Swimming with the Sharks

We went swimming this morning at "our beach" as we do regularly. It was sunny and the water was beautiful. It's a wonderful shade of sea green and so clear that you can see which waves have fish in them.

It's been raining a lot lately for short bursts at a time, which is perfect. It cools the air but doesn't ruin your day. The surf was good, so the surfers were out, which is actually kind of strange for Kirra. The government has been adding sand to the beaches here to protect against hurricanes, which ruins the "points" and results in smaller waves. So we hardly ever see surfers here, but this morning was good for them.

We were practically alone; just us, a few other swimmers down the beach, the surfers and the fish. The biggest difference today was that there was no lifeguard. Since we've been here, it's been the holiday season, so the city has extra lifeguards at various locations down the beach. Kirra is so small that we apparently don't get one all year long. So it makes me a little nervous. If we get stung by a jellyfish, we're on our own. And when I see fish, I always think of sharks.

Theo was telling me the other day about the "shark nets" intermittently placed along the Gold Coast beaches. There are also "drumlines," which are flotation devices with baited hooks on them. So I'm NOT the bait? Awesome.

I tried to get a photo of them...

The shark nets are only 5 meters deep, and intermittent, like I said. So sharks can still actually go around them and under them. But I guess the drumlines help a lot, too. I read a recent news article that said the Gold Coast hasn't had a fatal shark attack on the Gold Coast since 1962. Notice the word "fatal." So it still freaks me out.

Hopefully soon I can relax and just enjoy swimming with the sharks.