Four days into 2023 and what a change from the last few days - the sun (aka the greek god apollo) seems to have decided to take a holiday and Posiedon has sent Aegaeus, the god of stormy seas seems to visit, waiting for Triton to sound his conch shell to calm the seas so we can swim freely again.
Todays conditions:
temperature: 19.9 degrees
conditions: wild & messy, beach closed
vibe: swimmers swam from shelly or bravely the bower, or harbourside like we did.
Arriving at the beach at 9:30 to meet the mermaids & manmaids who like me are on holidays this week and dont have to be up early (for me, this week is a much needed energy recharge - making the most of it before early starts again next week!)... the swell was huge, the waves were messy and the beach was closed - lifeguards telling potential swimmers to swim elswehere! with reports of the bay not being enticing either (huge thanks to all who post condition reports on the B&B facebook page) we decided to regroup at the old acquarium harbourside for a little swim adventure to fairlight - my first !
It also presented a great opportunity to try out our "Sharkbanz" in bull shark territory!
We swam to Delwood beach first, and i was amazed at the abundance of fish, and their size! Then onto fairlight beach near the pool - again teeming with fish of all sizes.
Clearly the abundance of large fish means this is a prime fishing spot, as we saw when we swam into a discarded fishing line between Fairlight and Delwood, the end of which was a hook in the mouth of a little blind shark. Operation free the hook commenced. Bibiana immediately free dived to see if she could free the hook, whilst Simone swam back to delwood beach to see if the picnickers we had seen earlier had a knife.
In the meantime several dives were made by Bibi and Luke ,attempting to dislodge seaweed which was also caught in the line and holding the poor shark down. Our thinking was that if we could get the little shark and the seaweed clump in which it was entangled nearer the surface, we could either free the hook or cut the line so it could swim freely. The fishing line had proved too strong to break by hand in the water...
On reaching the surface it was apparent that the little shark had swallowed the hook, presumably for the bait. Time was of the essence to maximise the little sharks chances of survival so we kept the shark in water whilst Luke set about cutting the line as close to the little sharks mouth as possible.
Using oyster shells on the rocks whilst keeping the little shark in water, Luke managed to cut the line, just as Simone returned with a knife. The shark was free of the line and the seaweed.
The shark immediately swam away under a rock ledge - the hook still in its mouth but at least it could swim freely.
The happiness we all felt was contagious - we dont know if the little shark will survive but thanks to Bibi, Luke, simone, maria, edwina, patricia, London and the team, the little shark is given its best chance!
The fishing line was about 30 metres long - this little shark was lucky however countless others are not - a stark reminder when fishing (legally) to be careful & take all rubbish & broken lines with you, and a reminder that fishing is prohibited in protected marine areas! linky thing to the protected marine reserves: https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/marine-protected-areas
If you do see illegal fishing activity, contact the Department of Primary Industries via Service NSW on line, or by phone: linky thing: https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/report-illegal-fishing
And did the Sharkbanz work? Well, none of us saw any bull sharks (Chris even ventured way out into the harbour to test that theory) so I guess they worked keeping the bull sharks away! Thankfully! The Sharkbanz do provide some peace of mind, even if we havent had to really test them yet!
Have a wonderful wednesday, stay safe, look out for each other & be kind to each other and our marine creatures,
Jocelyn
A few announcements!
Budgie Smuggler Random Swimmer of the Month
The Budgie Smuggler Swimmer of the Month for November is Meredith Gee. Meredith will receive a voucher for a new pair of Budgy Smugglers from the Budgy Smuggler shop. To be in the running for Swimmer of the Month, all you have to do is log your swims. The winner is selected randomly from all those who have swum (and logged) at least once during the month. The more times you swim the more chances you have to win the prize. So start logging now. If you don't know how, just email Ian, [email protected].
Summer badges:
A reminder about the summer badges on offer this year - challenge yourself and remember to log your swims!!
- Summer Challenge - swim 30 times over summer (1 Dec to 28 Feb), and swim in at least 7 different weeks
- Summer Super Swimmer - swim 50 times over summer
Three long distance swims are also on offer, all of which earn a badge:
- A 6 km swim will be held every summer Saturday morning (depending on conditions) generally starting at 7 am.
- There will be a 10 km swim once a month over summer also starting with the 7 am swim. Dates for these will be announced in the blog.
- If these swims are too long for you, you can try a Triple Manly to Shelly swim any day during Summer (distance 3.5 km) from 6.30 or 7 am.
If you are unsure of the routes and protocols for these swims, please ask at the desk before you swim. When swimming these longer distances, we request that, for safety reasons, you stay with the group. We also request that you do not swim in dangerous conditions. The quest for a little cloth badge is not worth putting your life at risk. Enjoy your swimming. In order to be eligible for any/all of these badges you must log your swims in i-Log. If you don’t have a log-in, please contact Ian ([email protected]) .
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