El Andalous - Dangers of Swimming

Stung Whilst Swimming!

The water is definitely getting colder. Over the last week, before I plunge in, I splash myself with water first and I’m always wondering beforehand if I really want to swim. On the way back, though, the water feels warm, so it can’t be that bad yet.

I’m still wearing my swimming buoy for safety / visibility and it’s bringing me quite a bit of attention. One new owner started asking me if I’d seen the girl who swims out to sea every day with the orange thing tied to her waist (he was sounding impressed, rather than horrified, which was a relief), so I explained that it was me before he said too much. Another person approached me and asked me where I had bought the swimming buoy and he thought it was an excellent idea. A Russian woman managed to mimic to me the question as to what it was I had tied to me as I swam. I tried to mimic back that it was to make me visible. She gave an expression of understanding, but I’m not too sure what she actually understood! One day a boat approached me to see what was floating in the sea, which kind of negated the purpose of the swimming buoy, which I see as to keep the boats away from me.

When I first arrived here (more than 5 years ago now!), I was worried about the dangerous fish. At the time, I think I had it in my head that they would attack me; I now no longer think this, but I do worry that I may not see them and accidentally swim into them.

By day, the lion fish are usually fairly placid and hiding under coral. They are brown and white striped fish with long feathery tentacles which, if they touch you, can put you into hospital; beautiful to look at but almost lethal. It’s perfectly safe to swim up to them (carefully, of course); the risk is that they decide to rest on the sea bottom near where you are going to walk back onto the beach. If you don’t look where you step, you could be in trouble.

The same holds for stone fish and scorpion fish, which look like stones on the sea bed (or sitting on top of a coral and disguising itself as part of that coral). They won’t come and attack you, but if you step on one, it has the potential to be fatal. Ajaz’s wife did this as she was paddling and ended up in hospital.

It’s easy to get scared, but basically you just need to keep your eyes open and watch where you’re going. Don’t get too caught up in a conversation and forget to look where you’re putting your feet!

Another phenomenon that I’ve experienced is a slight stinging sensation as I’ve swum. I’ve often wondered what it is, since I can’t see anything swimming away in the water when it happens. At one point, I thought maybe it was the needlefish bumping into me by accident with their needle-like snouts. Other people have suggested that maybe the stinging sensation comes from bits of coral floating in the sea (some coral also sting, but I don’t touch them, so I don't think that this can’t be it).

Anyway, this week I was swimming and had a painful sting and it actually showed up on my arm (see photo). I’ve since searched the internet and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s caused by stinging plankton. It’s not visible and is not usually in enough quantity to really sting, but I was obviously unfortunate on this occasion. Apparently, some people always wear a rash vest to avoid being stung. I was a bit nervous the next time I went out, but it hasn’t happened again since.

Recently, a baby lion fish has been swimming about in the shallower waters and it hasn’t developed any sense of caution yet. So it came up behind me, quite close, just as I was floating and watching some other fish. It gave me quite a start, but it was unperturbed by my presence.

One time when I was snorkeling, a small fish swam with purpose towards to me and I could see its intention to bite, but I couldn’t quite believe it would dare attack big old me. Surely it was just pretending! However, it did nip me (I'm not sure if thought I was food or if it was warning me away). The bite wasn’t enough to even make a mark, but I certainly felt it (and wouldn’t necessarily want to repeat it).

Anyway, the coral and fish (and boats!) need to be treated with respect!