TO YOU, REUNIONESE WATER-LOVERS…
Mataiea Beach, Tahiti. The golden light drapes across this heavenly place at the end of the day. Kids play in the water, women with long black hair, goddesses with sculpted bodies, swim a little further out. It looks like a scene from Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line. Kids are messing about on SUPs: one minute standing upright, the next underneath and splashing about! At the end of a rocky outcrop, a half-immersed fisherman waits patiently to catch his prey. Further on, a traditional pirogue slices through the water, the strokes of the oars keep up an impressive rhythm. Everyone is in the open water, apparently not concerned about safety.
A Tahitian friend’s son is participating in the Polynesia Waterman Kid. Only 13 years old, he cruises the huge O’ponua bay alone, on his SUP. He also swims, his muscles have gained volume, he has acquired a “swimmer’s trunk”. He is strong, angular, healthy, serene and full of life. Happy to live the ocean life. A balance. A harmony.
“How has this island been robbed of its ocean? How did this happen? “
What a contrast with Réunion Island! What bitterness, rage, injustice I feel when I think about Réunion’s west coast beaches. Swimming and water sports are prohibited. 21 shark attacks, 9 dead. Adrien, has just been devoured. The news has spread worldwide. His passion for bodyboarding has paid an unacceptable price.
How has this island been robbed of its ocean? How did this happen? Why can’t local kids and others put their feet in the water anymore, except in two lagoons, one of which is closed (Saint-Pierre) and the other access with a pass (Trou d’Eau), where now there’s a young bulldog shark roaming around?
Why hasn’t the ocean culture developed? Of course, this island is above all known for its mountains. Its waters have never been considered very safe. But, in the not too distant past, you took a few safety measures before going into the water, respected a few rules, and that was enough to really limit the risks. Today, it’s almost suicidal to paddle in the water or play at being Hawaiians or Tahitians. The west coast has become a treasure, that is deserted. World class waves break, without surfers. SUP crossings, swim-run, swimming, teaching kids the beauty of surfing, have all become inaccessible myths.
What could be more stunning and exciting than catching your first wave? A moment suspended in time, a lightning-strike that sometimes changes your entire course of your life: like the first turns in powder, first lift-off paragliding, the exploration of your first girlfriend’s body… But these divine sensations are misunderstood and unknown to the vulgum pecus who don’t put a foot in the water at Réunion. Joe Bloggs doesn’t understand this devouring passion for surfing that makes you take risks that he thinks are moronic. And, then writes the usual backlashes on social networks, like a pox: “it’s forbidden, so they shouldn’t be surfing,” “they get eaten, serves them right”, “the ocean is sharks’ territory”…and so on, and so forth.
The steward’s message on the plane: “We remind you that for safety reasons, it is strictly forbidden to swim, because of shark attacks”. A world first!
Réunion water-lovers are condemned to expatriate (many have done already) or to put their passion on the backburner and find other sports, like trail running, or homeopathy to forget.
Their lifestyle choices are now dictated by environmental technocrats, politicians, environmental activists, a group of twisted intellects, staunched to maintain a nature reserve that attracts and feeds bulldog sharks that are quietly proliferating. They cling to their ideological and financial business. Man against fish, or is it more the other way around? For these ecological businessmen, supported by so-called “green” associations, there’s no question of “regulating”, that is to say to, to resume fishing and “regulate” the number of 300kg bulldogs that circle around the island . This is scandalous, illogical, ideological, and yet criminal with regard to the deaths that have been caused and the economic disaster that it causes on an island that is ravaged by unemployment, France’s most affected territory. They will never reclaim the millions that have been robbed every year from a murdered tourist industry. The welcome message you hear on the planes landing at Saint Denis: “We remind you that for safety reasons, it is strictly forbidden to swim, because of shark attacks“. A world first! Or how to sink a tourist industry in one sentence.
“Everywhere else in the world when a species becomes invasive, you react”
Our friends from the “Green Party” receive grants, aid, jobs and are well placed to impose their views on the rest of the population. Thanks for the intellectualterrorism. What psychological AIDS has touched the island? In Tahiti, in spite of the Polynesian people’s immense respect for sharks, they fish them, they keep them at a distance in case of risk of attack, they swim with them when they are a harmless species. The important thing is balance, that humans and fish coexist. In Tahiti, the locals have strong enough characters not to be influenced by France. They master their own fate, even if they refuse any hard-hitting money.
On Réunion Island, the bulldogs made the holdup of the century in the blue waters. Everywhere else in the world, when a species becomes too invasive, there is a reaction, they cull wild boars when they devastate cultures, they hunt chamois when they overrun or contract diseases. They monitor bears and elephants if they endanger people’s lives. On Réunion, nothing. No discussion, no problem. Surfboards and SUPs collect dust or are turned into shelves in the garage. You think about those who died and wait for the name of the next fatal victim.
“Let’s remember all these people, these organizations, policies, park officials, when we go and vote”
The ocean has become just a backdrop, lifeless, and good ‘bait’ for tourists thanks to the enticing photos in brochures. Nothing else: is it irreversible? Keep happily polluting on the rest of the island, despite us, our green friends continue to protect the integrity of bulldog sharks, they say it is for the good of the planet! Let’s remember all these people, these organizations, policies, park officials, when we go and vote, when we have to take a stand and be heard. There are some territories where demands are made with sword in hand (Corsica). Do the Greens need blood on their hands for others to be heard?
Réunion Island water-lover friends, the battle seems very one-sided. But, you’re right, respect and negotiation are the only ways to move your cause forward. But, if one day the positions move, the clock hasn’t stopped ticking, there will be even more Bulldogs… Elsewhere in the world, kids will have learned the magic of surfing on the open water. We will find them in these fabulous watermen contests, where they show their SUP, surfing and swimming skills. They become “Aito”, “Iron Tree” in Tahitian, strong young contenders, enduring, muscular, athletic: balanced champions on this earth, thanks to the ocean. When can we have our little Aito on Réunion Island? Or is it just a dream?
Transamericana avec Rickey Gates
