar to Seasearch in that aspect. On the way we’ll be learning about invasive species that are threatening native ones, how not to cross contaminate, and how to dive with and against the flow in fairly fast moving water at times. We will obviously use our well- won judgement from diving in the sea, and keep well clear of those places which look too dangerous.

View of defile under Cobdens bridge

We are now in the throes of researching everything we need to know about river diving and pulling in the experience of BSAC HQ, in the person of Jim Watson, Safety and Development Manager; old and new members of the club; and environmentalists from all corners of the two counties, this to produce an overall plan/presentation, templates for risk assessments, set up a programme of safety and skill training sessions, walk the banks, talk to angling associations and landowners, get permissions to dive, and generally get to know Afon Conwy.

We have walked the banks of Afon Lligwy in the meantime, which looked to be a suitable training site, with a wealth of information we could tap into from Plas y Brenin. Nina is setting up a template for risk assessment, both for general hazards and specific sites; Liz is working on a presentation we can use for other concerned organisations about the club and its history and activities to date, Mike is working on equipment and skills/techniques needed, Kathryn is providing us with information about biodiversity in the rivers and intertidal areas, and Nigel is helping us with general info about the Conwy and its waters, plus permissions and introductions to interested people/organisations.

Rocky section upstream of Cobdens bridge

We will hopefully come away from such a project with a wealth of new skills and experiences, and material which will serve to raise awareness both of ourselves and the general public about the largely unseen life in our rivers, the threats to that life from pollution and hazards from tipping, and how important all water is to life’s continuing existence. 

                    

Please get in touch with one of the following club members (telephone/emails available from list of club members previously updated and distributed by Helen) if you’re interested in taking part in this project, which we hope to get underway by the spring. Besides divers of varying adventurousness, we will need shore - I mean ‘bank’ – support crew, so there’s a role for everyone.

We will be calling another meeting for those of you who are interested in the next couple of weeks, and brief field trips to reconnoitre both the Lligwy and Afon are anticipated, before we take the plunge and start skills training.

Thanks

Liz Healey                       

Kathryn Birch

Mike McCann

Nina Hamilton

Carol Horne