Scared of the ocean now.

PUSSY CUNT!!!!

I live for the ocean.

What a PUSS PUSS!! Meow!!!!

Pirates, of course!

Fish.

Nature is not your friend.

^ The tale of Jonah and the whale just got a bit more believable.

Tsunami

Undertow, sleeper waves, both real threats where I live near the Northern California coast. Every year someone seems to get swept away, sometimes entire families. That or they accidentally or intentionally drive off cliffs and bluffs. Those winding narrow ocean side roads along the cliffs put me on high alert.

Once I was wading in the ocean and I saw a large, dark, slowly swimming creature nearby. Couldn't get out fast enough. A friend was chomped by a shark while swimming in Drake's Bay, not fatally but he has a scar. But mostly, it's undertow and sleeper waves. Some beaches are notorious and I never turn my backs to the ocean where those warning signs are posted.

For those who are unfamiliar with them, sleeper waves are giant waves that suddenly woosh far into shore and sweep unsuspecting persons and pets back out to sea. They say if your dog is swept out, don't try to save it. People have tried to save their dogs only to drown while the dogs make it back safely on their own.

undertow and currents. I prefer calm seas to the ocean. Though the Jersey, L.I., Mass, and R.I: ocean beaches have their pleasures. I was a much more powerful swimmer from 15 to 35 or so, than nowadays.

Shark attacks have become rampant.

I don't believe that R9

I think that's a whale shark @ R4 and they eat tiny organisms like plankton or some shit.

Sharks scare me. I surf.

This shit here....

All the urine.

Orcas eat kids? News to me.

Orcas know exactly what humans are, and we are not food.

r13, wild orcas almost never hunt humans. Almost all attacks against humans by killer whales have been by orcas in captivity.

Portuguese man o' war and rip currents.

[quote] Now I swim in the Pacific and have been stung last year and now a month ago by a stingray.

Cirkey! Those'll get yew!

I got caught in a strong undertow last weekend in NC. I wasn’t that far out, but I was struggling and there was a deep trench that I scraped my knees in. I like the gentle currants and clear blue water of the gulf coast.

I have always been TERRIFIED of the Mariana Trench.

And I realize it's 100% irrational, but I even hate looking at pictures of it!

Another nice Orca vid

Tentacles

i too have spent 99% of my ocean time in the atlantic, OP, but a recurring nightmare of mine involves these “sleeper” waves. thankfully i wake up.

Corbin Bernsen and his receding hairline in Tidal Wave: No Escape

With climate change, I'm scared of the ocean flooding the entire east coast.

R10 according to ABC news today, there have been 24 shark attacks in the US this year. Peak time for shark attacks is August and we're at the very beginning of the month.

ruh roh. thanks

It's SHARK WEEK! Woohoo! Someone's watching just like her idol the Orange traitor!

I'm not afraid of the ocean, it's a big part of my life. I grew up on the beach on the East Coast. I live on the beach on the West Coast as an adult. I once tried living inland, briefly, and all I can say for it is that it makes a nice rental property now.

I’m not afraid of the ocean because I either look at it from the beach, float on it in a boat, or fly over it in a plane. I only swim in pools (my pool).

You don’t know what’s down there!

Bitch,I was minding my own business when you entered my home without my permission .

I grew up in Oregon and visited the coast regularly, though it's not exactly hospitable for swimming aside from a small window in July–August, and even then, sometimes not. The water is too cold and the weather on the coast is rarely warm enough to warrant full-on swimming. I did still swim in it quite a bit as a kid though, but was always hyper aware of the dangers and never ventured too far out. The main threat there is not so much the marine life, but the waves and undertows that can sweep you out to sea before you even know what's happened. On the rockier parts of the coast, it's a common occurrence for people to get hit by sleeper waves which thrash the rocks and drag anything on them into the ocean. People die that way there every year. Many of these areas are usually marked by signs warning you, but people are dumb and pay them no attention. Next thing they know, they've had a burial at sea.

[quote]People have tried to save their dogs only to drown [bold]while the dogs make it back safely on their own[/bold].

