When the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) threatens you with legal action, please consider the following:

The MMO enforces UK and European laws that protect the marine environment etc., etc., etc.

In enforcing some of its bizarre ‘regulations’ the MMO may:

1) Issue a financial administrative penalty (“FAP”) of up to £10,000.

2) Require you to carry out remediation in default of action by the recipient. For example, if you cleared a lifeboat slipway of pebbles without a licence, you would have to put the pebbles back.

3) Institute criminal prosecution proceedings. That is, you could end up in jail. Criminal prosecutions are considered by the MMO to be an important tool in discouraging non-compliance.

100 years ago

The US Navy’s submarine F4 with a crew of 21 men was lost in March 1915 in deep water off Honolulu, Hawaii. Naval divers worked heroicly at world record depths down to 306 feet in helping with the salvage of the submarine. At one stage diver Laughman became entangled at depth and diver Frank Crilley went down to rescue him. They both surfaced safely after a rescue operation lasting four hours.

150 years ago

In 1865 HMS Galatea was towing a section of a paddle steamer called Bulldog back to Port Royal in Jamaica, West Indies. During the night the weather deteriorated, the wreck capsized and its large funnel fell to the seabed. A naval diver went down to recover it but he was attacked by a large shark known locally as ‘Port Royal Tom’. The shark took hold of his boot which fortunately came off his foot. The diver made an emergency ascent by inflating his suit and lived to tell the tale.