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Detours

Every day Keith Bichan throws the cash equivalent of a top-of-the-range BMW 5-Series off a tour boat in Scotland's Orkney Islands and watches it sink into the depths. But rather than a fancy car, it's a hi-tech submersible camera, known as the Roving Eye, that he's chucking into the North Sea.

Attached to the boat by an umbilical cord, Bichan steers the $512,000 camera through the chilly waters of Scapa Flow - a sheltered lagoon and one-time Royal Navy base - using an onboard controller that looks uncannily like a PlayStation. The Eye whirrs into the gloom, relaying what it sees back to those onboard via a live feed. 'It's normally used in the oil and gas exploration industry to check on pipelines and the like,' says Bichan's wife, Kathy, of the Eye. 'We're the only place in the world where it is used for tourism.' The idea, she says, was sparked by the hunt for the SS Titanic using similar technology.

When the wreck of the SMS Dresden hoves into view, it becomes apparent why tourists will pay to watch a video monitor below deck. Bichan, a local marine expert and historian, guides the Eye along the bows of the first world war German battleship, explaining its past as the camera shows what remains of the light cruiser. Because of its relatively shallow depth, at 16 to 34 metres, the hull is covered with sponges and anemones, yet its superstructures are in good shape.

The Dresden was one of 74 German warships of the High Seas Fleet interned at Scapa Flow after the Armistice in November 1918. The vessels were moored there for months, their skeleton crews bored stiff and often freezing cold. Then on June 21, 1919, most of the British fleet sailed out on exercises and German Rear Admiral von Reuter took the opportunity to order the scuttling of his boats to prevent the Allies from ever using them. Sea cocks were opened, internal doors removed, bulkheads weakened and the boats started to go down in spectacular fashion: bow first, stern first, upside down. All but six were sunk before the British returned and beached the remainder. Most were salvaged during the 1920s and 30s, but eight remain on the seafloor.

They were not the only warships to sink here. Two wrecks - HMS Royal Oak and HMS Hampshire - are designated as war graves and all diving, including the Roving Eye, is prohibited. The Hampshire hit a mine off Birsay in 1916 and went down with 653 hands. The Royal Oak was torpedoed by a German U-47 submarine one month after the beginning of the second world war and sank with the loss of 833 lives.

Each year about 3,000 divers visit the other man-made reefs, which support conger eels, crabs, sea urchins and seals, known locally as selkies. There are 30,000 grey seals and 8,000 common seals in the Orkneys, as well as the occasional pod of predatory killer whales. The Roving Eye tour takes visitors close to the shore where seals loll on the rocks. Sometimes passengers spot the whales, but it's not always a pleasant sight. 'Some Italian fishermen came out a while back,' says Bichan. 'They were physically sick when they saw the whales tossing seals in the air. It's a pretty bloody spectacle.'

For the environmentally conscious, the trip could have an added attraction: it is the only boat tour in Britain recognised by the Green Tourism Business Scheme. The boat uses an efficient engine to reduce pollution and Bichan takes the old oil to a recycling point.

The boat stops at Hoy island and the Scapa Flow visitor centre and museum in Lyness. Outside the museum is an arsenal of rusting guns, torpedoes and depth charges. Inside is a fact-packed exhibition on the former naval base's history. Roving Eye Enterprises, Westrow Lodge, Orphir, Mainland Orkney, tel: 44 (0)1856 811360; www.orknet.co.uk/rov; US$40 a person for a three-hour trip. Flights to Orkney are operated by Loganair and can be booked at www.ba.com or tel: 44 (0) 845 7733377. For accommodation, contact the Orkney Tourist Board: tel: 44 (0)1856 872856; www.visitorkney.com. For more on Scapa Flow, see www.scapaflow.co.uk

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