Through the green tinged Pacific water I can see the Saskatchewan's forward gun turret pointing towards me from a good 15 metres away. On the intervening bow deck grow a scattering of feather stars and plumose anemones.Through the green tinged Pacific water I can see the Saskatchewan's forward gun turret pointing towards me from a good 15 metres away. On the intervening bow deck grow a scattering of feather stars and plumose anemones.
Not a solid carpet of anemones, but impressive nonetheless for their size. Some are wellie boot sized, and this is just 4 years after this 2,380-ton ex Royal Canadian Navy destroyer was sunk as an artificial reef. If an anemone can grow this big in 4 years, just how big can they get?
The Saskatchewan isn't British Columbia's only artificial reef. The artificial reef society has also sunk 3 similar destroyers and a small freighter, and the main reason I am on this last minute trip to Nanaimo is to see the sixth and biggest artificial reef go down, the 11,270 ton fleet support ship Cape Breton.
Back on the Saskatchewan, the original fittings of the turret were a pair of 3 inch rapid firing guns. The Canadian Navy couldn't bear to be parted with these, so rather than leave gaps the artificial reef society has replaced them with steel pipe.
It all looks very realistic and gives a much better impression than a pair of holes in the turret would have done. I suspect many divers who hadn't been told would not even notice. The only visible sign is thinner than usual walls when looking down the end of the gun barrels.
The wheelhouse and superstructure rise high above the main deck. I cut through a few holes, but stay mainly outside to see the radar masts, boat davits and funnel. All intact and home to more big feather stars and wellie boot anemones.
On the deck rest a few large lingcod, a large solidly built fish with a descriptive name, it looks something in-between a ling and a cod. Hovering above and darting aside at the last second of my approach are rock fish, a fish I had last seen in the giant kelp forests of California.
For my second dive on the Saskatchewan I explore a few more holes. There are basically two approaches to making an artificial reef safe for divers. Either seal off all the holes so no one can get inside and hurt themselves, or open it up and make extra holes, on the grounds that divers will get inside eventually and at least this way they should be able to find their way out again.
Members of the British Columbia artificial reef society are the world experts in the second of these techniques and I love them all for it. On the Saskatchewan they have got it just about right. Every room inside the wreck is accessible, from the officer's mess to the engine room. You can swim from one end to the other inside the wreck, yet you are never more than two doors or specially cut holes away from the outside.