As I lay in bed listening to the rain and thunder at 2am this morning, I thought… maybe, this will be the morning there won’t be many there, it will be called off, it won’t be magical… But… it did stay dry at Manly, it was brighter than expected, the ocean was calm and inviting… Our B&B swim was sooo worth getting out of bed for!!!
Here are the 6.30am swimmers at Shelly Beach for a group photo. Do they look like they wish they’d stayed in bed??
Somehow even when it seems gloomy and dull everywhere else, it is always brighter and totally gorgeous in our favourite corner of the world…
The Drinks Express leaving Shelly at 6.45am
We had 97 recorded swimmers this morning, not bad after all that rain in the night! Incidentally, us regular swimmers don’t get sick after swimming after rain either. Your immune system gets a great boost doing the B&B swim regularly!
It’s still above 22 degrees in the water at 22.1 today, and air temp 19.
Great visibility swimming to The Point again with luderick, leatherjackets, groper and catfish swimming below us near the rocks. Attracta below is an expert fish spotter. Follow her if you want to spot a wobbegong, ray or something extraordinary!
I dive down to get a close up of this catfish camouflaged in the weed.
The view to Shelly
Waiting at Shelly…Ok the light isn’t as beautiful as it has been of late but the endorphins have kicked in, it was a smooth and calm swim and we are all happy!
It’s MJ’s birthday today! Those lucky Bower Street residents don’t need an alarm clock at 7.20am. They get woken by our joyful singing!
Always some Blog Tarts to be found in the Eastern corner of Shelly!
This poor guy was a bit distressed when we saw him near Fairy Bower. He had jumped out at the rocks as he thought he’d seen a big shark. We all ask excitedly, “where? where?” “I’m from England” he says, “I’m not used to seeing a big shape swim below me.” We assure him it would be a harmless wobbegong and he is very lucky. He gets back in…
…Only to swim right in to a big dead puffer fish!
Lesley has just sent me a text telling me Dave from Eco Divers commented on our blog last night about why there are so many dead fish at the moment. He can tell it isn’t due to natural causes but is from the tuna trawler fishermen just discarding the leatherjacket and 3 barred porcupine fish (the ones we call puffer fish). Terrible isn’t it? Refer back to yesterday’s blog comments for the full story.
Leatherjacket (alive thank goodness) at The Point
This is what the squid looked like today on a cloudy day but later in the blog you’ll see how they looked when the light was great and water clearer.
Some photos below of the marine life in Cabbage Tree Bay I photograped earlier in the week.
A flutemouth on Tuesday
Managed to get quite close to this blue groper
There have been lots of squid sightings lately. They usually swim away really fast but Heather and I came across a couple that drifted away from the school. They probably wanted some quiet time together to mate but we followed them! The photo below shows how they change colour as one is translucent white and one browny/orange. I’m not sure if this is camouflage against predators or something to do with mating??
Obviously in love aren’t they?
The best photo I got of the squid swimming together (Monday I think.)
And this little lonesome cute one!
A few of us swimmers saw a giant cuttlefish just off Shelly Beach on Saturday. They are amazing to watch as they swim slowly, don’t seem scared of us and put on a great display of colours, textures and shapes! Look out for them in the orangey weed particularly as they camouflage in that really well!
Alyson hasn’t been able to swim with us much since the arrival of baby Lukas. How fantastic that she was rewarded on her Saturday swim with the sighting of this gorgeous giant cuttlefish!
and showing his belly to feed!
My favourite shot from yesterday, the retreating groper surrounded by mados, goatfish and wrasse…
Tomorrow is Annie’s free and fun Booty Camp with a green theme for St Patrick’s Day. Come on down at 6am! Everyone welcome!
Finishing off with an apres-swim photo of 2 of our favourite swimmers. They share a few things in common, one being you never see them out at night!… The adorable, kind, caring, fun and friendly Andrew Drinkwater and Little Sarah Abbott!
B&B i-Log
Almost 50% of swimmers are now using the B&B i-Log. Log your swim ANYTIME of day using this really efficient and easy way to ensure your swim is recorded in the daily attendance and on the Pacific Challenge. To get started, send an email to Ian Forster – his email address is: (PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THIS EMAIL INTO YOUR EMAIL, DO NOT CLICK on it)
ugoboyo@gmail.com
He will check that your email address is activated on the attendance register then send you info on how to get started.
Staying safe
Remember that there are no badges for scaring yourself silly! While it is great to extend your boundaries, it is important to know your limits. Do read these excellent tips on staying safe in the surf. To read, or even download, click here.
