The Fish Factory
This was the first dive of our holiday. It is an old fishing factory platform that has collapsed into the sea, it resembles an oil rig. With the metal work starting at 15m and extending to 33m it is a dive for all levels in our club. The shallower depths have a variety of fish and anemones with an octopus living in a hole in one of the legs. Further down, as you reach the thermoclyne a school of barracuda can be swum through, they didn’t seem bothered by us as we descended to the bottom.
There are lots of bits of metal lying around on the bottom and stretched between the legs of the structure so one must be careful not to snag on the sharp bits. On the sea bed we saw a large scaled scorpion fish sitting under a large round drum and the inevitable red starfish that seem to be everywhere in Ibiza. I didn’t see as many fish at the bottom as on my way down and back up, the majority being above 20m where the water was a little warmer.
There were lots of blenny, some were very tiny and almost transparent others were easier to spot. A few wrasse of different types and some mauve stinger jellyfish are about all that I can name.
We all managed to dive and return successfully to the RIB ascending the anchor chain which had been attached to the platform.
We then switched our cylinders for a fresh one and prepared for the second dive to the Cueve Cala Llonga, or Cathedral. (JM)
