Living by the ocean means you encounter marine creatures more than most, even though there's some you'd prefer to avoid. Whilst people might see Australia as a shark filled horror island, it's actually much rarer to have encounters with sharks where I live - thank goodness, as I'd be a lot more frightened of surfing if that was the case. The currents and cold waters don't seem to bring them as much, but they are there - viral videos of fisherman patting sharks offshore are usually the talk of town. I loved this week's video on the local community group that showed a guy telling a shark off for being a 'dickhead' because it was nudging the motor on his tinny. So very Australia. I'd point you to the video but it's behind a paywall - but if you're on Facebook, try 'anglesea shark'. Classic.

Close encounter with visiting curious dolphin, Anglesea

And then there was this story where a guy surfing a break I surf was knocked off his board. Shut the f**k up. La la la la la.

Obviously, I don't love sharks, but they are part of the ecosystem. If there seems to be more shark attacks, particularly up north with the bullsharks, it's not really a suprise - less fish, more people. Whether or not a cull is an answer is up for debate - again.

This week the Ocean Lovers community asks what our favourite marine creature is. I want to say 'dolphin' but that feels like a cliche. Last week were standing on the cliffs watching twenty dolphins, including mothers and babies, fishing for baitfish as the sun set - quite picturesque. And it's whale season at the moment, so there will be many eyes out to sea watching these magnificent southern right whales and humpbacks make their way to breeding ground along the coast.

Whales in my bathroom - illustration by AHKI ILLUSTRATION

We do have some dangerous things here, like portuguese man of war jellyfish washing up in the easterlies or blue ringed octopus, but chances of standing on them or being bitten by them are pretty remote. Even standing on stingrays is unlikely - they're kind enough to get out of your way. Last summer I saw three little ones and one massive one in just the one morning as I swam. I adore them, flying underwater as they do - so beautiful.

Truth is, from the wierd shelled elephant snails that munch seaweed in the moonlight to seals that scare the bejesus out of you when they leap out of the water, I couldn't rank sea creatures from favourite to worst. All marine life is sacred, and it saddens me to find that others don't believe so, like the Trump administration's policy to exempt Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations from some endangered-species protections, which will affect the critically endangered Rice’s whale. There's only about 50 of them left. It breaks my absolutel heart. As domestic energy production takes precedent, more threat to marine species will unfold, including renewed efforts to seismically drill in the Great Australian bight and thus affect our whales too.

Stingrays in my bathroom - Ahki Illustration

We notice already that there's a lot less fish than there used to be in our waters. It's hard to pick a favourite when really, all life should be our favourite, meaning we're more likely to want to protect it - even sharks. Mind you, last weekend I saw some guys pulling tons of mullet from the local beach - it's the season for it I guess.

I've swum with turtles in Indonesia, which absolutely amazed me - definitely a life highlight. We went looking for manta rays but couldnt find them.

And I could stare at big fat seals for hours and hours - here's some on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. They do freak you out when they pop up next to you in the water. They are such natural swimmers.

It's hard to pick a favourite sea creature here - we are spoilt for choice. I don't think I can decide. Not even a giant lobster. They bread 'em big down here :P

This post was in response to the Ocean Lovers Challenge of the Week. Please head over to the community via the curation account @oceanlovers and the link below. Would love you to join in!

With Love,

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