Dolphin Address 8 2003
29 juni 2003
Klaas Koch, the salty skipper of the diving vessel 'De Zeester' I once heard to comment on an exceptionally flat sea: ' It looks like Lake Placid'. These are the truths one never gets rid of. So that was what could not help thinking when I came to the border wall and found an unlikely flat pavement at my feet. Maybe it was the offshore wind, but where until recently stormed an enormous whopper of water that could only be accessed with effort, nothing was left but a swimming pool.
The other day I was guessing whether jellyfish occurred in either on- or offshore winds. If it has anything to do with them, I now know for sure. Only once I 'd seen so many jellyfish before. And swam amidst them, even in trunks. That was ten years ago, in Denmark. 'Watermen' they were called and the only thing they did was slither.
But these were the wrong kind. I've never seen so many before. This was no twilight atmosphere no more, more like a three-dimensional minefield. To that should be noted that a jellyfish is as large as the length of its tentacles. With these up to three meters. They cause nettle like lashes, that last, at least in my case, for about 3 hours. My 5-4-3 protects the larger part of my body, except for my hands and my undivemasked face.
Still the water, that was quite clear, had a mild, indefinite, soft luster. Jellyfish create a spatial effect. They mark the places, that would otherwise be transparent and therefore invisible.
A striking number of jellyfish have lost many, if not all of their tentacles. I suspect Dusty of maiming them on purpose. They do trouble her, for she avoids them with her head. On tail-end she takes revenge: at least she spins the creature into a knot, but sometimes she lashes it to smithereens.
Because out of necessity I regularly work out in crowded swimming pools I have gained a lot of experience in avoiding people. This comes in very helpful now, though I would not want to offend anybody.
According to modern probability calculation I should have hit a jellyfish at least 27 times in three quarters of an hour at a density of 70 %. Last year I described two cases in which Dusty kept me from being stung (Dolpin Address 16, (Dutch Edition only)). I have to put my trust in her, for she demands all my attention. And I do this too, and don't get stung at all.
That's how a guardian angel works.
Jan Ploeg, Fanore meadow, July 1st 2003
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