Re-Wilding: Journeying into Nature’s Unpredictable Oceanic Ways and Holding Your Breath
8:30am At the Boat Ramp
The best thing about Nature is, you just never know. It is the one thing in life that will continue to keep you guessing, keep you on your toes, and remind you that it’s the unpredictable factor that makes it so wonderful.
Throw expectations out the window, beef up the spectrum on your randomiser, forget about stable plans and their false sense of security, and stride forth with the absolute confidence that anything but your plans can happen. And despite the hankerings for wanting to know what’s coming next, how it’s going to feel, and praying for the dulling of fears and insecurity into ho-hum territory so that you can enjoy your next adventure without a hiccup or misstep, you bound forward anyway.
It’s 8:30am at the boat ramp, and we meet again for the first time in surely what must be the passage of some five years, or more. Christine is a highly competent, well, a highly competent everything. Singer. Song writer. Artist. Spearfisher. Marine Master. There are many facets. I had the wonderful fortune of meeting Christine for the first time when working in marine tourism. Later she joined me as a student on one of my freediving courses too. She delivers an incredible tour guide experience in the company of seals and dolphins. Oh, and people too!
In the days prior to this rendezvous, there had been much checking of the weather forecast and Apps. Bass Strait in Victoria, the body of water that separates mainland Australia and Tasmania, is known for its volatility, as well as its grace. And often they fly close together in quite close succession. But no amount of modern technological advances can put your mind at ease when you venture out upon its blue salty surface.
The Government issued forecasts for wind allow for an extra 40% variation above the forecast. Wave heights can be double that of the prescription. Yes, double. Imagine working with those parameters in any other vocation, or worse, your personal trainer who says we might see if we can add 40% to the volume of reps you’re used to today, give or take, double. It’s a tone that bristles, and suspends your faith.
The Apps, forecasts, and the everything other, suggested the seas and day was going to be pretty much close to the best conditions you can expect in the region.
Looking out beyond the shoreline, calm dark seas rolled effortlessly from the horizon. Blue skies expanded overhead. The air barely bothered a blade of grass. It was to be.
Ambitions for the adventure were pretty simple. Cruise out over the ocean and observe any migrating cetaceans. The beginnings of the annual Humpback Whale migration from Antarctica up north towards the warmer tropical waters above and beyond Victoria into NSW and Queensland had shown early sightings and reports of semi-regular movements. Given the difficulty of matching weather, sea state and personal availability to get out on the water, the chance to see one of these majestic creatures in our local environment can be pretty limited. But despite the myriad of factors to line up to make it possible, we were there and ready to make way!
The Swift
The Swift as it is known, is an ex-Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Zodiac inflatable boat that formerly served its time as a general purpose inflatable boat (GPIB) near Cairns. The best way I can describe it is as a rally car for the sea. They’re light, easy to manoeuvre, frugal on fuel (some might say, sustainable), and can handle rough seas confidently if you happen to get stuck in one of those double-wave height and 40% stronger wind gust scenarios. The Swift, it can take you to cool places, that’s for sure. And get you back if it all goes sideways.
Sauntering around slowly, Mercury outboard baubling away, binoculars scanning the horizon, for the first hour gliding over the glistening calm Southern Ocean waters, we did not but see a sign of any life. Well, one sign. A seagull. And some boats bobbing around caught up in the quiet mode of line fishing.
In the beauty of the morning that greeted us, you could have detected the briny nostril-burning scent of whale exhalations in the breeze from miles away. Seen the spout and puff of moisture lingering in the air miles away. We were in heaven. Without any angels.
As wonderful as it was to enjoy the serenity of these rare calm conditions, there is a banal lethargy that creeps in quickly if all you do is aimlessly direct the bow this way and that, in the expectation of finding something to see. One does not choose to see a whale. A whale chooses to see you, and reveal itself.
Meanwhile, driving a plastic boat around whilst burning fossil fuels, with the prime objective of immersing in and connecting with Nature, the contradiction is not lost on me.
Skipping Across the Surface
And so the air that we breathed remained crisp. Motivated by the minimisation of faffing, wistlessness, and wastefulness, bow became locked onto a fixed destination, that of the exposed reef sitting a few kilometres off-shore, surrounded by the sunken reminders of shipwrecks that proclaim the difficulties that these waters can unceremoniously cast upon you.
Skipping now across the surface, smiles beaming wild at the adventure taking a new turn and spiritedness.
The black rocky reef pokes out just barely above the surface. It’s the waves breaking over it that give away its position. At times Australian Fur Seals bask upon the broad rounded surface to enjoy a deep restful sleep between earnest bouts of fishing.
On this day, there were none to be seen. One does ponder how the best weather days seem to correlate with the invisibility cloak that wildlife wears.
It was no matter however, as the reef is a place of abundance. A protected marine area that thrives with fish life, glorious sweeping kelp fronds and mats upon mats of mussels and shell-fish.
