Shark!
Saturday was a beauty. A bright, sunny day and no swell meant that it was time to don the snorkel and mask and head into the water for a look around. I haven't really done much snorkelling since I've been here so Saturday was the perfect opportunity to do so.
I decided to swim from Manly Beach to Shelly Beach and Fairy Bower via the shore line. I had a great time in the water, the conditions were perfect and I saw loads of cool stuff including a big sting ray and a cuttlefish, as well as loads of parrotfish . I forgot to take my underwater camera which was a real shame because the visibility was great.
Anyway, it was a little unnerving swimming with so much open water to one side of you, and for such a long distance. Maybe it's because I haven't snorkelled or scuba dived for so long. When I'm surfing it doesn't bother me at all but being able to see what is beneath you with a mask opens up a world of possibilities. But after forty minutes or so I had made it to the protected Shelly Beach. I then decided to swim over to the Fairy Bower dive site. The water was a little more choppy here as what little swell there was came round the break. I soon found myself in the middle of quite a large shoal of bait fish which was amazing. I then looked down and to my surprise I saw two 3-4 foot sharks come around the corner. Now I went to the Aquarium a few weeks ago so the species looked vaguely familiar. They were Port Jackson’s but at the time I was wracking by startled brain to work out what type they were. Nurse shark was the first thought I had and I know they have teeth. Anyway, they were definitely sharks and they were definitely very cool. I kept a nice distance but then one of them came straight for me. I immediately tried to swim away but it kept on coming. Queue my finest Ian Thorpe impression as I swam as fast as I could to the beach. Anyone watching me from the shore would have been in stitches. After a few seconds or so of frantic swimming I stopped, turned around and saw that the shark was right behind me. Once again I swam as fast as I could to the beach.
It was only when I was sat on Shelly Beach did I think that it may have been a Port Jackson. I thought these were harmless (it was probably just being curious, or it was attracted to my bright yellow fins) but even still, it was pretty scary. However I just had to get back into the water. I couldn't let this put me off as I spend as much time as I can in the water these days. So, after a few minutes I went back in. I don't mind admitting that I was pretty nervous. I wasn't up for swimming all the way back to Manly so I left the water again, walked half way back and then went in again, swimming for another twenty minutes or so. I made it back without any further incident, and was glad I overcame the fear.
It was only when I got home and looked them up on the net, did I realise how harmless they are. Apparently they use their teeth to grind sea urchins and stuff but they can carry a nasty sting in their dorsal fin. What a woos!
The valuable lesson learnt from all of this is that next time I’ll take my camera.....
I decided to swim from Manly Beach to Shelly Beach and Fairy Bower via the shore line. I had a great time in the water, the conditions were perfect and I saw loads of cool stuff including a big sting ray and a cuttlefish, as well as loads of parrotfish . I forgot to take my underwater camera which was a real shame because the visibility was great.
Anyway, it was a little unnerving swimming with so much open water to one side of you, and for such a long distance. Maybe it's because I haven't snorkelled or scuba dived for so long. When I'm surfing it doesn't bother me at all but being able to see what is beneath you with a mask opens up a world of possibilities. But after forty minutes or so I had made it to the protected Shelly Beach. I then decided to swim over to the Fairy Bower dive site. The water was a little more choppy here as what little swell there was came round the break. I soon found myself in the middle of quite a large shoal of bait fish which was amazing. I then looked down and to my surprise I saw two 3-4 foot sharks come around the corner. Now I went to the Aquarium a few weeks ago so the species looked vaguely familiar. They were Port Jackson’s but at the time I was wracking by startled brain to work out what type they were. Nurse shark was the first thought I had and I know they have teeth. Anyway, they were definitely sharks and they were definitely very cool. I kept a nice distance but then one of them came straight for me. I immediately tried to swim away but it kept on coming. Queue my finest Ian Thorpe impression as I swam as fast as I could to the beach. Anyone watching me from the shore would have been in stitches. After a few seconds or so of frantic swimming I stopped, turned around and saw that the shark was right behind me. Once again I swam as fast as I could to the beach.
It was only when I was sat on Shelly Beach did I think that it may have been a Port Jackson. I thought these were harmless (it was probably just being curious, or it was attracted to my bright yellow fins) but even still, it was pretty scary. However I just had to get back into the water. I couldn't let this put me off as I spend as much time as I can in the water these days. So, after a few minutes I went back in. I don't mind admitting that I was pretty nervous. I wasn't up for swimming all the way back to Manly so I left the water again, walked half way back and then went in again, swimming for another twenty minutes or so. I made it back without any further incident, and was glad I overcame the fear.
It was only when I got home and looked them up on the net, did I realise how harmless they are. Apparently they use their teeth to grind sea urchins and stuff but they can carry a nasty sting in their dorsal fin. What a woos!
The valuable lesson learnt from all of this is that next time I’ll take my camera.....
posted by Jonny @ 8:44 PM
5 Comments:
At 2/8/07 8:10 PM,
CMP said…
Hey Jonny,
I think I'd be swimming like a mad man too if I saw a shark behind me, even if I did think that there was a good chance that it's harmless. There's always that remote chance it's not though. :-) Amazing....of the 10 most deadly species in the world....8 of them live "Down Under" :-)
At 7/8/07 9:21 AM,
Jonny said…
Hey Claython
Yeah, it's an exciting place. The worst thing for me is spiders and thankfully I havent had any nasty surprises so far. I've just seen a few hanging from telepgraph poles.
I did snorkel from Manly to Shelly Beach this weekend as well but didn't see any sharks this time.
And I didn't take my camera either.....
At 8/8/07 1:47 AM,
Andy said…
Now the surfing didn't bother me, but weekly snorkelling is turning my slightly green.
It's a shame you weren't sure whether it was a safe shark or not and freaked out like a big girl's blouse - my ten minutes at dawn with the black tips on Phi Phi will never be forgotten, but admittedly even though I was pretty sure it was safe I had to concentrate on not freaking out when the 2 metre one came straight for me.
Make sure you do take your camera next time...
At 13/8/07 11:40 PM,
Jonny said…
I've been every weekend for the last three now! And I saw two more sharks on Sunday as well so I am now over my fear of harmless sharks.
And I didn't take my camera again! I will when the water gets a bit warmer as the casing tends to fog up a bit when it's as cold as it is now (about 17 degrees in the water). It's because the camera generates a bit of heat, or something like that.
I hope to do a lot more snorkelling over the next summer than I did last summer. And no doubt Sam will be up for getting us scuba diving as well.....
At 12/9/07 11:50 PM,
Rella and Ed xx said…
Hi Jonny,
Good eating apparently those port jacksons. I tried to catch one with my hands on the West Coast just after new year. This pom was freaking out - i was pissed, but took the word of some redneck of their harmlessness.
Missed it as it swam between my legs - so still haven't eaten one. Try to catch one next time. They get a 5* rating on those fish of Oz posters you can find at most reputable tourist tatt shops...
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