Sinyavino Lake & Yantarny · Russia · Artificial reef · Freshwater
Excavator Bucket
A giant excavator bucket from the amber quarry on the lake floor
The bucket of a walking excavator from the Yantarny amber works sits on the bed of Sinyavino Lake, the flooded amber quarry, as the centrepiece of the Yantarny underwater park. It is the deepest of the park's six industrial exhibits, and divers come to see giant quarry machinery resting on the floor of the pit where amber was once mined.
Also known as Walking Excavator Bucket, Kovsh Ekskavatora.
Where it is and how deep
54.8867° N, 19.9495° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The giant bucket lies at 21 m, the greatest depth of any exhibit, below a thermocline that sets in from about 8 m. It comes from an ESh-10/70 walking dragline of the kind that once worked the Yantarny quarry; the bucket holds 10 cubic metres and weighs about 10 tonnes.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Sinyavino Lake & Yantarny: May to September is the busy season; the bases stay open all year, with a dry suit needed in the cold months.
Know before you go
- A thermocline from about 8 m lies well above the bucket.
Sources
- По янтарному следу: подводный парк «Янтарный» — Русское географическое общество
- Демерсус — дайв-центр в Янтарном — Demersus
- Diving in Russia - Amber Lake — Divers24
More dive sites in Sinyavino Lake & Yantarny
Artificial reef
The pump that washed amber from the quarry ground, now on the lake bed
Artificial reef
An amber-quarry bulldozer blade set on the bed of a flooded pit
Similar dives elsewhere
A Wessex helicopter airframe sunk deliberately in 22 m near the north cliff
A neon-yellow Piper once owned by astronaut Alan Shepard, hovering at 10 m
The ruined vibrating-screen plant of the old chalk works, at 20-35 m
Artificial reef
Smaragden
Lake Vättern · Sweden
A boat scuttled in 2012, five minutes out from Jönköping harbour