104. Unexpected

2022 has been a bad year for diving all over my usual Australian sites so far, with torrential rain, storms, and floods. The water became been so bad that the Weedy Sea Dragons, usually safe at 10 meters or so, have seemed imperiled. And a majestic, by all accounts, but nematocystically challenging swarm of jellyfish hung for weeks around Sydney.

At the end of this dismal period, one day last month I went down to Cabbage Tree Bay, Manly, not to swim but to see some friends. To my surprise, the ...