The massive thunderstorm in the early hours of the morning was quite unusual and the lightning was really spectacular. With such loud thunderclaps it was impossible to sleep during the early hours before dawn. The rain pounded on the rooftop clattering like missiles pounding from above.
Actually it was nothing more than a storm in a teacup though the sound and lighting effects really made for a spectacular show. Once the sun came up, the sky cleared and I was able to make my way down to the beachfront to survey the scene after the thunderstorm. It soon became warm as the bright sun burnt away any remnants of cloud cover.
Despite the approach of early winter here in the south, the beach is still hot in the blazing sun, once the storm has passed. I could see that the tide had washed quite high up onto the beach. Loads of driftwood and lagoon grass lay along the high tide mark along the sand that stretched for miles.
Besides that, I came across two seal carcasses. The seal colony that takes shelter here in this marine reserve just offshore around the Peninsula sometimes has the occassional casualty. The seal life is prolific here and during heavy storms, sometimes their bodies wash up onto the beach sand. They either succumbed to old age or to the heavy storm swell at sea, or they became the victim of the apex predator in this region, namely the great white shark and other smaller shark species.
When these seal bodies wash up onto the beach, the municipality sends a digger vehicle to pick up the massive carcass and cart it off for disposal, before it decomposes leaving a very pungent odour which I have smelt on occasion.
This keeps the beach clean and healthy, since numerous locals frequent it's long stretches on a daily basis. I was able to catch some early morning quiet time on this otherwise popular stretch of the beach here in the town of Plettengburg Bay, in region known as the Garden Route, on the South Cape coast of Africa.
Despite the presence of sharks in the relatively warm seawater, I still see surfers going out to catch waves occasionally. They make for a brave site with no concern for the potential sharks lurking just below the surface of the water.
Whales also frequent this bay on an annual basis and they should be here in the coming months as winter arrives in the south. Where there are whales you will also find the sharks. The same could be said for the financial worlds where the term whale and shark are used for massive investors with large sums on the one hand, who are like whales, and then the opportunist scam artists etc who are like sharks, scamming investors out of there hard earned gains.
Wherever you go in life you might find the benign whales and the sneaky sharks who are like predators, cold-hearted and on the prowl in the hopes of bagging their prey. Then you also get the small fish and seals who swim around in their small circles, trying to catch a bit of a luck here and there wherever they can in the bay where whales play night and day.
There are also dolphins here in the bay and if you're lucky on a good day it is possible to see them swimming in their long schools that stretch for what appear to be miles, there swimming just behind the breaking waves offshore. It's a beautiful sight to see as they too surf the waves like playful mammals enjoying the bliss of being alive.
Photos my own. Published and written on my mobile device, uploaded onto the Hive blockchain.