One for the Record Books

Strong offshore winds yesterday, which means only one thing in the minds of anyone who spends their days thinking about waves…great surf. The surf in fact was much more than great, it was awesome. Although the swell wasn’t as high as I had hoped it would be yesterday, it was big enough to catch the wind blowing in from the west, sculpting the waves into perfect smooth walled up faces. The gusting breeze from the beach lifted my yellow board like an airplane wing, reducing friction with the water and allowing me to glide effortlessly down the line; with bottom turns as soft as butter. It was like surfing on a cloud. I’ve experienced such excellence in offshore conditions only a few times in my life, with yesterday’s waves rivaling the surf Louie, Paul, Carl and I had in Costa Rica back in our college days. Just sitting out beyond the breakers, feeling the wind rip the wave crests into a glittering arch of spray raining down around us in Australia’s warm endless summer sun, was enough to make this one of the more memorable surf sessions I’ve had. And it gets better.


While waiting for the next set to roll in, a light grey/brown body appeared just below the surface about five meters beyond us. My mind searched for possibilities as to what it could be…a shark, dolphin most likely. When it finally surfaced I recognized its walrus-like head and broad round finless back right away, I had seen several of them during my time around Barrow Island in my MFO days…Dugong.

“Holy Shit!” I yelled through the wind and spray to Elise who was sitting a distance away from me, “It’s a Dugong!”

“Was that a Dugong?” she yelled back, apparently in doubt as to what we were seeing. We waited a minute for it to resurface in order validate our sighting.

“There!” I yelled again and pointed to it as it leisurely lifted its nostrils out of the water for a breath, before arching its bulbous back and rolling out its whale-like fluke just above the surface for a dive. “Dugong!, It’s a freaking Dugong!” I yelled again and slapped the water in excitement.

It was literally close enough for us to hear its exhalation and see the characteristic scarred back and tiny sunken eyes of this species. Dugongs are related to manatees. The only differences I can think of between the two are that Dugongs strictly reside in the sea, where as manatees are often more brackish; swimming in the marriage between fresh and salt water systems. Manatees also have a rounded paddle-like tail fin similar in shape to a beaver tail, differing from the Dugongs whale fluke. Both groups are grazers, the only herbivorous marine mammals, feeding on sea grass beds and thus containing poor vision, which would explain their reduced sunken eyes. Dugongs and manatees are in the order Sirenia, and evolved separate from the Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoise) and Pinnipeds (sea lions, seals, and the walrus).

What a day indeed. Unfortunately I have no photos of the event, but the images in my mind are quite vivid.