Wednesday 24th July - the week the upwelling made a triumphant return to Manly after a year or so away - testing our resilience, our mind set, and our bravery (or craziness)... also, upwelling sounds a little like a horror movie, and for some, it probably felt like it as we battled through gritted teeth, numb limbs (and other body parts) and "ice cream" headaches to achieve the coveted Winter Without Wetsuit badge... that said, a few more "blue stars" are appearing in the daily attendance... the upwelling has, perhaps, influenced decisions to finally feel the need for Neoprene..
todays conditions:
water temperature: a balmy 15 degrees - has the "downwelling" started already?
air temperature at 7am: 5.9 degrees
conditions: flat, liquid gold as the sun made its daily appearance
vibe: to neoprene or not to neoprene?
What causes upwelling? Guy summarised it beautifully on yesterdays temperature story. Aside from the persistent (and on saturday Pesky) strong howling North (ish) Westerlies, here are a few more fun facts (courtesy of the inter web unaffected by Crowdstrike, corroborated with other interweb information from sources such as CSIRO, national geographic and the NOAA):
- The deflection of water to the left of the wind (in the southern hemisphere) away from the shoreline is due to the Coriolis effect, and "objects" travelling in a straight line appear to curve, or deflect, due to the rotation of the Earth
- the water rising to the surface during upwelling is rich in nutrients, having travelled all the way from the deep sea floor. Therefore we can expect an abundance of sea life feasting on the buffet from the deep (and associated food chains)!
- the East Coast of Australia is known "upwelling zone", near the separation point of the East Coast Current
- northwards migration patterns of whales (and tuna!) normally match the timing of upwelling events (ie in winter when cold westerlies/ north westerlies/south westerlies prevail)
- the most predictable region for Upwelling in Australia is the Bonney coast - between Cape Jaffa in SA and Portland in VIC
- the west coast of Australia rarely experiences upwelling due to the south pole bound Leeuwin current
- Peru has one of the most fertile ecosystems (25,900 square km of coastline) thanks to persistent upwelling, and one of the richest fishing grounds in the world as a result (which in itself causes other issues around over fishing, however thats not for this blog)
- the famous sea fog in san francisco is caused by seasonal (summer) upwelling, where cold water cools the air, creating the spectacular sea fog, and chilly summer mornings!
- the opposite of upwelling is of course downwelling, where breeze pushes warmer water onto the shore, relegating the cold, oxygen and nutrient rich water back to the deep to feed other creatures and matter of the deep
The benefits of cold water immersion have been shared widely on various B&B pages... so, enter the water with a huge smile, dive into the liquid gold, rich, energising ocean, enjoy the invigorating, energising cold water therapy with the incentive of a hot shower (its only 20c - plus membership of course :) !), hot coffee (or tea or beverage of choice), fireball and the warmth of the friendship and cameraderie of our wonderful adventurous community!
swimmers today were all smiles after diving, sans neoprene, into the liquid gold for an infusion of vitamin sea:
Even Buddy was sans "overcoat" today, peferring to soak up the apricity..
as always, stay warm, look out for and after each other, stay kind and have a wonderful Wednesday!
jocelyn
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