The almost glassy sea surface enabled us to look down through the cool dark blue temperate waters below and easily make out the coarse surface of the gullies and gutters shaped 10 metres deep under the surface. It was magic!
Sloshing into Wetsuits
Sloshing into soaped up 5mm thick open cell freediving wetsuits and gathering rubber weightbelts, fancy freedive fins, and mask and snorkel, the joyfulness of the moment permeated our being. The excitement at seeing clear blue water below, knowing that that extra sense of ease and calm that comes from the longer range visibility underwater brings to your spirit and slow rate of your heart beat. They’re subtle differences in the cool 16c seas of Autumn that are like a blanket of pleasure in an environment otherwise somewhat testing, risky and brusque.
Floating calmly on the surface, eyes peering down into the dramatic seascape below. Carpeted in kelp and mussels, the sway and swing of the seaweed leaves and fish schools synchronised to the movement of draped arms and feet lolling freely amongst Mother Nature. The breathing slowing into a mesmerising rhythm that sets the mind into broader space, expanding the senses into a universe of becoming.
That first duck-dive down, immersing into the foreign world of the ocean, bathed in the peaceful silence and gentle embrace of the softly increasing pressure encompassing the whole body. Home. It feels just like the familiar cosiness of home.
The curious fish wonder what these strange beasts are that swim down from and rise up to the surface in succession. That settle near the bottom and pause motionless, neither swimming this way nor that. That sway with the kelp back and forth, moved by the surges of swell pushing and pulling. Without sound, without scales.
Unperturbed, the fish carry on feeding, cleaning and watching.
Above them, what appears to be billions of comb jellyfish, salps and other odd-shaped jellies cloud the sea thickly. Tiny particles and speckles flick this way and that, tumbled by the subtle forces that the sea knows not to reveal.
Below them, the swagger of Port Jackson Sharks appear and disappear between crevices, gutters and shelves, surveying and spying upon the new visitors, nay, intruders that move confusingly around the reef.
They, as we, watch.
Thick Clouds of Comb Jellies
Through the thick cloud of comb jellies, in the distance, dark shapes begin to become seen. Air bubbles thick like bubble wrap create walls and screens rising from below. Occasional mushroom-like plumes bobble intently towards the surface.
The jet-like bubble trails begin to be strewn across the underwater world, just as we may look up at the blue sky and regale at the aircraft streaks criss-crossing above in the atmosphere.
The unmistakeable imprint of Australian Fur Seals has found us!
Fur Seals are the absolutely most entertaining creatures in the sea. Well that’s what always pops into my mind after every time that they’ve decided to zoom in and swim around with me for a while.
They are the funniest characters. Sometimes curious and unsure little furry breath-holders. The big old boys just rolling around, scratching, lolling, supervising and hovering like blimps in the near distance. Sometimes taking a good look-in, just hovering centimetres beyond your face.
The zoomy ones dart about like a bunch of eight year old kids on scooters at the skate park. Seemingly in control out of control, barely aware of anything but the awesomeness of this very second in full flight. At full uncontrollable speed, directed straight to the unknown.
Sentinel
Then there’s the guaranteed sentinel. Brash. Boisterous. Cunning. Like one of those rugby or gridiron players that has the ball, and is running with massive bulging quads up the field. Powerful, fast. Agile, tough. With four of the opposition holding onto his jersey, arms, legs and head, yet he’s still going. Still stomping. Gritting. Driving. Intimidating. Breathing fire from his belly and sending sonic booms with his forced exhalations.
The sentinel is there to do one thing. Determine if you’re a friend or foe. Startle you they will. Swim at you with such intensity and then at the last second sharply turn as the pressure wave hits you. Seeking any sign of danger or threat from you. Only to then twirl, twist, roll and somersault, maybe even flip as they proudly report back to the group.
You’re out there, in their habitat, their home, in the middle of nowhere. Just you, and Nature. There are wild animals all around you. Doing wild things. It’s unimaginable. Immersed in the unpredictable big blue, you, this foreign visitor somehow gets caught up in the daily lives of Fur Seals living the wild life.
And, if you behave, and remember to begin with the truth that you’re really an uninvited guest, and are willing to respect their space, time and energy, with grace, they might just let you in.
Watch the Video
See these incredible wild Australian Fur Seals here in the video:
Images, Video & Words by Marlon Quinn
Book Your Own Swim with Seals Tour
Would you like to swim with Fur Seals in Australia?
There are a number of opportunities. These are my recommendations, and a few alternatives:
Booking Options and Locations
Kangaroo Island, SA, Australia
Swim with Seals Tour
Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada Snorkelling and Seals Tour
Plettenberg Bay, South Africa
Swim with Seals
Jervis Bay, NSW, Australia
Snorkelling with Whales and Seals
Thanks for reading this post and I hope your next adventure into the wilderness is as mind opening as my experience.
Marlon Quinn
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