Some of you may be familiar with the huge shopping complex at Cheshire Oaks? Some may wish they perhaps were not, as, to say it is a retail outlet is one thing, to say it is expensive….. quite another! Cheshire Oaks does feature a large range of “High End” shops and designer outlets, in a similar way to the American “Malls” & “Premium Outlets” found in Florida……… Some of you may be familiar with Cheshire Oaks for quite a different reason though, co-located, amongst the Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss and Armani retail stores sits Blue Planet Aquarium, a peaceful haven amongst all the consumerism of the 21st Century……..
Blue Planet has heritage, it opened as the UK’s largest Aquarium in 1988, and it has prestige, it was no less than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who opened the wonderful new attraction, in the north West of England, all those 30 years or so ago. The statistics of Blue Planet are impressive, it has 20,000 species on exhibit, in over 100 displays and 14 themes. I have to say, I love well thought out and well displayed Aquariums, even though I am no fan of animals in captivity. That’s a contradiction, and I guess could even be called hypocrisy, however there is a bigger picture at play here, in very human terms, and I believe it is a vital one to the ecology and well-being of the planet itself………. If you cannot get to see exotic species from around our planet, (and many do not have the resource to do so), and you do not get shown the miracles of nature or engage with them, then why would you care for them….or what happened to them? These wonderful, vital creatures, full of elegance, wonder and grace, would simply be abstract….there….. but of no consequence, a picture, a distant memory. If we do not want the denizens of the sea to become distant memories, then Aquariums have an important place to play in the story of humanity and the more immediate and tactile the better…….as far as I am concerned
It was from that point of view that I wanted to get our divers, especially those who might not get to take the exotic holidays necessary to encounter such creatures themselves, into the water with Sharks. I knew of Blue Planet, having taken my own children there to spend a day, their favourite of all experience, other than the huge glass walled shark window, and perhaps the tunnel under the sea, (where non divers can experience “something” of what it might be like to be underwater), was the Ray pool, where Rays of several types get to swim up and, being curious creatures, stick their snouts out of the water, which both (for an instant) terrifies, and then fascinates, both children and adults alike……… I had been in touch with the Blue Planet staff to see if I could bring some of FSAC up to take a dive there, and had duly placed a poster asking for interested parties on the club notice board in Fenton Manor. It did not take long for the numbers to fill, I had spaces for Ten divers and we ended up squeezing that to 12 on the first dive-night
The trip up from Stoke-on-Trent took around an hour, there were a dozen excited divers, and another half dozen family members (almost as excited), as we assembled in the foyer of the Blue Planet facility. It took just 10 minutes or so to be briefed by the staff, and to be split into the groups we would dive in, and those that would enjoy the attraction, empty now of the public, with unlimited access whilst we kitted up for the evenings diving. Those of us diving went to the kit room for briefing, what we would do, how this would progress and what we could expect…..and then the safety side of things, what to do and what not to do, all usual to divers and nothing unexpected, apart from the “don’t raise your hands, or try to touch the Sand Tigers…….it might not end well………“
There is considerably more to see in Blue Planet Aquarium than the “Star” attractions, there are Moray eel, big Rays, shoals of Atlantic fish species of several types, all happy to get up-close and personal with the divers. As the “Coral” in the Aquarium is artificial, divers are not allowed fins, the “dive” is more a walk through, but it is well worth a visit and I highly recommend the experience if you have been considering it!
This is an opportunity to see behind the scenes at a huge underwater attraction, our divers were just as impressed by the plumbing and filter systems, and the technical introductions to the aquarium, as they were with the underwater wildlife. I was lucky to take divers in several times, the prices rose considerably between 1998 and our last dive there, somewhere around 2002. I was disappointed to see what was a 200% increase at the time, nowadays the price is eye-watering by comparison, but it is a unique experience, and still well-worth the effort, the cost, in comparison to the the outlay for a Red Sea dive to see the same creatures, is nothing
There is something special about Sharks, no matter who you ask, Sharks are emotive creatures, loved and hated equally, featuring as demons of the sea in many block-buster movie and, at best, represented as dangerous animals best to avoid everywhere else. I can only say this has never been my experience of these majestic creatures. My very first encounter with Sharks was in Jamaica, off Port Royal (of Pirates of the Caribbean fame) when told, ” Just get in and descend through them, they aren’t interested in humans as food, especially divers…..” by Don Shirley, who later confessed “I put you in first Col, because I knew no-one else would “go for it” in amongst circling Sharks….and I was “pretty sure” you’d be OK!“…..but more of that in another post later……
I knew the Fenton Sub Aqua Club Divers were excited, and I knew they were also nervous, you can always tell when divers are a little edgy, but here in the aquarium, I knew if they did what they were told then they would be alright. I wasn’t disappointed, all our divers behaved perfectly whilst with the Sharks, no waving, no attempts to touch or chase after the graceful denizens of the Blue Planet, and they had some marvelous encounters with magnificent creatures we should all be protecting and concerned about! These creatures are Apex predators, keeping sick and injured marine life and over-population in check, prejudice that eco-balance and everything under it potentially collapses……….
The visits FSAC made to Blue Planet were always popular, and always well-attended, I think we did Three in the Ten years I ran Deep Blue Diving, and I loved each one. I would not get so close to Sand Tiger Sharks again until diving Torpedo Alley in North Carolina in 2017, that, again, is a story for another time. I suppose the commercialisation of the “Shark Diving” at Blue Planet was inevitable, the alignment with the professional association of dive instructors (PADI) has introduced a more “formalised” approach, I’m sure, and of course a little more “pizzaz”. There were no “certificates” on offer when we dived Blue Planet, and there was an age restriction if I recall correctly, 15, I believe…… now, children are encouraged to dive with the sharks there…….I’m not against that, I am just not completely comfortable with the age of those now involved, just me being “old” I expect………..
As I write this, and look back over the photos here, it pains me to miss one of the nicest people I ever met, enjoying something I was privileged to have taught him, (and indeed Two of his daughters too). Mark Hill was a diver, a member of FSAC and a very close friend, I remember him here with love and affection and I miss diving with him immensely. I dived with Mark in Swimming Pools, in Quarries, in Water Cisterns, in the Red Sea….. and in Blue Planet Aquarium over Ten years, indeed I took him on the last dive he would ever take
Mark Hill was one of the nicest people you could ever meet, with a very giving, gentle nature and a quick wit and ready smile. I don’t remember once seeing Mark sullen, even as he was undertaking the fight that would eventually, after almost Four years, take him from us,…….a fight against an enemy very few beat………
