The Stars of St Abbs
by Kay Rainsley

Think about a heaven crowded with stars: pink stars, blue stars, orange stars, yellow stars, slim black stars with button middles, large sun stars with brilliant jewels shining, waving, just being. Now come down to earth. St. Abbs, voluntary national marine reserve, home to millions of brittle stars, starfish, anemones and urchins. Some of the largest anemones in the British Isles can be seen there, shine your torch and you will be rewarded with a dazzling brilliance of colour in hues of pink, red, purple and orange.

Cathedral Rock certainly lives up to its name with chambers and walls festooned with anemones and dead man's fingers. Tiny squat lobsters peeped out from holes and crevices, swimming crabs, urchins, hermit crabs and star fish vied for space on the crowded rocks bedecked with soft corals and sponges. Every now and again a large wrasse would glide by hoping for a meal of urchin cracked open by a sympathetic diver.

Every ascent was accompanied by a multitude of jellies, comb jellies, common jellies and transparent, luminescent, floating fronds in hues of blue and purple. The water was clear and underwater routes were studded with splashes of colour and life ranging from the tiny butterfish through a range of ‘flatties’, brill, turbot and tiny lemon sole to the curious looking ling which hangs around in an eel-like fashion until it decides to retreat to a hole.

Lobsters and crabs punctuated the endless supply of starfish and sunstars for those who shone their torches into their lairs. Some divers were lucky enough to see sea birds flying past them underwater in their search for fish. We searched in vain for the wolf fish that hangs around in holes and caves in between munching crustaceans. Added to that disappointment Ian Strath was the only one to sight octopus apart from a dead one which Simon found – ah well, at least we know we were in with a chance. However the glorious technicolour underwater tableau that is St. Abbs more than made up for the missing inhabitants.

Picture the scene, a glistening sea, swooping sea birds, underwater caves, the boats, Julie, Tina, Clare, Les, Simon, Andy, Martin, Nigel, Ian and Mike, caravans, sunshine and stars, but I’ve already mentioned the stars, well most of them.

The biggest star of the trip has to be Andy. Much as we tried to persuade him not to ride the fire engine (which after all was for little children) he would insist on getting into the tiny vehicle claiming that he was missing his job. The rest of us had completely forgotten about work but there you go – it takes all sorts.

Leamington & Warwick SAC


UK main page