Return To Jellyfish Bay

Isles of Scilly 2016 - Part One

 

Arrghhh me hearties! Tis time to slap on the eye-patch and unpack ye snorkel see. Weigh anchor we cry. Brace the mainsail and raise the Jolly Roger. Tis to the Scilly Isles we head in search of fun, frolics and snorkelling plunder.

Okay, enough of the Long John Silver stuff. In September last year, following stories of large numbers of Mauve Stinger jellyfish being reported in the seas around South West Britain, we were drawn to the waters of the Scilly Isles. Undaunted by the fact that, as their name implies, they come equipped with a painful sting we hoped to get up close and personal with these stunning gelatinous critters. And, at Pelistry Bay, on the Island of St Mary's are hopes were more than met. The previous winters unusually strong storms had driven vast clouds of the Mauve Stingers food source towards the Scilly Isles and the Jellyfish had naturally followed. What we found when we arrived was that the waters around this bay of silver white sand virtually pulsed with Mauve Stingers along with dozens of Compass, Crystal and Moon Jellyfish.

Now, with the hope that the waters were a little warmer, we returned to Pelistry Bay to see if any of the Atlantic Ocean invaders remained as well as seeing what other, more native species, might lurk in the forests of kelp.

The Bay can be reached by foot from the capital, Hugh Town, although it will take some time and if you are carrying cameras, wetsuits, masks, snorkels and several flasks of warming tea (the waters can be cold around here) or are not as fit as you think you are then there is nothing easier than making the journey in an electric golf cart. These can be hired on a daily basis from The Scilly Cart Company for around £40. So loading up the bright yellow carts with our equipment, we strapped on our seat belts, slammed the pedal to the metal and hurtled off up the road at the staggering speed of 5 mph. Yep, golf carts are not that fast and you are going to be overtaken by cars, lorries, bikes and the odd elderly jogger. You are not going to look very cool either. It is, after all, a bright yellow golf cart that makes a horrendous beeping noise when reversing and doesn't cope that well with any of the hills on the island but they are still great fun to weave around the country lanes on. Anyway, looking cool isn't everything, just ask anyone who has a PADI badge sewn onto their clothing.

Blue Jellyfish

Finding a spot to park the N.Y.C cab coloured carts, we followed the rocky path down to the Bay. Pelistry is regarded as the best beach on the island so tends to attract the crowd. Although, this is the Isles of Scilly we're are talking about and a crowd down here is anything more than two people so it never gets that busy. When we arrived, there was a man with a dog strolling along the beach and that was it.

A very dull person, who has lots of diving badges, once told us that the temperature of the waters around Britain are always two months behind the air temperature. So if you went for a dip on a warm June day, the sea temperature would be that of a freezing cold morning in April. This is of course turns out to be utter pig swill! Last September the water temperature was akin to walking into a freezer even though, if the theory was right, it should have been like diving into a hot tub, as July 2015 was very warm. This year, a dip into the sea in July should have been the same as walking around on a cold day in May. It wasn't. It was in fact warmer than last year. Of course when we say it was warmer than last year that doesn't mean it was in fact warm. It's simply that last year the water was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. This year the brass monkey would be shivering it's heart out and look decidedly blue, but it's metallic gonads would still be attached – just.

A Wrasse darts through the kelp

So, making a mental note not to pay any attention to dull men in pubs ever again we kitted up and took the plunge. No matter where we have been in the world, there is nothing to compare to the other worldly sensation you get when you snorkel through the kelp and seaweed forests of the Scilly Isles. It really does feel like you are exploring an alien jungle. In places the seaweed completely carpets the ocean bed making it appear that the sea floor is moving back and forth as the fronds are caught in the tidal current. Something that can be a little disorientating if you are prone to the old Mal De Mare. In other parts, the kelps rise up from the ocean floor to form an impenetrable underwater maze that drives the snorkeller one way and then another.

The kelp may have seemed alien but the real aliens we were after were no where to be seen. Our attention wavered somewhat. We loitered a while watching prawns dancing beneath an overhang, we followed various wrasse as they darted in and out of the kelp and then we came across a small blue jellyfish. But that seemed to be that, the shoals of jellyfish we had seen last September had clearly moved on. Just as we were considering calling it a day, a cry went up. Actually it was a more of a loud burble as one of our clan spotted something large and spherical in the murky distance. There, happily drifting through the sunken forest was a huge compass jellyfish, it's tentacles and oral arms trailing a good metre and a half from the bell. Perhaps it had been here for a while, a grown up version of a smaller specimen we had seen last year or perhaps it was a newcomer. Whatever, it put the icing on the cake of our first forage back in the bay. Cameras snapped and film rolled (metaphorically) as we drifted with the gelatinous giant for a while before cold and hunger took hold. 

That Huge Compass Jellyfish

We emerged to find the beach was now full of families sitting on towels, men comparing dogs and a bizarre convoy of jogging pensioners was snaking along the shore. Alright, there was one family and that man with the dog had met a friend but that convoy of pensioners was real - we swear. De-kitted and several mugs of hot tea later it was back to the nippy carts. Time to hit the pub and start talking like a pirate again.

Tis true me hearties! In these far flung parts ye 'ave to speak like old Blackbeard 'imself or the locals won't understand a word ye say. This is Cornwall after all and the language down here is as different to English as Latin is to Swahili. Mines a jar of frothy swill ye scurvy swab and make it quick damn ya eyes....

More pictures and video will be posted on our flickr and youtube pages over the next few weeks so check back again.