What do you do if you’re a scared seaslug trapped in the water column? Make like some weed and leaf?! (So the joke might go). This was what I saw today when I went for a swim. I found an Elysia floating in the blue but I didn’t realise what it was at first. That’s how good the camouflage is. As they land they spread their wings widely and look very leaf-like indeed. For the most part they just resemble a piece of Ulva or sea lettuce. It’s only when you look closer that you spot a face sticking out. This is a quick blog about winter Swimming & the Willy Lit Festival.
Book launch FREE event at the Willy Lit Festival – Sat 21 June, 7PM
If you fancy a slightly warmer event next Saturday (Solstice) night, I’m delighted to have been invited to launch my new book at the Williamstown Literary Festival on 21 June. I’ll be talking for about 30 minutes about chimps and mini-cars, brain parasites, whale personhood, farming with bandicoots, stressed-out grasshoppers and human nutrition … plus how, contained within our minds and everything around us, is the solution to our anxiety and many of our environmental problems.
I’m joined afterwards for a Q&A with two extraordinary Australian women of conservationWhy is animal conservation important? Animal conservation is important, because animals are the only mechanism to create biodiversity, which is the mechanism that creates a habitable planet for humans. Without animals, the energy from today’s plants (algae, trees, flowers etc) will eventually reach the atmosphere and ocean, much of it as carbon. The quantity of this plant-based waste is so More, MC’d by Josie Gibson. It’s a free event … and I can promise you’ll leave feeling a lot more positive about the world.
Winter swims
Given it’s a balmy 12.5 degrees now in the bay … brr … I don’t know how often I’ll be posting in the next few weeks. Even with a 5mm suit I lasted no more than about an hour before it was time to give up.
The upside of this time of year though is that the water is clear and all the sargassum and caulerpa grows. Which means it’s nice and pretty. The downside is fish life is a lot lower in winter as they move out into the centre of the bay.