I don't believe the second part. Dogs aren't any better equipped at handling the ocean than people are.

Actually they are, R34. The best advice if caught in a rip is to not try to fight it, let it carry you out beyond the breakers then the rip lets you go as it peters out - then you can swim horizontally to the beach away from the rip and catch a wave back in.

Dogs don’t know to fight the rip so this comes naturally.

[quote] I swim in the Pacific and have been stung last year and now a month ago by a stingray

How are you not dead?

I'm more afraid of swimming in lakes.

That dark water where you can't see the bottom, just freaks me out.

Plus, you have no idea what is lurking in a lake.

For all you know, someone could have dumped a shark in there.

How do the Orca know not to eat the guy who is swimming?

It would be so easy for them.

The video is both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

It's not in their culture. Each pod eats a specific type of food taught to them by their mothers. We are not on the menu.

There are NO recorded attacks of orcas on humans in the wild.

Coastal algae blooms, flesh-eating bacteria, and trash islands.

Not sure if any of these are logical, but those're my oceanic fears.

R40 here. Correctly posting link.

I wonder what Orcas and marine mammals in general would say to us if we could understand each other.

I was always scared of the ocean. And then I drowned.

OP here. Love R1! "Sting, Stong, Sting" will be my mantra when I go in the ocean tomorrow in Santa Monica.

The people who just died when a huge rock from the hill above the beach fell on them killing some of them. They were just sitting in their folding chairs minding their own business. I guess this just points the randomness of life and death. When its your time, it is your time. I have survived many medical issues that were life or death, but lived. I firmly believe we can't do much about destiny.

(38) Thanks for the lovely video of the man swimming with whales. Stunning. the other one with the man on kneeboard is also fabulous. I felt relaxed yet exhilarated to watch such beautiful filming.

[quote]I grew up in Oregon and visited the coast regularly, though it's not exactly hospitable for swimming aside from a small window in July–August, and even then, sometimes not. The water is too cold and the weather on the coast is rarely warm enough to warrant full-on swimming.

Thank you. I lived in Portland one year, and thought "the coast" was the most overhyped plot of oceanfront land I'd ever experienced.

Oceans are scary!

I am on the Brittany coast right now and they have toxic algal bloom on some of the beaches. That is when a type of seaweed dries and releases hydrogen sulfide. Animals and humans can die within minutes if they inhale it. It is due to the agricultural run-off near the coast.

Sea lampreys, of course.

In all of history an Orca has never nibbled on a human? Why don't they eat us? We are just as gooey and tasty as a seal I would think.

I am NOT a nature gay.

I CUTTA bitch.

Also consider: flesh-eating bacteria.

Asshole dolphin intentionally knocks guy off his paddle board.

All those orca videos were filmed in New Zealand! What is going on down there! I'm terrified of jelly fish. I did a ocean swimming race in an area where jellyfish could be numerous. Before the race I was advised 'just swim around them, but if there's a swarm just swim through them as the local type doesn't really sting. It doesn't feel that great- like swimming through tapioca pudding'. (My advisor was British).

You should be.

"What if anything scares you about the ocean?"

Don't fucking ask...

When you see a Dolphin stampede like this, it usually means that they're "running" away from a pod of Orca - just like a herd of Gazelle from Lions.

[quote]r7 For those who are unfamiliar with them, sleeper waves are giant waves that suddenly woosh far into shore and sweep unsuspecting persons and pets back out to sea.

That ubiquitous 70s painter Rosamund was swept out to sea by one when only 46. She was poking around a tide pool in a quiet cove when [italic]WHOOSH!

Haha at R57!!

That dolphin was like, "outta my way, BRO!" The dolphin totally CHECKED that douchey paddleboarder!

Even funnier is how the video got 1300 likes, and 66 dislikes.

People voted overwhelmingly in favor of the dolphin!

Dear r59. There is absolutely no reason to be afraid of blobfish. As a marine biologist, I can assure you th

That video of the orcas and the swimmer is actually a 60 year old woman. She got out of the water at first and then decided to go back in which is the video you saw.

