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Tim swimming in the river at Camon, Sth France, water temp 21c

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Whilst we are struggling back here in Mollymook with water temps around 15 & 16c, Tim sends in a pic of his swim today, water temp 21c.

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John Sarich provides an update on his travels. Presently at Cape York, the northern most point of the Australian continent.  Here he is coming out of the water at the northern end of  Frangipani  Beach. (On the western side of the very top (TIP) of Australia). It was a dip n dash. Up here you have crocodiles, stingers  and sharks. There were a couple of big locals waist deep on croc watch for a heap of local kids to have a dip, so I reasoned I ought to be safe with them on watch. 

Later he spotted a pod of ‘Australian Snub Fin Dolphins’ rounding the top of Australia from west to east. (It was the first time John had sighted ‘Snub Fin Dolphins’ and got the above pic of one of them) 

Just to explain their difference from most dolphins we see along coastal NSW. The Australian snubfin dolphin is easily recognised from other dolphins by its blunt, rounded head and absence of a beak. The only species it could be confused with is the dugong, which lack a dorsal fin and have a more robust shape. The dorsal fin in snubfin dolphins is small compared to other dolphins, with a tip that is blunt and rounded. The colour is generally pale to dark brown with the underside lighter in colour. It has an obvious, flexible, neck, and the tail fins have a shallow concave trailing edge and the flippers are large and broad. They are generally found across northern Australia (Qld, NT, WA) where they inhabit rivers and coastal waters. 

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Sunday’s Practice Photo Shoot for ‘Swimmers Book Cover’

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Just a brief update on progress. Above were some experimental images (not cropped nor the end result) to get the camera settings critiqued on the Sunday morning. Then on Monday morning we had more volunteers to help fill the image and appearing more relaxed. The above gives you some idea of what I would like to achieve for our Mollymook Swimmers (20 year history) book cover. Our swimmers entering the water early morning as is our routine.

My heartfelt sincere thanks for the expertise of Therese Spillane and her daughter Alex and partner Dane. Also my sincere thanks for the 6 swimmers on Sunday, Ben, Garry Hunt, Heather, Ross, Laura and Garry Jenner. They also came and backed up for Monday’s photo shoot along with additional support from Issi, Karelle, John White and Bob White.

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Mollymook Beach – Southern Right Whale and calf

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It was a glorious morning at Mollymook. As the sun was rising so to was a black figure appearing up towards north Mollymook. Bit by bit it slowly began moving south only some 200 or so metres off shore. In a matter of time it became obvious this massive whale had its calf in tow. With its distinctive markings and squirting water in a V, we were able to make out that it was a southern right whale. It just so happened that it coincided with the early morning ocean swimmers time to enter the water.

The ocean fraternity are a sharing community.