This week we caught up with Doctor Victoria Hobson and Professor Stuart Bearhop at the University of Exeter’s Bioscience Department to get the lowdown on jellyfish, including which ones you can expect to see off the Cornish coast and how to stay safe in the water.

The human brain is programmed for survival, to respond to current threats. I can see the threat of pollution when I swim, surf and walk through Cornwall. The clock is set to ten years to change before irreversible climate changes tip the balance beyond repair. In order to maintain equilibrium, humans and the environment have to give and take equally. We are nourished by the environment around us and must take the time to care for it. For me, when the ocean is clear so is my sense of clarity. When I see pollution, that is lost.

Getting myself to the beach and going in the sea has been a tonic to my turmoil and I feel like it has the power to have this effect on others as well. When I enter the water the cold heightens my senses and brings my mind forward into this present reality surrounded by nature, the weight of land is eradicated and as I float through the blues and greens I know that as long as I have this I will be okay. 

It’s the act of stepping into an uncomfortable situation that I find beneficial. I’ve used cold water to train my willpower, which has allowed me to also step into uncomfortable social and personal situations too. There’s no doubt that sea swimming has played a vital part in my recovery, cold water has the magical power to cure. It’s a powerful tool, one that’s helped me rebuild the foundations of my confidence. 

As we explore Cornwall’s coastline searching for wild swimming locations, we stumble across all manner of things. When we saw our first shipwreck, the RMS Mulheim, we were equally enthralled and bemused as to how such a big cargo ship could have strayed so disastrously from its intended path.

After struggling with my mental health from the age of nine and spending years trying various talking therapies, prescription medication and substance abuse, wild swimming has been an instrumental part of my journey to becoming a healthy and functioning adult.