The Gallery section of our website will focus on our collection of visual media providing the opportunity to scroll through photographs and videos of the ships, the shipwrecks at the time of their loss, underwater views of the wrecks on the seabed and the sealife that inhabits them. Finally we have included some videos of dives on a number of them. Our intention, over time, is to encourage other diver photographers and filmakers to contribute their own photographs and videos to provide as comprehensive a visual record of the wreck’s histories, how they appear on the seabed today and in the future as they are gradually eroded by the effects of weather and their salty water surroundings. Initally, in addition to many underwater photographs taken by Peter Moir during our own dives, we would like to acknowledge the early contributions of Naomi Watson, Paul Webster and the team at Hellsmouth Diving. The gallery contains the following sections:
VINTAGE VIEWS
This section contains photographs of the wrecked vessels around the Scottish coast. The photographs, mainly in black and white and taken at the time of the vessel‘s loss, have been gathered through forty years of research and are mainly therefore out of copyright. If we have reproduced a copyrighted photograph in error without the necessary permissions we apologise and will immediately remove any that might infringe any current copyright restrictions. While the photographs record the vessel’s plight at the time of their loss and, as such, are a valuable historical record the decisions made about their possible recovery or scrapping on site were made by the salvage experts of the time and always were dependent on the prevailing weather conditions after the wrecking. In many cases the details of the wreck and it’s salvage, or not if that was the case, will be described in the detailed narrative section of the website and can be followed up there by searching for the vessel name in the search box at the top of our home page. VINTAGE VIEWS.
WRECKSHOTS
This section contain photographs of the wrecks as they lie on the seabed. Many of these photographs have been taken many years ago and will therefore not necessarily provide a view of the wreck as it exists today. However, the deterioration of the wrecks through time provides the viewer with an interesting insight into how a metal or wooden vessel will deteriorate over the years due to the action of the salt water, marine animals and the Scottish weather. Underwater photography in Scottish waters is often a difficult exercise making the clarity of photographs taken extremely variable. The effects of rain water run off, plankton blooms, darkness and sometimes pollution provide visibility that can be 30 metres plus on offshore wrecks to as little as one metre in some cases in the Firth of Clyde or Firth of Forth. The skill of the photographer and the use of sophisticated photographic equipment and lighting combine to produce the best possible views of the wreckage but often pure luck contributes the best possible shots. The final colourful complication comes from the often beautiful colourful sealife that often encrusts the man made reefs that the wrecks have become. The next section gives the viewer an idea of the typical types of sealife encountered on the wrecks. WRECKSHOTS.
WRECKLIFE
This section focussed on the varied colourful sealife that encrusts or swims around the wrecks. Wrecks and wreckage, particularly in strong tidal areas, attract a wide variety of invertebrate and fish life (and even the odd sea mammal such as a seal or a dolphin) that often cover 100% of the wreckage making even larger wreck features almost indistinguishable underneath. WRECKLIFE.
WRECKCLIPS
Initially the videos included in this section were shot by Peter Moir in the period 1995 – 2015 and are hosted on U-Tube with links form this site. Over time it is hoped we can encourage other contributors to provide more content for this interesting section. The videos can be accessed by clicking on the links on the WRECKCLIPS main page, e.g. not the images below.