Whats going on in New Zealand? Well because of a well funded marine biologist named Ingrid Visser and her awareness campaigns, New Zealanders have embraced their Orcas. If an Orca becomes stranded there is a well publicized 1-800 number that folks call and teams of volunteers flock to the beaches to save them. They're well informed and effective. Kiwi's have lost their fear of the Orcas and there's more interaction now. The Orcas are very curious and love interacting with swimmers and kayakers. So far, so good.

Look up Ingrid Visser. She's very cool.

R34, it's true, it happens often. Owner drowns, dog makes it safely to shore.

Another drowned owner and live dog.

This happened at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Dead owner, live dog.

Anyway, you get the picture. Sometimes both owner and dogs perish but we hear these stories enough it gives you pause and we on the North Coast have been warned of the possible consequences have been warned about trying to attempt a dog rescue. It doesn't always end well.

My biggest fear of swimming in the ocean is realizing that anytime someone flushes a toilet, the result ends up in the water I'm swimming in.

This is especially true at Sandy Hook in New Jersey, where, on a clear day, the Brooklyn and Manhattan skylines are clearly visible and the water at Sandy Hook is especially murky. Not to mention the fear of blue ice falling out of the numerous jets coming in for landings at LGA, JFK and EWR

How would you even save a dog in high waves? They can keep afloat themselves. If you tried to hold them, the'd scratch you up with their paddling paws ... and you couldn't swim back holding them, anyway.

Sorry, Ocean Beach in the article at R68 is in San Diego, not SF. There is an Ocean Beach in SF and it's known for strong undertow. I know a man who drowned there while sailing along the shoreline, less than 100 feet from the sand. His boat, he fell out, wasn't wearing a life jacket, and was pulled out to sea.

This story makes me sad, knowing he's autistic.

Probably better to devise an invite list of people he actually KNEW for his family's party, rather than just messaging virtual strangers.

On another note, aren't they all in the same music industry? So it's not exactly like being invited to a party by some shadowy accountant in Peoria who has absolutely nothing to do with you. She and her dad seem kind of like drama queens.

^^ haha!

TOTALLY wrong thread!! SORRY!

This just melted my heart....

Seals are dogs of the sea.

Aw, that's adorable @ R74.

I'm not fond of strolling through eel gardens.

Whale shark!

(R52) While reading your post with the Rosamond print, I was wondering why I had never heard of her work. I searched online to see what was available online. She is a terrible artist, cannot draw but one face facing front, and when she tried, the 3/4 faces were really off. Reminded me of the schlock Kean big eye paintings. She has very limited talent, and I say this as a practicing artist with training in painting, using oils, watercolor or acrylic. I am not saying that she didn't make money. Those prints beg to occupy a 13 year old's bedroom.

(R62) - sorry, typo. I meant you re: ainting

[quote]r79 Those prints beg to occupy a 13 year old's bedroom.

And they did! I remember seeing one when I was younger than that, and thinking, "Oooooooh....pretty!"

Her work was hugely successful. I think it had a vibe that fit with the sexual revolution that was going on then, and women saw themselves in those images. They were like, "Yeah, that's me, on the beach, my hair blowing free, my denim shirt unbuttoned, with my calm, sexy eyes!"

I imagine a single woman of the 1970s seeing one of the posters for sale and snapping it up because she identifies with the general air of it.

Her life was a regular Lifetime Original Movie in the making!

Yeah her biography is basically her bouncing from one bad dude to another. Weird, that her paintings were supposedly empowerment images.

So she used an overhead projector and fashion magazine images at first to create her images. And then "creatively" didn't finish the paintings. Jeeze, nice gig.

I don’t go any deeper than where I can stand. And always right in front of the lifeguard chair. If it’s too rough, I don’t go in at all.

Rosamond needs her own post/thread.

[quote]r83 So she used an overhead projector and fashion magazine images at first to create her images. And then "creatively" didn't finish the paintings. Jeeze, nice gig.

I don't know how much is posthumas PR or what, but I did read somewhere she was the most financially successful female artist of the 20th Century. (Or maybe it was just of her era?)

You can puke now.