Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
I saw a couple of nurse sharks about halfway through the swim that’s all. We’ve been to Eleuthera about a dozen times since 2006 and have seen quite a few sharks there…. nurse, reef, lemon, hammerhead and bulls. The water is so clear that it’s usually from a distance and they typically swim away. I’ve never felt threatened.
The moon jellies were non stinging, but I bumped into quite a few.
I’ve never had a bad reaction to a jellyfish sting though I did get hit under the nose once and sneezed uncontrollably for an hour.
Bumping into things at night or with low visibility definitely gets my heart beating. A plastic bag in the Harlem river…. absolutely terrifying!
…anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
On May 31, 2017, at 8:17 PM, wrote:
Dave,
I have 3 follow-up questions:
Q1. Did you see any sharks en route?
Q2. Did you get stung by any jellyfish en route?
Q3. What makes your heart beat faster: a shadow or wave that you think momentarily is a shark or the sting of a venomous jellyfish?
Steven Munatones, very curious in Huntington Beach, California
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: Open Water Swimming Magazine, April issue
From: Db
Date: Wed, May 31, 2017 4:24 pm
To: Rene_Martínez
Cc: Mariel Hawley , Calum Hudson
, Oded Rahav , Seti
Afoa , Nuala Moore ,
Steven Munatones , Kp Slinger
, Nicolene Steynberg
, Melodee Nugent ,
Danny , Patricia Hermann ,
John Batchelder , Brian Suddeth
, Darren Miller , Devon
Clifford , Richard Clifford
, Ben Stubenberg ,
Ingemar Macarine , Phil White
, padraig mallon , Kaia
Hedlund , Bruckner Chase , ned
denison , Beth Yudovin
, “C.Guesdon”
, Stephen Redmond ,
Ricardo Ratto , Richard Broer
, Tamara Bruce , Colin Hill
, Flowers Swim , Frank
Flowers , Megan Melgaard
, Trent Grimsey ,
carol & tom hecker , Antonio Arguelles
, Dan Simonelli ,
Nora Toledano , Kimberley Chambers
, Kala Sherman-Presser
, Melissa King ,
Jean Craven , Kamini Moodley
, “mattdonoghue@gmail.com”
, William Patrick Carlson ,
Ben Enosh , Chelsea Halstead
, Neil Macaskill ,
“Dan Simonelli ~ OWSA (openwaterswimacademy@gmail.com)”
, Pablo Arguelles Cattori
, Ryan Nelson
When I did the Eleuthera swim, there was quite a lot of bull shark activity in the marina close to the finish. My wife and I would go visit them daily and we would play little games like tossing a few pebbles in the water to see if they would come to investigate…. they did. They always did. Conclusion: bull sharks very astute and attracted to sound/and disturbance in an area where they are used to being fed. Fishermen do their cleaning here and toss the scraps to their ready jaws.
Two days before my swim, a class from the Cape Eleuthera Institute was doing some field studies on sharks in the marina. They set up a few baited hooks and spent the next 4 hours recording the behavior of the sharks that took the bait. We watched as nurse sharks moved right in and took the bait, while the bulls…. larger and more imposing would poke around at it, but never bite. Conclusion: bull sharks are very particular, and these ones at least seem to be well fed.
My very unscientific observations led me to believe that a swimmer next to a boat and a kayaker would be ok in clear water with good visibility. The challenge was to convince Clare and the other crew members that they should not worry too much, and ultimately if anyone saw anything they were uncomfortable with, they had the authority to call the swim.
I started at dawn and hit the deep water of the Exuma Sound at dusk. It was fascinating to watch the pink moon jellies bubbling up from the black depths. It was dark by the time I approached the marina, but the light from the boat was enough to give me about 10′ of visibility in the water. I now had two paddlers and Scott Aland, who took the first shift paddling for me was now swimming with me. The additional support gave Clare good piece of mind….. me too.
The route:
The marina near the finish:
…anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
On May 31, 2017, at 12:13 PM, Rene Martínez wrote:
Love that Mariel!! Leave the fear behind, turn in into strength!!
Thanks!
RENÉ MARTÍNEZ SÁENZ
GRUPO AZUCARERO SÁENZ
De: Mariel Hawley [mailto:marielhawley@yahoo.com.mx]
Enviado el: miércoles, 31 de mayo de 2017 10:55 a.m.
Para: Calum Hudson
CC: Oded Rahav; Seti Afoa; Nuala Moore; Steven Munatones; Kp Slinger; Nicolene Steynberg; Melodee Nugent; Danny; Patricia Hermann; John Batchelder; Brian Suddeth; Darren Miller; Devon Clifford; Richard Clifford; Ben Stubenberg; Ingemar Macarine; Phil White; padraig mallon; Kaia Hedlund; Bruckner Chase; ned denison; Beth Yudovin; C.Guesdon; Stephen Redmond; Ricardo Ratto; Richard Broer; Tamara Bruce; david barra; Colin Hill; Flowers Swim; Frank Flowers; Megan Melgaard; Trent Grimsey; carol & tom hecker; Antonio Arguelles; Dan Simonelli; Nora Toledano; Kimberley Chambers; Kala Sherman-Presser; Melissa King; Jean Craven; Kamini Moodley; mattdonoghue@gmail.com; William Patrick Carlson; Ben Enosh; Chelsea Halstead; Neil Macaskill; Rene Martínez; Dan Simonelli ~ OWSA (openwaterswimacademy@gmail.com); Pablo Arguelles Cattori; Ryan Nelson
Asunto: Re: Open Water Swimming Magazine, April issue
Calum,
Rene has given us all great info, but also there is something else that has helped me, when I was going to swim Catalina someone told me .. if you are afraid, spit your fear in a jar and trash it .. don’t bring fears to a swim … that helped me a lot! Also feel very fortunate that you will be swimming in some of the most beautiful places on earth.. enjoy it very much!! We are lucky and in a certain way blessed to be able to do this! Let’s enjoy every stroke! Hugs to you all! Mariel
El 31/05/2017, a las 09:28, Calum Hudson escribió:
Hi Steven,
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