Marine Moments

It is Day Two of the Dip a Day Challenge. The challenge is to raise awareness for the work of Surfers Against Sewage (SOS) in our seas and coastal waters. I headed down to the beach. But the tide was so far out across the sands that I decided to have a swim in the rock pool instead: A concrete lined pool carved within the natural rocks which empties and refills each day from the tide.

The pool is affected if there is sewage released from the overflow further up the coast. It is a big rockpool, as are all the natural rock pools. The pools are all located in what is known as the ‘intertidal zone.’ The coastal zone makes up only 10% of the oceanic environment, but it contains 90% of all marine species. Coastal zones are the most nutrient-rich life zones of the oceans.

Every rock pool is a rich and interlinked biome. Remove just one species and it will impact the whole tiny watery ecosystem. The human-derived bacteria from the human effluent released regularly into cold water can survive for 20 years or more. It can come back into the food chain either through seafood or affect swimmers, surfers, divers or other water users who ingest it from the seawater.

Every stroke I swim in the sea pool is in the hope that the regular releases of sewage can be stopped.

Peace from swimming in cold water

Why is it that we dread doing something that we ultimately enjoy and get so much out of? It was chilly with a keen breeze, the sky a leaden grey. It was counter-intuitive to shed my warm jumper and leggings to strip down to swimming costume and rash vest. I pushed through the illogicality of it, and slid down into the water. I gasped as the breath is sucked out of my chest. But then as I swam, it is as if a cold blanket was wrapped around me: A blanket of chill, but one that dampens down all other thought, emotion and concerns. It brings a peace.

Soon the cold feels less intense, and gradually an inner warmth emanates from somewhere from my core. I call it the ‘magic moment’. The magic moment always accompanies a cold swim. I wait for the sensation but am always surprised when it miraculously flares from somewhere mid rib. Shortly after this, it was time to get out (1 minute per degree – 17 minutes today). It was time to return to daily life and to the sensation in my fingers and toes.

The magic inner warmth fades as the cold bites. But the inner calm lingers and laces its way through the rest of the day.