Ascension Island brought an exceptional and important experience to the Sea Dragon expedition team. The island is an incredibly remote speck of land – separated not just physically, but temporally from the world around it. Far out in the center of the south Atlantic Ocean, it is rare in its separation from human impacts. Underwater, deep clear ocean flows around a relative sanctuary of marine life. These places are important in so many ways. They give us a more valid scientific reference mark for how far our ecosystems have declined. They inspire and motivate us to work harder for a better ocean. And they are just plain fun! You can see a bit of all this in the comments of the Expedition team. This is a good place, and we are lucky to have been there.
Comments of team underwater experiences:
“First time experience: I was kind of nervous…the anchorage, open as it was, was to be treated as open ocean and we should be as careful not to fall in as we were on voyage, that’s what Clive (the skipper) says… I climbed down the steps but every time that I dipped my foot in the water, the Triggerfish, who now that everything entering they want was ham, swarmed around my feet. Eventually I jumped in through and of course the fish were more afraid of me than I was of them. Gigi came in soon after and we spent our time feeding nuts and jam to the even brown fish. I felt so good to be in the water at last and the fish made it even better! Dougal
“My feelings were of calmness as we swam thought the caves and over the rock peaks of this magnificent and unique island in the South Atlantic. I also was exited by the diversity of species I saw down below. I felt in good hands- save as Gigi was my dive partner, and regularly check to make sure that everything was ok. I felt like i was in another world because of the many fish and another aquatic life that I had never seen before. To sun up the whole dive experience at English Bay would be awesome and incredible! I think is one of the best places to dive in the Atlantic. so, go there and see for your self. I highly recommend this dive spot and island experience.” Jordon Orwig.-
“Aujourd hui premiere plongee, j en ai pris plein les yeux, des poissons partout. Tres different des plongees en bretagne!
Une derniere plongee avant de quitter l ile a Comfortless Cove. Mes oreilles ont du mal a passer et la visibilite n est pas terrible. Mais une fois arrive au fond, des dixaines de poissons plus qu a la premiere plongee et des especes differentes. J ai aime les petites crevettes et le tres paisible poisson scorpion avec ses grosses levres.” Emilie Ravaud.-
” Diving with Le et Lala: After the first dive in English Bay with good fish and a lot of surge, we dived at Comfortless Cove. Armed with lights, camera and video we immersed into a murky late afternoon dive. A lot of Triggerfish, the biggest fattest moray that I’ve seen. We saw a great variety of different fish. So little time to explore the depths of the amazing Ascension waters, what a waste! Beautiful fish, beautiful companions, and then it was time to leave…lalalalala”. Dale Selvam.-
“Snorkelling at Comfortless Cove: Jordon and I swam towards the beach, about 100m in the shallows waters, Black Triggerfish seemed to be everywhere! + rocks with spotted tiny looking creatures. On the sandy bottom was also large amounts of metal debris- many old cable and heavy wire. Probably left over from the old days for landing craft as even from … we walked up to notice exploring that Comfortless Bay was a landing point for those suffering from yellow fever, when the early settlers arrived on the island. The storms and swells of the last few days had confused the water, so visibility in deeper water wasn’t so good.” Kevyn Doolan