Beachy Head Wreck

The waters off Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain on the East Sussex coast, contain numerous shipwrecks that have accumulated over centuries because of the strong tidal currents and busy English Channel shipping lanes. Sites in the area include the SS Alaunia 2, SS Oceana and various WWI and WWII steamers and trawlers, generally lying on a chalk and gravel bottom in 22 to 30 metres of water. The wrecks are typically broken but identifiable, with boilers, propeller shafts, anchors and structural plating clearly visible. The hulls are densely encrusted with plumose anemones, dead man's fingers, sponges and hydroids, and the area attracts strong filter-feeder communities because of the powerful tidal currents that channel through the eastern English Channel. Resident species include ballan wrasse, cuckoo wrasse, pollack, bib, conger eels, edible crabs, spider crabs and lobsters. Visibility ranges from 4 to 10 metres and water temperatures vary between 9 and 17 degrees Celsius. Currents are strong and dives are timed around slack water from Eastbourne and Newhaven charter boats.