Rewilding the Sea - Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea, and Human Life - page 229

into a long shallow crescent. In the north the dim hulks of Pen Lleyn
and Ynys Enlli hunched above the horizon; in the south Pencaer -
Strumble Head - sat like a low cloud on the water. The sea gleamed
rhenium, embossed with dark bands as the waves rolled in.
I pulled on my winter wetsuit and a hood, and clambered over the
rocks on the edge of the beach, slithering on wrack and gutweed. On
the far side of the reef I met a man I knew, up to his waist in a rock-
pool, netting prawns for bait. Yes, he said, they were here. I clamped
my mask and snorkel to my face and slipped into the sea. The water's
cold fingers crawled under my suit and down my back.
Where the waves had churned up the mud beside the rocks, the sea
was opaque, so I struck out into the clearer water beyond. I could
hear my breathing resound in my head, loud and hollow. I could just
see the bottom and the dim pale flecks of shells on the mud. I pushed
out further, enjoying the power that comes from swimming with your
head down: it felt as if my arms had grown. When I raised my face, I
found that I had started swimming back towards the rocks.
I set off again, put my head down and saw something that looked
like the kind of exotic weapon that might be discovered during a raid
on the home of a martial arts fanatic. The water was too cloudy to tell
how deep it lay or how large it was. In the olive gloom it could have
been a mile down, a benthic monster prowling the fringes of the contin-
ental shelf. It was bunched up as if ready to spring, a snarl of spikes and
legs and latent power. I was not wholly sure that I wanted to meet it.
I filled my chest with air and duck-dived to the bottom. I had no
flippers, and the seabed, perhaps two and a half fathoms down, was
at the limit of my dive. I touched the beast. It raised its long pincers
over its back. I ran out of air and corked to the surface. I tried again,
too quickly, knowing that I could lose the mark in the soupy water.
This time I managed to get one hand beneath it. But its feet were
planted in the seafloor and I had to surface before I could lever it up.
Over-eager, forgetting myself, I took another great lungful and
plunged back down. I grabbed it with both hands then kicked up,
using my buoyancy to lift the creature. I was astonished by its weight.
I reached the surface and drew a breath so sharp that it pulled down
the stop valve. I tried again with the same result, and nearly asphixi-
ated. I spat out the snorkel and took in a mouthful of water. Almost