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Locals mostly don't swim in the swan/canning estuary because it's full of jellyfish[1]. The water quality is fine but ... ewww. They're not particularly harmfu

by Nursie 2y ago

Locals mostly don't swim in the swan/canning estuary because it's full of jellyfish[1]. The water quality is fine but ... ewww. They're not particularly harmful ones but you don't want to get any part of them in your eye. I have heard, though can't substantiate, that the mass jellyfish population (and there really are swarms of them) is down to the ecosystem having been basically plundered to extinction, and jellies having colonised. I guess in time things that eat jellies will become more prevalent and eventually a more normal ecosystem may return. The jellies appear to be introduced from the queensland area, and may have arrived in ships ballast. Also yeah, poor woman, jumped in to swim with the dolphins and one of them wasn't a dolphin. Bull sharks have been seen fairly far upriver too. Rather take my chances in the sea. ([1] Phyllorhiza punctata - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllorhiza_punctata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllorhiza_punctata)

defrost 2y ago
I'm a West Australian local, lived in Perth-Fremnantle in the 1980s and was often in the river, swimming, kayaking, falling off the river cliffs and bridges when climbing, or occassionally doing what is now no longer possible; opening the door and jumping from the Fremantle train as it crossed the rail bridge over the harbour. These days you'd have to ride the roof and deal with live over electric wires, etc and all the CCTV: https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/man-faces-jail-for-fremantle-train-bridge-jump-as-wa-premier-weighs-in-20180408-p4z8gc.html https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/man-fa...
- Nursie 2y ago
  Oh wow. I can see the appeal when you're a kid, but that guy should probably have known better! I'm a recent import so I guess I'm giving my impression of why I wouldn't swim in the river, and I haven't seen anyone swimming in the river much, not round South Perth or the city centre, or the wider bits of the Canning river in the waterford/rossmoyne area before it joins the Swan. I may just not know the good spots though! Lots of boating of course.
  - defrost 2y ago
    > Oh wow. I can see the appeal when you're a kid, I was 18 or so at the time and it was pretty small beer next to, say, solo shooting the horizontal falls in a kayak or climbing the Centre Point Tower in Sydney * > but that guy should probably have known better! I have no way to judge, I wasn't there and I don't know the person involved. If it was a drunken spur decision he was likely an idiot to try, if he had the angles sussed and knew where the piers were then that makes it a calculated move rather than how the newspaper article paints it <shrug>. > I may just not know the good spots though! There are many - Swan Canoe Club might suit you, and there's always Blackwall Reach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGvCtLxi59Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGvCtLxi59Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyhOT0itbvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyhOT0itbvA * crew, not lead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qch1Gd8VLK0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qch1Gd8VLK0

by Nursie 2y ago

defrost 2y ago

I'm a West Australian local, lived in Perth-Fremnantle in the 1980s and was often in the river, swimming, kayaking, falling off the river cliffs and bridges when climbing, or occassionally doing what is now no longer possible; opening the door and jumping from the Fremantle train as it crossed the rail bridge over the harbour. These days you'd have to ride the roof and deal with live over electric wires, etc and all the CCTV: https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/man-faces-jail-for-fremantle-train-bridge-jump-as-wa-premier-weighs-in-20180408-p4z8gc.html https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/man-fa...

Nursie 2y ago
Oh wow. I can see the appeal when you're a kid, but that guy should probably have known better! I'm a recent import so I guess I'm giving my impression of why I wouldn't swim in the river, and I haven't seen anyone swimming in the river much, not round South Perth or the city centre, or the wider bits of the Canning river in the waterford/rossmoyne area before it joins the Swan. I may just not know the good spots though! Lots of boating of course.
- defrost 2y ago
  > Oh wow. I can see the appeal when you're a kid, I was 18 or so at the time and it was pretty small beer next to, say, solo shooting the horizontal falls in a kayak or climbing the Centre Point Tower in Sydney * > but that guy should probably have known better! I have no way to judge, I wasn't there and I don't know the person involved. If it was a drunken spur decision he was likely an idiot to try, if he had the angles sussed and knew where the piers were then that makes it a calculated move rather than how the newspaper article paints it <shrug>. > I may just not know the good spots though! There are many - Swan Canoe Club might suit you, and there's always Blackwall Reach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGvCtLxi59Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGvCtLxi59Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyhOT0itbvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyhOT0itbvA * crew, not lead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qch1Gd8VLK0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qch1Gd8VLK0