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Sally Murphy, Australian author

Poetry Friday: Blowfish and Other Friends

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It’s Poetry Friday and my first post for 2022 – so, Happy New Year to you!

It’s summer here in Australia and summer, for me, means swimming, enjoying the sunshine and, as often as I can, snorkelling! I cannot believe that, until two years ago I had never been snorkelling. Now, I would go every day if I could.

Last week I drove south  verrrrrry early in the morning so that I could beat the crowds at a spot which is becoming increasingly popular, known as The Aquarium – a natural rock pool that is people sized!  And I was lucky enough to get there when, although there were other people, I had the water to myself for about half an hour. Even luckier – I spent about ten minutes floating above a beautiful octopus. I was especially intrigued by the wrasse that seemed to be following the octopus. Friends? A guard? Or was the fish perhaps waiting for the octopus to catch dinner, so it could have the scraps?

This week I was in Perth for work, and met colleagues for a swim, walk and breakfast at the beach. After we said goodbye I couldn’t resist seizing the opportunity for another quick snorkel before heading to work.   No octopi this time (though I did spot some of the tell-tale shell piles which indicate their presence) – but I was not lonely. The warmer water off the coast at present has lead to big swarms (schools?) or blowfish (blowies) which have been reported in the media and discussed in my various snorkelling and beach groups. At Woodman Point they weren’t swarming, but there were more than usual – so you can see in my video that there are more bowies than anything.

Blowies like to nibble on absolutely anything, which is not always the nicest sensation, although I have been amused when they’ve nibbled my toes in the past. Luckily, though, this week they did not choose to nibble on me, instead following me so that I felt like I was the leader in a watery game of follow the leader, and photo-bombing my videos. They made me smile, and they are, I think, quite photogenic with their big eyes and their smiles. So, all up, I feel like blowies are my friends, and have written a poem in their honour.

Blowie Friends

When blowfish puff
it means stay away
stay away
but when I snorkel
it seems that blowies
simply want to play.
Some complain
about these mice of the sea
but I can’t help
but smile along
when they
smile at me.

(Sally Murphy, 2022)

Speaking of friends, my friend Mary Lee is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup today, so swim over there and see what other poetry goodies can be found.

 

 

 

Comments

  3. Wow. I’d forgotten how special snorkeling can be, how restful. It’s a long time since I first snorkelled at Cairns in maybe 1994. I learned something about blowfish today too! Nice to see you here again, Sally.

  7. How lovely! We had only been married about 15 years (almost raised our two boys!) when I discovered we could camp, swim and and kayak on a patch of creek about 2km from our house. I couldn’t believe that we’d wasted all those years! So I get your wonder about your snorkelling discovery. Your poem is a joy to be shared.

  8. I’m loving these virtual underwater tours you’re sharing with us Sally, and what fun to have come upon an octopus! In your second film an area there looked like an underwater field of golden grass… Your Blowie poem is delightful, have you shared it with your new friend—Thanks for all!

  9. Ahhh….thanks for a little bit of summer in the midst of our Northern Hemisphere winter, and especially for taking us along on your snorkeling trips! I could almost feel the sun and the lap of the ocean. So fun to spend time with an octopus and smiling back at blowfish!

  10. I love that you share your snorkeling adventures. I pretend I am there. “Mice of the sea” is a funny way to think of blowfish. Thanks, Sally, and enjoy the summer.

  11. Loved both the videos, Sally, following the octopus & the blowies as they live their lives. I so enjoyed seeing the octopus quite camouflaged at times; he disappeared! Glad you have such friends to play with! I snorkeled in Belize this past summer, no pics but I thought of you & we loved seeing ‘below’! Happy Summer!

    • Thanks Linda. Yes, I glimpsed the occy and then thought that would be it, until I rounded the rock and found it again. So lucky!

  12. I love your videos almost as much as your poems. Blowies…mice of the sea. How fascinating. I wonder why there are more? I wonder what makes them a nuisance? I like that they smile at you. Enjoy summmer. I look forward to its return!

    • Thanks Linda. I am told it’s the warmer seas that bring them in in such big numbers. And they’re considered pests because they are poisonous to people and animals (if eaten) and yet very easy for fisherpeople to catch.

  14. What wonderful underwater adventures! love the playfulness of the language in your poem – the repetition of “stay away” which leads us to “play.”

    Thanks for sharing this today!