Fireman goes underwater to capture a new world (From Western Telegraph)

Fireman goes underwater to capture a new world

THE coastal waters off Pembrokeshire provide some of the best diving locations in the British Isles.

And what attracts many of the thousands of divers to the county are the spectacular flora and fauna.

These have now been brought to life in a new book by fireman Steve Myatt. He took up diving in 1988 and it became an obsession. Although he had no marine biology qualifications, he was captivated by the variety, colour and vitality of underwater life and began taking photographs. The stunning results can be seen in his book Underwater Pembrokeshire. It will interest divers and non-divers alike.

Steve, who has been a full-time fireman in Haverfordwest for 23 years, is a member of the Fishguard Sub Aqua Club and belongs to the Mid and West Wales Fire Services marine rescue unit. He is a volunteer diver with the Skomer Island Marine Nature Reserve and is taking a part-time coastal zone management course at Pembrokeshire College.

As soon as I began diving in 1988 I realised that it was for me, as most divers around here do, said Steve. But it is the flora and fauna which interests me rather than the wrecks. Steve and his wife, Cath, who live at Holbrook Close, Broad Haven, have dived in other popular dive locations around the world, such as the Maldives, the Red Sea and Belize. But Pembrokeshire compares very well with these, he said.

The book is the result of 12 years of research of dive sites and photography. The pictures include Pembrokeshire anemones, corals, jellies, stars, molluscs, sponges, squirts, crustaceans, fish and seals. But no pictures will ever do a minuscule of justice to the real underwater Pembrokeshire, admits Steve.

The book - which is available from local bookshops, dive shops and gift shops - is priced at £9.99.