Diving continues despite the weather—we have already had our first sea dives of the year and the joys of Dosthill were explored by those intrepid (or mad) enough to go out in freezing temperatures. The sun was out, the water temperature was a balmy 6 degrees, and the ice cream headaches only lasted for a few seconds. Visibility was about 10 metres and it was absolutely teeming with fish. Cold weather diving does have its advantages, as long as you are sensible, so put an extra pair of socks on, or use the thermals and of course remember that with extra layers, you will need extra weight. Be aware of cold creeping in— once it has a grip everything becomes much more difficult and reaction times slow, so have a fun dive then get out once you start to feel that nip in the extremities. Make sure you have plenty of layers to put on afterwards, including silly hat and gloves that look suspiciously like sheep, and hand-warmers are the best invention ever. Then it’s off to the welcoming warmth of the pub. What more could you want on a Sunday?

Talking of Dosthill, we hope that you all have your Dozzi Diver cards, as the prices have gone up substantially for non-members, and whilst membership was free last year, new applicants will have to pay ten pounds. These are the rates:
Before 5pm, Casual divers £12, members £9
After 5pm, Casual divers £8, members £6

For comparison, these are the rates for other dive sites we use regularly:
Stoney Cove :
£15 a session for non members, £10 for diverlog registered members (it costs £25 to register for 2 years)
Chepstow :
£15 for non-members, £10 for members (membership for a year is £30, with renewal at £25)
Capernwray :
£12 a day, once you have initially paid a one off registration fee of £15.

KNOWN HAUNTS Rock crevices, boulder holes, mixed sea beds.

BEST PLACE TO SEE Northern and eastern coasts, especially around St Abbs.

LIKELY TO APPEAR Present all year round, but prefers colder water so perhaps more likely to be seen by divers in winter.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES Big teeth! Unmistakeable large head with big eyes on top, big lips, projecting fangs, and wrinkled, leathery skin. The tapering body has darker vertical bands on a grey or brownish background.

SIZE Up to 150cm long, and 20kg in weight.

Wolf-fish are coldwater fish, preferring temperatures of between -1 and 13ºC. Their main range is across the North Atlantic into the Arctic (where there are two other species of wolf-fish, the even bigger spotted catfish, and the jelly cat). In the Arctic the water is cold enough for wolf-fish to live inshore in relatively shallow water, but further south they live deeper, below the relatively warm surface layers. This explains why most diver-sightings of wolf-fish around Britain are in the cooler northeast. Wolf-fish can also be seen in some Scottish west coast sea lochs, where they can retreat to deep water nearby if it becomes too warm in the shallows. In the south and west of Britain wolf-fish stay in continental shelf waters at 60-300m.

Wolf-fish move inshore to mate and spawn in autumn and winter, but the timing varies greatly over their range. The male fish guards his mate's clump of many thousands of relatively large eggs (up to 6mm in length) for around two months until they hatch. During this time the diligent father rarely feeds. The larvae hatch with a relatively big yolk sac still attached, and remain on the sea bed until this is used up. They then spend a short time in the plankton before settling on the sea bed again.
Young wolf-fish are rarely seen inshore, spending most of their time in deeper water. A local fisherman once brought me a baby wolf-fish, about 30cm long, which he had caught in a creel in a nearby loch at about 80m. It looked very like a large blenny, emphasizing their close relationship to this fish group. I hope this indicates that our local population of wolf-fish breeds successfully. They certainly seem to eat well - a good indication of a wolf-fish lair in Loch Carron is the tell-tale sign of crushed queenie shells!

Wolf-fish are good to eat, and are occasionally sold in fishmongers (as 'catfish', with scary head removed!). But because they mature late, at 8-10 years old (50-60cm long), they are vulnerable to overfishing. On the Canadian side of the Atlantic, wolf-fish numbers declined by an estimated 87 per cent between the late 1970s and mid-1990s, and the species is now protected in Canadian waters. There is no longer a targeted fishery for wolf-fish, but they are still caught as by-catch while trawling for other species. Even this can have a negative impact on their numbers, while bottom-trawling damages their spawning and feeding grounds.

However, wolf-fish are still thought to be widespread and around in relatively large numbers, which is good news for divers, because they are a great attraction. At St Abbs in Berwickshire, certain wolf-fish have been fed by hand for many years (they can live to more than 20 years old). The challenge of avoiding those fangs adds a certain adrenalin boost to the dive! However, although wolf-fish look pretty daunting, they are not aggressive towards divers unless provoked.