You mean other than the fact that this area is a breeding ground for Great White Shark?

 

Swim it up!

Hello there - I swim once or twice a week in the Pacific and have not had any problems.

I do rinse immediately with fresh water when available - but so far have not grown a third eye.

I swim right off the dock behind my boat, but do look at the water quality and try to time my swims with the clearest days.

No problems with sea life - there are the occasional sting ray, but if you shuffle your feet when you get in - this problem will take care of itself.

 

Yes, but the Georgia Strait is in fact a Great White Breeding Ground....Besides professional courtesy in your case doesnt count

 

Thanks for the replies so far--I hadn't heard any local talk about great white sharks out there--is that fact, or are you "pulling my leg". And I don't understand the point about "shuffle your feet" in relation to the stingray....So far, this doesn't sound very encouraging! Are you both suggesting that I'd be quite stupid to swim in Strait of Georgia or Gulf Island waters? I certainly don't want to be fish food, but would like to continue swimming if at anchor, etc.
Am I interpreting your posts correctly?
thanks,
Frank.

 

I am serious. But I would google your area and check with the locals.

 

Other than issues with Hypothermia due to the water being a mellow 50 degrees and the occassional hungry seagoing predator, you'll be ok.

 

thanks for your replies. I am used to cold water, so am not worried about that, but the "occasional predators" are a concern. Are there any precautions one can take to minimize the risk? I will check with local folk as well.
Thanks,
Frank.

 

Try not to look like a seal!

 

:laugher :laugher :laugher

Mike

 

O.k., I think I'm starting to get it--I'm supposed to wear ugly bright-coloured swim suit, eat lots of garlic for lunch, perhaps smear my body with unsavoury sauce of some kind, and carry a large knife!!

Seriously, I live in an area where there are black bears close by, which generate great fear in some people, but I have never had a problem with them. Us locals raise our voices when hiking to ensure any bear in the area knows we are coming so we don't surprise them, especially when they have their cubs with the. We also avoid carrying food with us, but aside from those precautions, it's no big deal. Are there similar precautions one can take when swimming in the ocean (ie. how do I avoid looking like a seal to a hungry shark?).

Thanks for your help with this--I really would like to continue to swim after a good sail, but also would really, really like to avoid being eaten by a predator, if they exist in that area.

Frank.

 

If you don't shuffle your feet, you stand a good chance of stepping on a stingray and it will retailiate... If you shuffle your feet, you will make enough of a disturbance that it will leave before you have a chance to step on him.

Also, swimming at an anchorage is usually relatively safe....swimming in the open Pacific is asking to get eaten... Tania Aebi has a great story in her new book, "I've Been Around", about a delivery she did with her husband. It goes something like this...

"Her husband was captain. She, the owner of the boat and another person were the crew. The owner of the boat decided that he wanted to take a swim...so he dived off the bow, and swam back to the stern, and climbed up the swim ladder. This was so refreshing, that he did it a second time. However, about 10 seconds after he got back on the boat the second time, a large shark hit the stern of the boat, about where he had been 11 seconds earlier. They thought he was having a heart attack at first..."

Needless to say, he did not swim again that trip...or probably since.

 

Well, let me put it this way. If you went prancing through the woods of Alaska in your lederhosen ringing a bell, yes you would warn the Grizzly bears of your presence. But you might also piss them off. They might just slap you with their big paw for wearing a silly outfit and making a racket. So don't get any big ideas like splashing in the water to let the Great White know you are coming.
Do as I suggested, research the area and check with locals. Are you safe statistically? Perhaps. But check it out first.

 

Surfesq-

BTW, if you're in the position to shuffle your feet, you're in less than five feet of water, and the Great White is probably not going to be looking for you there all that often. Bull sharks on the other hand do like shallower water.

 

The Bulls can get nasty too. I'm in the PNW as well. surrounded by a living National Geographic scene and can relate. It takes some getting used to, seeing things ya only used to see on the nature channels or Disney all the time. Last week, I was out for a relaxing sail when a Bald Eagle came swooping down about 30' astern to grab a trout. He then went flying lazily by me on a parallel course with a nice bit of dinner in his talons.

 

Yeah - locals...

They will give you the best advice - not a bunch of weirdos on the internet who don't even live near you!

In my area they do a little test - if you put your hand under the water and you can see it clearly without a lot of green discoloration, it is a good day to swim.

You can also look at the surface of the water and get a good read - sometimes you can see the oil spread over it and some days it looks pristine.

As for the sting rays - if you shuffle your feet near the shore where you swim, they can feel the vibrations and take off. They tend to like warmer water though, so you may not have this problem. I see tons of them in a quiet cove where I like to wade in the water, but so far no trouble - keep your fingers crossed.

 

The answer

May I just suggest that if you have any "friends" on the boat with you, you could just ask them to take a dip first.

 

I have not and could not take a swim in the icy Pacific waters, but I have swam/dived beside barracuddas (where they swim in schools right beside... in touching range), and have been uncomfortably close to a very nice sized tiger shark while swimming on the surface against a current, amongst others.

They don't mess with you. From a divers perspective, take off all of your jewlery. Nothing flashy. If you had a female with her that was on her ("time of the month"), they do not get in the water. If you have any open cuts, don't swim.

