miles) off the coast of North Carolina, it has the northernmost coral reef system in the world. Much of the marine flora and fauna is that found in the Caribbean, including angelfish, butterflyfish, goliath groupers, eagle rays, parrotfish, stony corals and gorgonias, while the Tropical Western Atlantic is being invaded by lionfish from the Indo-Pacific as far north as Carolina. The good visibility in summer, shallow-water reefs and a number of underwater caverns make it a popular destination for scuba divers.
Lying on top of a seamount, Bermuda’s treacherous shallow reefs have over 350 registered wrecks dating back to the 15th century: wooden vessels from early explorers including Spanish treasure galleons; majestic tall ships; iron-hulled freighters; and cruise liners. The list of wrecks include the Constellation, which inspired Peter Benchley’s novel The Deep. Often dubbed the Shipwreck Capital of the Atlantic, treasure hunters have found cargoes that included gold and jewellery and thus the name, Bermuda’s Golden Circle was coined.
8 CRISTÓBAL COLÓN
Taking some of the popular Bermuda wrecks in a clockwise direction around the ring, the largest is the Cristóbal Colón, a 150m (500ft) Spanish luxury steam liner that ran aground 13km (8 miles) north of Bermuda at North Rock on 25 October 1936. She was easily looted and salvaged and during the Second World War, US Navy aircraft pilots used her for target practice, blowing most of her to pieces and finally breaking her back across the reef. The Cristóbal Colón’s wreckage is spread over a large area, ranging in depth from 5m (16ft) at the bow to 25m (80ft) at the semi-intact stern. The marine life includes stony and gorgonian corals, wrasse, snappers, barracuda and schools of chromis. Turtles pass by and large groupers hide in the hull. Propellers, turbines, drive shafts, boilers, evidence of cruise liner luxury and even unexploded artillery shells litter the ocean floor.
9 ARISTO
The Aristo was a 75m (250ft) Norwegian freighter whose captain mistook the Cristóbal Colón for a ship under way, altered course to follow her and ran aground in 1937. She was towed off the reef, but soon sank and now sits bow and stern intact at 15m (50ft). The bow rises to within 5½m (18ft) of the surface.
10 BEAUMARIS CASTLE, 11 AVENGER, 12 COLONEL WILLIAM BALL
These three wrecks all ran into Mill’s Breaker, northeast of St George. The 60m (200ft) iron-hulled English sailing vessel Beaumaris Castle ran aground in April 1873. The most intact of the three, her bow is at 12m (40ft). The Avenger was a wooden brigantine wrecked in February 1894 and the Colonel William Ball was a 40m (130ft) luxury yacht that sank in 1943.
13 POLLOCKSHIELDS
The 99m (323ft) English cargo vessel Pollockshields ran into a storm on 2 September 1915 and struck the reef five days later. She was later blown up and scattered wreckage is found at 5–12m (16–40ft).
14 HERMES
One of the most popular wrecks, the Hermes was a 50m (165ft) American freighter sold to a Philippine company and abandoned in Bermuda. She was eventually seized by the government and sunk by local dive operators as an artificial reef in 1985. She now lies fully intact and penetrable in 25m (80ft) of water with her mast around 9m (30ft).
15 MINNIE BRESLAUER
A 90m (300ft) English steel-hulled freighter on her maiden voyage, the Minnie Breslauer hit the reef on 1 January 1873 and sank during the attempted rescue. Today she lies at 12–20m (40–65ft) deep.
16 MARIE CELESTE
The 69m (225ft) Marie Celeste was a side-wheeled paddle steamer used as a blockade runner during the American Civil War. Cruising at speed under a Bermudan pilot, she hit the reef 0n 26 September 1864. Today her remains lie in 17m (55ft) of water.
17 L’HERMINIE
L’Herminie was a 90m (300ft) French frigate sunk on her way home from Cuba on 3 December 1838. The wreck has mostly rotted away, but 59 cannons are spread over a wide area in 9m (30ft) of water.
18 CONSTELLATION
The 60m (192ft) four-masted wooden schooner Constellation sank on 31 July 1943 after striking either the northwest reef or the wreck of the Montana. Carrying cosmetics, haberdashery, bags of cement, 700 cases of Scotch whisky and drugs, she inspired Peter Benchley’s novel The Deep and the film of the same name. Today she lies broken-up in 9m (30ft) of water with the top of the cement cargo reaching 2½m (8ft) from the surface.
Very little is left of the structure of L’Herminie, but there are 59 cannons strewn over a wide area in 9m (30ft) of water.
The Constellation, which was carrying cement, drugs, cosmetics and haberdashery, inspired Peter Benchley’s novel The Deep.
Europe’s most popular wreck diving destination, Scapa Flow, is a sheltered, open lagoon encircled by the Orkney Islands.
The Churchill Barriers were constructed after the german submarine U-47 sneaked past Scapa Flow’s blockships and sank HMS Royal Oak.
UNITED KINGDOM
Introduction by Jack Jackson
THE UK MAY NOT BE VERY LARGE AND ITS temperate waters are often murky, but it has plenty of interesting dive sites, a large number of shipwrecks and many divers who are keen to dive on them. In places with good conditions for bottom-dwelling organisms, sites are as colourful as their tropical counterparts. Beach dives, rocky gullies full of anemones, sea fans, crustaceans and nudibranchs, natural reefs, shoals of fish, kelp, seals, Fin and Minke Whales, Pilot Whales and other dolphins, various sharks and sea horses are all found in British waters.
To the west the warm Gulf Stream brings some surprising visitors including Ocean Sunfish and Leatherback Turtles. The whole western half of the UK sees basking sharks in spring and summer and sometimes these attract orcas. Ships pumping out ballast taken on in other climates and a slight warming of the waters has also enabled divers to find creatures that were not common here in the recent past.
Deep, cold water coral species are found off northern and western coasts and a reef built up by honeycomb worms has been found at 25m (80ft) off Dorset.
Wrecks are probably the most popular sites for those who dive in UK waters. With its rich maritime history of trade and war, the UK is littered with thousands of wrecks dating from Tudor times through to purposely sunk artificial reefs of the present day. During rough weather there is inland freshwater diving.