Stats
Air Temp 19 Water Temp 22.1
Sunrise 6:52am Sunset 7:15pm
Swimmers 97 2 Newbies 48 iLoggers
Signing off Lainey Loo aka Elaine
16 comments
lesbubbles
13/03/2014 at 12:12 pm
Yep Diver Dave posted this on my blog yesterday about the dead fish: (by the way Diver Dave is one of the great people who looks after our lovely Cabbage Tree Bay!)
hi Guys ,
counted the dead fish along manly beach to queens cliff .. over 150 chinaman leather jackets and six “3 bar porcupine fish” .. all the porcupine fish were of a very similar size and the leather jackets were from 15 cm to 30 cm .. there was also one black reef leather jacket on the beach too .. with the rest that were at the bower and on shelly the numbers would be at least 250 but probably more .. a “natural” die off can occur with these species they can be susceptible to low oxygen mortality a result of localised algal blooms … close inspection of the fish showed fin and spine damage which would be concurrent with being netted and discarded as by catch .. same with the pufferfish ..all inflated ..indicates a life threatening stress and/or fast ascent .. the trawlers you have seen are tuna longliners [indiscriminate killers of all marine animals and sea birds … YOU are supporting THEM if you eat tuna or feed it to your cat .. they are south coast based but fish in the pacific region as well as else where [as there are not many tuna left] .. they are permitted to trawl for bait [usually yellowtail] close inshore … so unless inside the reserve they can do what they like … remember fish are friends not food 🙂
Peter Anthony
13/03/2014 at 12:34 pm
Hey great blog, I especially love two things – the idea that you never wish you slept in after you swim (but you always wish you swam after you sleep in, and the great shot of Drinks and Sara…
cheers,
Mark
13/03/2014 at 12:50 pm
Hi all,
Laura and jazz ( aka “the twins”) asked me to post this whilst they are at school, so being a dutiful dad I am I am following orders.
They want to raise money for the Royal Far West kids by selling finger knitted bracelets and necklaces they have spent some months preparing. Each one of course is unique and there they are of a limited edition run of 3000. Sure to become a collectable.
Jazz will have some tomorrow can take orders,and both will sell these and some toys on Saturday on one of the tables. A silver coin or two will suffice.
Thank you one and all
Snorkles
13/03/2014 at 1:00 pm
Lovely idea Mark! Good on the girls! How many did you knit? 😉
Mauricio
13/03/2014 at 1:03 pm
Well thought Laura and Jazz. Great idea and initiative!Well done!
LSA aka HKTQ
13/03/2014 at 1:11 pm
Also love the squid “in love” and cuttle-fish pics with Aly & Heather and the one showing his belly!
Apparently, Drinks and I share arms in common too! Ask Lips – he tells me that if I don’t wear my pink rashie whilst swimmig he mistakes my arms for Drinks’!! I can only think it must be the speed at which they fly across to Shelly:-))
LSA aka HKTQ
13/03/2014 at 1:17 pm
Great work girls and look forward to buying one. Always so lovely to see the girls out early on their boards. Laura’s smile and greeting mid-ocean inspired me to keep going:-) Hope to see Jazzy tomorrow!
Elizabeth
13/03/2014 at 1:36 pm
Hi Carol! Well done Sid on the excellent double. Good day for it
John.S
13/03/2014 at 2:22 pm
yep great shot of Andrew and Sarah, both very effervescent people.
Alyson
13/03/2014 at 3:49 pm
thats not cool at all
Alyson
13/03/2014 at 3:51 pm
That cuttlefsh was AWESOME. feeling very lucky still today that he let us swim with him. I just love how we get excited about sharks and that poor guy was scrambling up the rocks!!!
Elaine de Jager
13/03/2014 at 4:08 pm
That is lovely of Laura and Jazz. Can I order one with pink or orange in it please?
lesbubbles
13/03/2014 at 5:11 pm
I kept hearing him say ‘I’m english’..it was very funny!
Sylvia
13/03/2014 at 5:32 pm
How very disturbing!
Lindsay
13/03/2014 at 7:08 pm
Great idea girls! I’d love one but will only be down on Sunday 🙁 . Will bring my coins just in case…..
Lips
13/03/2014 at 8:14 pm
It’s the unicorn tattoo on his right shoulder LSA.
Looks surprisingly similar to that dancing leprechaun you have on yours. Hard to tell apart when I speed past either one of you at the point..