The Enchanted Forest.
A Forest like no-other, were the trees bend down to caress me and animals dance as I go by.
Marine Biosphere, Part 3. The Enchanted Forest.
Since that day of goal setting at Kimmeridge, I Set to work first by taking swimming lessons, but it was difficult as I was very tense and ‘heavy’. The second goal was my education, but I had great difficulty as I was diagnosed as suffering from Alexia. Because of this English and Maths were a great struggle and I gave up in the end and decided instead to study biology, my main interest.
My Goal was to learn to swim and educate myself.
As time went by, I eventually passed my ‘O’ level biology and two years later passed ‘A’ level Zoology and moved on to study with the Open University. I finally learned to swim in a beautiful sandy bay at Kimmeridge. It was with ebbtide and very clear water, armed with my mask and snorkel I was more preoccupied watching a school of grey mullet than being afraid.
My enthusiasm knew no bounds.
So inspired I joined the British Sub-Aqua Club and achieved my 3rd class divers qualifications. Then turned my sights on the seafloor at Kimmeridge Bay. Let me tell you about my dives into the enchanted Forrest.
Two days before this dive, the smog was thick and heavily stained with yellow, and here in the heart of the city of London UK, it is even worse. Plus, it is the height of rush hour. Only the red taillights in front of me could be seen. Driving a double-decker bus in these conditions is a nightmare. Yet not to worry, in two days my present shift will end, and I had four rest days coming. I will be able to get away to an Enchanted Forest for two whole days.
Enter the Enchanted Forest.
On arrival at our base camp on a small farm just outside the village of Kimmeridge Bay Dorset. I busy myself setting up the campsite. Everything is ready for us when I return from my dive. This area is a beautiful seacoast in southern England overlooking the English Channel. The Enchanted Forest is a magical place, where I can get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. For a short time, I can escape from the heartache of a failing marriage, an unfaithful wife and the pain of not knowing what to do. The problem is that I cannot let go of the dream of love, marriage, and children. Worst still, a lot of it is my fault.
It has been a couple of years now that I have been coming here to the Enchanted Forest. It can be a dangerous place to visit, for I need to enter via a secret portal that only I know about. I need to protect myself with outer neoprene skin and carry special equipment along with my trusted knife. My colleagues fear this place, saying it is dark and cold and once entered they will become trapped and fear that they will never return.
Well, as usual, I get Kitted up and wade out into the sea up to my waist before fitting the fins to my feet. The snorkel swims out and takes about ten minutes on the known compass bearing. Then sees the entrance of the portal which appears as a dark hole in the sea’s surface and the water appears to be boiling. The boiling effect is caused by water rushing through a submerged gully then hitting a fallen rock is directed upwards.
Is this The Garden of Eden?
Placing the aqua-lung mouthpiece into my mouth and taking a short breath, I submerge and dive down some 20 feet and enter the gully that opens out into the forest. Oh, what a thrill. On my left is a living wall of rock clothed with many different forms of animals and plants. Then on my right the forest beckons. I usually follow the wall which allows me safe passage through the thick forest for a long way seaward.
I always examine the wall first, in fact, it is part of the Kimmeridge ledges, a hard rock very resistant to the pounding waves. This is a safe place of attachment which is very important to stationary marine plants and animals. At the base of the rocky ledges are some of the most beautiful fan worms. They live in a tall leathery tube, out of which a rosette of brightly colored tentacles sieves the currents for food.
Next were the sea urchins, each in itself excavated cup in the bare rock surface. Being an exposed area encourages the algae to settle out, only to be eaten by the urchin. As I was at eye level with the urchins, I could observe their ‘teeth’ and tube feet in action.
Sheer Magic.
I then turn my attention to the enchanted forest itself. This is a forest where the trees bend down to caress your head and back with their foliage, where animals are unafraid of you and stare at you as you pass by. I usually have about 2-3 feet of headroom as I weave in and out between the ‘trunks’ of the kelp. The whole forest grows on a solid rock pavement which is painted a beautiful pink colour, created by a living coat of coralline algae. Black sea urchins eat the rock and its coating of algae. The older fronds of the kelp are home to beautiful, coloured colonial sea squirts and bryozoans. While many molluscs feed by scraping at the algae coating that clothes everything, be it the rocks or the fronds of the kelp. Brittle stars, each one a different arrangement of colours, litter the forest floor. Is this a glimpse of a type of Garden of Eden
