News
Tyneside scoop coveted BSAC Wreck Award 2015
The 2015 BSAC Wreck Award winners have just been announced – with Tyneside Branch 114 and their impressive report on the Gun Rocks project scooping first place.
The BSAC Wreck Award was launched in 2014 and aims to celebrate Britain’s underwater heritage by using BSAC members and clubs’ first-hand experiences to bring their favourite wreck sites to life.
Tied for second place in the 2015 Award are Southsea Branch – Mulberry 70 and Pilgrims SAC – A7 Survey project.
Also receiving a special commendation are iDive (Ipswich SAC) – the Live Bait Squadron; Ilfracombe and North Devon branch – the South Australia and Trafford SAC – Scapa Flow.
Wreck Award adjudicator and BSAC Underwater Heritage Advisor Jane Maddocks said that while the standard of entries for the 2015 award was extremely high, the Tyneside entry stood out.
Tyneside have spent decades researching an area known as the Gun Rocks Cannon Site close to the Farne Islands. Led by Diving Officer Nic Faulkes (pictured with other club members), the club’s comprehensive Wreck Award 2015 entry outlined the work members have put into researching the cannons that lay on the bed of the North Sea.
Jane said: “I would like to thank all the BSAC clubs who submitted an entry for the 2015 Award, it was a pleasure to read all of them and I found the whole initiative really inspiring.
“It was a very close run thing as some other entries were also excellent. But Tyneside’s was just special and showed how they had worked with experts and got the whole club involved over many years. The report that was produced was remarkable and it shows what can happen when a BSAC club invests a great deal of time and effort into a project.”
Tyneside Branch 114 will be presented with their Wreck Award 2015 trophy by Jane Maddocks in the near future.
But in the meantime, you can read Tyneside Branch 114’s winning entry, the Gun Rocks project – along with the other 2015 entries – here.
Wreck Award 2016 – could your club be BSAC’s next winner?
BSAC’s Wreck Award will shortly be returning for 2016 and full details on the initiative and how your club can enter will be released soon.
But in the meantime, if you think you or your club could compile an engaging, inspiring and innovative report on your favourite wreck site, then you can start preparing now. You can use the coming dive season to take photos and video of your chosen site or start researching its history.
Ahead of the 2016 Wreck Award Launch, Jane Maddocks has also revealed a few creative report tips.
“While some previous entries have had an academic feel about them they don’t have to be academic. The Mulberry 70 project, as well as the South Australia entry, show how different ways of telling us about the project are lively and good to read and the 2014 winner added seafood recipes and even sea shanties to their entry!”
News
Dive Worldwide Announces Bite-Back as its Charity of the Year
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
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