Speery Island Pinnacles

Speery Island and its surrounding chain of submerged volcanic pinnacles off Saint Helena's northeast coast create a dramatic current-swept environment where the deep South Atlantic collides with the island's shallow platform, concentrating nutrients and attracting large pelagics in exceptional numbers. The pinnacles rise from a 40-metre sand plain to within 6 metres of the surface, their sides encrusted in multicoloured encrusting corals and sea fans while Napoleon wrasse, large grouper, and hunting trevally patrol the gaps. During the austral summer months, manta rays and hammerhead sharks appear on the deeper pinnacle edges, drawn by the same current-driven productivity that makes this one of the South Atlantic's most biologically rich shallow dive sites.