The cunning plan…

by John Curnow on 1 Jul 2016 Apart from escape, which in and of itself is a decent enough reason, there are three major rationales for going cruising. Namely, to see the people, places and creatures of the world. Now I like investigating all of those, but today’s cunning plan is all about going swimming with creatures.

Being Australian, there are many things to consider when doing this, but just the one over-arching consideration to always address. That would be staying alive. You start with the visible items, like the surf that belts into a lot of the coastline. Even at just 1.5m, some of it can be deadly, and if it is larger, well… Then there’s the not so apparent, such as the undertow.

All that water smashing in has to go back out somehow. To the trained eye the gutters and channels can be crystal clear, but to the inexperienced it is like an escalator straight out the back. So just as with the Borg, resistance is futile, and you are better trying to swim across it or take the journey and come back in on a wave. Better yet, swim between the flags please.

Then you get onto all the organisms. Some can be tiny, such as stingers, blue bottles and so forth. Others like stonefish have more mass, but unbelievable camo suits and the wallop of all wallops from those tiny spines on its dorsal fins!

In the large category you start with say five feet of Bull Shark that will take your feet off at the ankles in water that’s not a lot deeper than that. The snappy logs (Crocodiles) have unreal patience and make an F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighter look like it has the profile of the Harmony of the Seas! In amongst all that there are just a few things like Great Whites and Tigers to consider.

Let’s not forget sea snakes, either. Saw the most amazing cobalt blue and yellow ringed one on the surface of the Coral Sea but two weeks ago. Really was the most stunning looking thing, and just about as close as I have ever been, or ever want to be. Just remember, each and every sea snake is more venomous than the King Cobra!

So why then would you want to get in at all? Well if you choose your place and time, it can be an utter delight. I mean you won’t get in at say the Phillip Island seal colony, nor a Far North Queensland beach after dark, or if it is merky. Nup. You’re just plain mad.

However, if it has relatively flat terrain and clear water, you could be missing out on one of life’s true delights. At the Turks and Caicos Islands I remember just gliding along with massive Barracuda. Quite trippy when you were used to the silver bullets nabbing the yellow tail off your line just before the surface, when you had spent ages carefully bringing it in that far.

Then just the other day I was fortunate enough to once again swim on the Great Barrier Reef. The Giant Trevally made it look easy. They actually wanted to check you out. The Lemon Shark was harder and the Green Turtles were speedy little suckers this time. Nothing like the East Australia Current scene from Finding Nemo, but I have enjoyed that sort of thing previously. Turtles and dolphins have a calming effect like horses running across the hills or dogs enjoying ball time in the shallows at the beach.

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