Sleeping in is difficult for me in general and more so on a beautiful day. “Jeremy, Lesley here, get your butt out of bed, it’s a stunning day and the ocean beckons!” Was the sum of my call to my good friend Jeremy Jowell, well known and talented photographer and journalist. Windmill Beach it was, a few kilometers from my home. Jeremy braved the cold water of about 13 degrees Celsius without a wetsuit.
The viz was nothing like last weekend but that didn’t deter me from staying in for an hour, testing my new Nikon D700 camera and SeaCam housing, and being sent the gift of my first sighting of a smooth hound shark: I was just about to get out, hanging at the surface, cussing at my strobe for not firing as it should, when I looked down to see her passing in one heck of a hurry. These beautiful sharks are targeted by our fishers and their populations are suffering, “Human! Swim!!” I could hear her shouting as she made off with me on her tail while trying to get the shot. Her days are numbered, I thought…and so is it for all of our oceans resources.
Sometimes I go into deep despair when realizing what seems to be the futility of my efforts in the greater scheme of the environmental crisis Earth faces at our hand. For today, though, I shall pretend things will never change and renew my energy in a way only the ocean can do for me.