Tuna swimming

I couldn't possibly write about sharks and not give equal opportunity to the tuna of Port Lincoln!

Before I talk about our swim with the tuna, here is some background about this fascinating creature:

Southern bluefin tuna (SBT) are large, fast swimming, pelagic fish (ie. living in the open seas). SBT are found throughout the southern hemisphere mainly in waters between 30 and 50 degrees south but only rarely in the eastern Pacific. The only known breeding area is in the Indian Ocean, south-east of Java, Indonesia.

SBT can live for up to forty years, reach a weight of over 200 kilograms, and measure more than 2 metres in length. Breeding takes place from September to April in warm waters south of Java. The juveniles migrate south down the west coast of Australia. During the summer months (December-April), they tend to congregate near the surface in the coastal waters off the southern coast of Australia and spend their winters in deeper, temperate oceanic waters. After age 5, they are seldom found in near shore surface waters. (http://www.ccsbt.org/site/about_bluefin_tuna.php)

Basically, all I knew about tuna was that they were very big, quite fast, but apparently don't seem to mind having humans bobbing around in their territory.  We took the tuna catamaran out with a large group of people, and reached the tuna pontoon:

This image has been conveniently labeled with all the important stuff! We got into our handy dandy wetsuits and hopped into the water.  Being in the water with these guys took a little getting used to - any slight brush with any object in the water elicited shrieks for the first 10 minutes or so, but then you become accustomed to your surroundings.  The guides stood on the feed platforms with buckets of fish and threw them out to the people in the water.  You would have to catch it, or quickly grab it from the water to have a chance to feed the tuna.  For tuna feeding, it was recommended that you lie on your stomach and hold the dead fish out from your body and deep under the water.  Sometimes it felt like you were holding it for ages before a tuna took interest, other times it would grab it from you almost immediately.  It was startling to have an 80+ kilogram fish hurtling at you at ripping this thing from your hand, but also very cool.  There were little fish swimming about as well, and sometimes a group of them would swarm you and try to feed on your fish.  The little fish were surprisingly strong!We also swam in the middle area, which contained some local fish but it was not nearly as exciting as the tuna.  

When we had our fill of swimming, we got rid of our wetsuits and headed down to the underwater observatory where we got a different perspective.  We had the option of partaking in a 'sausage sizzle' on the tuna pontoon but at that moment there was nothing less appealing to me!  The boat ride back was not very long, but it felt like it took ages, particularly since they cruised by the harbour and gave us an overview of the history.  Jeremy was smart and took some 'Quells' before we left, but I was an idiot and thought I would be fine without them...I did end up being fine, but had a few moments of nausea and thought it might be disastrous!

I loved swimming with the tuna.  I don't know why I enjoyed it so much, but it was fun and a great way to spend my birthday.