Other than that, they don't mess with you. There are exceptions.... maybe the pacific is an exception, but Tigers and Bulls probably do 10 times more hits than all the Great Sharks combined and they have not botherd us. I can only assume that is the case in the Pacific too (in general). Typically, when you see those Discovery Channel Great Whites, they have been throwing in raw meat or blood into the water to get them going. Also, if you have been doing any fishing (especially spear fishing), you really don't want to get in the water. They can smell blood a long way off and will go frantic with it.

I know you origiinal question was the Pacific, and I agree, CHECK WITH THE LOCALS, but you should be fine. If you want to be sure, throw a friend in the water. Of course if you/they die by shark attack, don't come back and haunt me!!

 

Pacific Swimming

I have swam in the Gulf Islands and further North (where the water is warmer) for many years without problems. I normally just towel off, but after several days the skin feels clammy. There are no significant predators in customary swiiming areas and few sandy beaches where stingrays might hide in the sand. Enjoy!

 

Although well out of your area - (South-Eastern Australia), I could not resist a reply. Some parts of Oz, along with South Africa, probably have the highest incidence of shark attacks anywhere. That said, the actual attack rate is such a minimal occurrence, you probably stand a better chance of dying in the bath or being clobbered by a passing powerboat.

I swim regularly off the boat in Sydney harbour, including diving for hull cleaning etc and that means being in the water for a long time - and I'm still alive (if being shore-based equates to living). Off places like Gabo Island on the NSW south coast, divers go down to see the sharks all of the time and I'm unaware of anyone being taken. On the other hand, I would never swim in the Gulf of Carpentaria, though the natives do. There are enough bonze Whalers, sea snakes, stingrays, jellyfish, stonefish etc to practically walk acrodd on their backs, The most feared area is, however, the Great Australian Bight and the West Australian coast where swimmers off beaches genuinely run a a risk from Great Whites and Hammerheads. Even so, the incidence is statistically irrelevant

I guess in conclusion, just don't do anything too silly - never swim at dusk or dawn (peak activity & danger time), or when there is an injured fish or blood in the water. Otherwise, enjoy! Take an underwater camera and you may have some interesting tales to tell

Cheers

Alan

 

Swimming off the end of the dock at the marina is not a good idea.

 

IAlso, is it o.k. to simply towel off after swimming in salt water, or does one need to do a fresh water rinse to avoid skin irritation or other potential problems?

I swim in saltwater every day. A fresh water shower afterwards is a good idea but not absolutely necessary. You will not be uncomfortable in temperate climes if you do not rinse off. Just follow your normal hygene routine.

 

Frank, I live on one of those islands and regularly swim in the Strait of Georgia, as do tens of thousands of others. I have never heard of any shark doing anyone any harm. Even if there were sharks around, you would be far, far more likely to be eaten by traffic on your way to the marina than by a shark. I believe your new pal Surfesq is pulling on your peg leg.

 

By all means swim away. Black full wetsuits make one look like a seal, one with lite patterns alternating with dark break up your silouette and that is what is recognised best by animals (Including people). Not a lot of shark attacks in that area tho (not like the surf in San francisco area,Half moon etc.)

The water up there is cold, starfish move at about an inch and a half a minute (even in warm water) if your swiming off the boat you neednt worry about stingrays, Don't let wifey in the water in her period, no blood in the water of any kind (Just like chum), up where the Aleut's hang out they take their Umiaks out of the water when the orcas show up ( course where you are going to be the natives paddle aroud and sing to them (different strokes eh?).

I have hopped in for a nice swim midway tween San Diego and Catalina which is Mako city and can still talk. Have fun!

P.S. Brown Bear can be up that way (Grizzley) and they aint as wussy as Black brother, kind of grouchy actually. Polars don't get near that far south but if you go north enough ( you wont be swimming without a baliey suit) and they catch your sent they will stalk you. if they catch you, that will be that

Dewey

 

I have dove in the straits, Puget Sound, etc. (several hundred hours) and have never had a problem. Water temperature will be about 45 deg F in the summer and 50 deg F the winter (average). Hypothermia should not be discounted, survival time about 20 minutes at that temperature without a wet/dry suit, much less before you find you will have difficulty climbing out back onto the boat.

Wildlife has never been a problem, however I would not go into the water if I spotted seal, Orca or Ling Cod. Seals can give a nasty bite if disturbed (about like a large dog), and are the natural prey of Orca. Ling Cod can be very aggressive and territorial, and have been known to go into feeding frenzies. They are usually deep (>70’) and not often on the surface.

In shallow water in that area you don’t have to worry about Sting Rays, but do watch out for Sea Urchins, they are very plentiful and will leave a barb lodged into your foot that will require surgery to remove and leave a nasty infection.

Mostly you sound like you are worried about parasites, infections, etc. picked up from the water. Not to worry, it’s very very rare to pick something like that up. Usually it’s from untreated waste dumped from municipal areas and the area up there is very concerned about water quality and ecology in general. Southern California has to be careful because of untreated waste dumped in Mexico, but not the PNW.

If you can tolerate the cold, go ahead, have a dip. Just don’t do it single handed.

 

Swimming in deep water = entering the food chain (somewhere in the middle)

I will stick with a bucket and Joy

 

I swim, surf, sail and dive in Australia. All you need to do is swim with a freind, You cant out swim a shark, BUT I BET YOU CAN SWIM FASTER THAN YOUR FREIND.

ps: we are not on the sharks diet, they bite becase they dont have hands, most attacks are survived because we dont tast right ( not fishy ). In north estern Aus, salt water crocks are a bigber worry.

enjoy the water.