A Shrimpy Stand-Off

I was so excited to go swimming today...hadn't been in almost a week!  The sun was out, though chilly with some little puffy clouds and La Jolla Cove looked like a lake...low tide, flat and smooth and a promising sunset in the making.  The algae bloom had subsided and that was reason enough to be thrilled.  Today was the day to try out my new 'tiki wiki' that my Sister made for me.

A Tiki Wiki is basically two large towels sewn together with holes for your head and arms;  quite popular among the swimmers in LJ Cove. It's a large warm tent in which to put on after a swim or to change out of your suit and into dry clothes without having to find a facility...some might be saying they don't have a problem with that anyway!  Being a bit more modest than some, I prefer this method.  Actually, I prefer running up to the Jacuzzi at the Athletic Club.  This does have one added advantage: you can just drive home as you are, without alerting the authorities.

My sister, Stephanie, of Make It, Bake It, Buy It, Fake It blog fame, did a bang up job on it.  Originally, we were going to really deck it out with a hood and pockets, but that didn't quite work out.  Note to self: Don't use terry velour.  It slips and doesn't hold a proper stitch.  Because she had so much fun making this one for me, I may be dusting off my old Singer and start whipping them out myself!

The water today was about 62F (my favorite temp is 62-64F) and silky smooth with fishies all over the place.  Yea! I can see fish!...hell, I can see my own hand!!  It's been SO long.  We had that darned red tide for about, I don't know, at least 6-8 weeks...too long.

Looking South toward Children's Pool at Sunset tonight

Stroke, look at fish, stroke, see the sea lion swim under me, stroke, see a swimmer pass by, stroke, see the kelp and a pelican dive after a fish (poor fella).  But you get the idea.  I was loving it, just cruising around looking at stuff with the eyes of a child that had never seen it before.  I went over to the Marine Room and floated among the Leopard sharks and rays for a while and over to the Tower (no body surfing today).

On the way back toward the 1/2 mile buoy, I felt something sharp and stinging on my back (left shoulder blade) and immediately tried to sweep whatever it was off and my hand hit something hard but small!  I stopped and turned around and there staring at me were these small black beady eyes...I was being starred down by a large shrimp!!!  A shrimp?  Prawn???  What the...nah, here?  There were 3 of them.  And just as I was getting curious enough to really examine it closely, the one starts coming at me!  Attack of the giant prawns!  LOL  I screamed.  I splashed it away.  I actually got scared and swam away fast!  How's that for a brave open water swimmer?  Ha-ha-ha  I'm okay with Whitey but a lil ol' shrimp is scaring me witless and keeping me up all night!  Got back at asked LG Tim if he'd ever heard of such a thing, though he had not.  Kathy phoned and after hearing my story, asked what I had been smoking!  It's funny, if I had heard it from someone else, I'd think the same thing, except I had a lovely welt on my back that burned and itched like crazy.

this is just what it looked like



There's a great website on all things fish out of UC Davis.

Here's the stats on it:  About 6-8 inches long, 3-4 inches around, pale in colour (no spots), black beady eyes, swimming on the surface in about 30+ feet of water at dusk, and very aggressive. 

I've been looking up info on line but nothing definitive.  Could be a Pacific White Shrimp, a California Prawn or Pacific Pink.  Evidently, they do come to surface to feed on plankton in the evening hours.  October is mating season...though I doubt I'm his type!   

Meanwhile, my Mom, Brother-in-Law, Scott and friends have been having a field day chiding me on this with jokes, and now videos (see below).  If you have info, please let me know.  If you see one, the best way to handle it is with...cocktail sauce!