CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
I’M ALLOWED TO HAVE AN OPINION: The NSW coast has been hammered by wild surf conditions over the last two days, as powerful winds whip out of the same weather system that dumped snow in the mountains this week.
Lifeguards from Wollongong to Coffs Harbour did their best to direct swimmers away from the beaches, but unfortunately their advice was ignored by a large number of YouTube experts.
Despite the fact that wave heights of 8.4m were recorded in Sydney’s Port Botany for the first time in 50 years, thousands of people who spend a lot of time on conspiracist Facebook groups appeared carefree as they swam out into the open surf.
Off the coast, waves reached at least 14.2m, but the extremely dangerous conditions did very little to discourage those who refuse to be inconvenienced by the advice of professionals.
Unfortunately, there were hundreds of ocean rescues off the coast of Sydney yesterday, as a result of this bizarre movement of wildly unqualified citizens convincing themselves that they know more than the people that have spent their entire careers studying the ocean.
“Yeah. It’s really annoying having to put yourself at risk to save the life of someone who should have just taken your advice in the first place” says one Sydney lifegaurd, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of having his personal details leaked online and receiving death threats.
“I can’t imagine what our doctors are going through treating anti-vaxxers in the Covid ward”
“I didn’t realise how much funding had been slashed from education until I tried to have a rational conversation with these people”
However, the grave concerns that lifeguards hold regarding the misinformation causing near death incidents in the NSW surf have been completely dismissed by the conspiracists.
“Haha” sneered one rescued surfer, Magnolia (35, Cronulla) when asked by our journalists why she felt the strong recommendations of lifeguards didn’t apply to her.
“Because I believe in freedoms”
“Because I’m not a sheep”
“Because I don’t believe in being controlled by a tyrannical fully integrated national lifeguard service, providing services to more than 65 local governments across Australia”
