A great week away, although once again the weather was less than ideal so we got four days diving rather than six, and were pretty restricted in our choice of sites...
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The top of the first pinnacle we dived - very clear water and kelp down past 20m.
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There was a rolling long-wavelength swell that made macro photography pretty tricky, but Alison had her macro lense on and showed great determination.
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Big visibnility, big swell, and big kelp.
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Alison's improvised camera rig dangles a little on safety stops.
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Huge numbers of pollack.
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Bubbling away.
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A butterfish and a prawn share a crack in the rock.
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A big seven armed starfish.
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A lovely dive over a sandy bottom at 21m - with great vis and lots of light.
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Millions of sand eels - visible against the kelpy patch but invisible over sand.
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Looking up.
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We had a very pleasant dive around these rocks.
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Not many people out on the beach this grey day.
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The kelp is all dying off for the winter.
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This seven armed starfish is not lucky - it seems to have lost two arms recently. Fortunately they are growing back...
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I have no idea what this is - a jelly tube with bits in floating in the water column.
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The concrete block anchor for the North Cardinal Mark at Bodha Ceann an Saile.
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A compass jellyfish.
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A variety of encrusting sponges and algae.
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Dead Mans Finger.
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A very small cod - note the distinctive barbel on its chin.
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High rise living - painted top shells on a kelp stem.
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A little sea scorpion, very well camoflaged.
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The hold-fast for a rather large kelp. It looks like a root, but isn't.
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The dying kelp us home to a lot of sea squirts and other life.
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Taking a stroll on Coigach - some pigs.
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The pigs seem to like Kevin...
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...much to his delight.
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Variable weather...
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Rain shower coming to get us...
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Just got this one snap of the house before the rain came pelting down and forced me to put my camera away.
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Sheltering from the downpour.
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The departing shower causes a very pretty double rainbow.
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Alison and Kev posing nicely.
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It's a bit rough for diving today, but we went out to give the boat a run.
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This is the house we were staying in.
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The beach at Oldshoremore
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The last day of the trip, and conditions are good enough to get in the water again - hence Alison is kitting up to dive with me.
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Another compass jellyfish - I haven't seen them anywhere else.
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A random bit of rock. Sea loch anemones, featherstars, algae - so much life.
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I love leopard spotted gobies, and there's a juvenile cod swimming past too.
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Sea Loch Anemone.
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More sea loch anemones.
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Sea squirts, sea loch anemones, and an urchin.
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More encrusting life.
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Sea Squirt.
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Looking up at a pontoon used by fishermen - the holding boxes dangling beneath it contain live shellfish waiting for market.
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Colonised kelp.
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Featherstars.
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Hundreds of tiny fish in the shallows.
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The boat coming to pick us up.
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Kev and Brian, ready to retrieve divers. We've surfaced in a nice calm corner.
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Edible crabs.
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The anchor chain of the North Cardinal Mark at Bodha Ceann an Saile.
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Prawn.
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Urchin.
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Sunstar.
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Mussels growing on the shallower parts of the anchor chain.
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Alison on her safety stop, with the mussel-encrusted chain.
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Alison taking a picture of the buoy from underneath.
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My picture of the buoy from underneath.
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The buoy from the surface. It was pitching pretty wildly in the gales, but is pretty stable today.
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Driving home, the weather hasn't really improved.
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Sunshine starts to appear through the clouds as I head towards the east coast...
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