Can’t Stop Thinking of Pelicans

I left my house at 10:45 today and I need to stop at Big 5 Sporting Goods to pick up a new pair of swim goggles. My goggles have started to leak through the right lense on the last couple swims. It’s not a heavy leak yet but it is annoying and I might as well get new ones now. When I get to the store, I’m overwhelmed by choice. The last time I bought swim goggles was at the Hobie surf shop in Dana Point and there were two to choose from. One was labeled “amateur” and the other “competitive” which made it easy to choose. I interpreted “competitive” as “better” and that’s what I got.

Now I have a couple options from Speedo (which is what I had) as well as some from Nike and some other unrecognizable brand. I go with Nike because I like the large size which I assume will open up my field of vision and I like the dark tint. They are about 30 bucks which doesn’t seem crazy and is less expensive than a couple of the others. My last ones lasted about two years so that’s about 10 cents a swim. Yeah I can afford that.

It’s a beautiful day at the beach here. The sky is clear and it’s about 62 degrees out. There is a bit of a breeze blowing. The water looks textured and I see what might be chop out on the water? I can’t really tell. There is definitely something going on out there. I see random splashes. Is it a dolphin? I don’t see fins. Is it a whale spout? Seems awfully far inshore fo a whale but also not unheard of. I see a couple boats in the area and some people on the bluff looking out with binoculars. I’m very curious. The water just seems unnaturally bumpy in isolated spots and a somewhat different pattern from normal wind turbulance.

I don’t see sharks and that’s the main thing I care about. That’s about the only “unusual” thing I would really want to avoid.

As I walk down onto the sand, the big tractor is working the rock right here in front of the ramp but there is just enough room for pedestrians to squeeze by. I don’t understand why the tractor seems to be working in this spot every other time I am here. Wouldn’t it do it’s thing here and then just move on? This is probably why I am a software engineer and not a civil engineer.

I am carrying both of my goggles with me and have my old pair in my rear zippable pocket just in case my new pair doesn’t work for some reason. It took me a while to figure out how to adjust them to the shape of my small head. As I start to walk out to the surf, I put them on and it’s just slightly disorienting how tinted they are but I like it. It almost makes me feel one step removed from the surf I am walking through. It’s up a couple notches over my last couple swims but not particularly big. A larger wave breaks in front of me and I dive under the white water and then feel my legs pulled from behind into its vortex. I manage to move on and am soon well past the surf - or so it seems. Just when I am about to start veering south, I see a particularly larger wave about to break ahead of me. I pick up the pace and just make it through the peak before it crumbles.

I surface and have a brief discussion with myself on the size of that one and then move on southward. Like the last couple of swims, I’m trying to alternate my breathing side and struggling with the awkward form. I’m pretty sure the only way this is ever going to feel even somewhat normal is if I keep doing it.

About half way down the beach I start to notice what seems like a fair amount of bird activity around me. I stop to look around and there are pelicans everywhere. They are not just passing by from one end of the beach to the other like I am used to. They are totally hanging out here and seem to be involved in some kind of feeding frenzy. They are floating in groups on the water and then every now and then they fly off and around and dive for food.

When I get to the south end of the beach, they still seem just as active here. This is nuts. They are everywhere. This must be what I saw on my way down from the parking lot. I see something large not far out from me. Is it a dolphin fin? No. It’s just a pelican sitting on the water. These guys are quite large. My mind starts to do its thing and wonders if I am just bothering them out here and would they try to attack me. I’m sure they could do serious damage if they wanted to. Well, I’m not writing this from a hospital bed and happy to report that no humans were harmed in the composition of this post.

As I head back north, it doesn’t seem like this herd of pelicans thins out at all the entire way up the coast. Are they following me? I very much doubt that. It’s not a 100% pelican population. There are some Gulls and a few Cormorants in the mix too. I don’t see any fighting among the species.

Soon I discover what they are all binging on. I see large schools of fish swarming about below me. It looks like a fish I haven’t seen or noticed here before. They are smallish and spindly. They are somewhat transparent and they don’t seem to be swimming as a group in a single direction but all seem to be swimming all about in a large mass. The water around the surface also feels gritty - like there is loose sand swirling about. At one point, I swim by this thick cloud of sand just to my left. It looks like it is alive or might be surrounding something that is alive but I don’t see anything that looks to be animate inside. Over the course of the swim I see these sandy dervishes a few more times but this is the closest one. The water here looks extra agitated. It’s really weird. Again, it has a different feel to it from wind swell. It’s as though something live is thrashing about just below the surface. It might just be those fish.

While the turbulence here seems sort of self-generated, the wind does feel like it is picking up and the overall water surface is very much wavy and bumpy. I have to wonder just how much salt water I gulped down especially during one of my alternate stroke intervals.

Every time I look ahead to check my trajectory, not only do I spot my familiar lifeguard tower but several groups of lounging pelicans right in my path. I wonder if I should make a concerted effort to avoid them but they seem pretty good about getting out of my way when I come and given their volume, I would have to really go out of my way to avoid them.

The water temperature has come down a degree or two since Saturday. We had strong northwest winds all day yesterday, but fortunately we didn’t lose too much warmth. I checked the buoys this morning preparing myself for the sight of that mean number 5 but 60 was the lowest reading. It’s May. I’m sure it will be 68 in a couple weeks - possible but I’m not sure if it is likely.

I reach the northern end of my swim and I’m ready to turn back. I’m not getting any warmer but I am grateful for a couple spots I have swam through that have felt comfortably toasty even if they were short lived. The way back goes fast and is in the same direction as the current. This water really feels topsy turvy now and I almost feel dizzy when I switch my breathing side. It’s time to head on in.

As I walk to dry sand I reflect on what I saw today. What a swim! Today is testimony to the fact that everyday really is different out here. What if I skipped the swim today? No guarantees tomorrow would be the same. I've been doing this four years now and I have never experienced it quite like this before. Who knows, if I had come just a couple hours sooner or later it may have been birdless. I check my pictures and there are 66 and I was in the water for an hour and 25 minutes. I drive home and just can’t stop thinking about pelicans.