Red Triangle 3

I awoke to a bit of ultra-swimming history as Amy Gubser, a local from Pacifica, California, swam from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon Islands (also called "the Devil's teeth"), a distance of 29.7 miles, completed in 17 hours. 

To understand the magnitude, the swim has never been done in a westward direction before and only five-times in total with the first completion in 1968.  The difficulty rests in the strong tides, dark water, jelly fish and water temperatures which drop to 6C. Oh, and there are the mysterious great white sharks who drop into the "red triangle" following thousands of miles in the Pacific to feed on the island's seals and possibly mate. The image one may have of a great white racing upwards from the ocean's oblivion, jaws wide open showing razor teeth, attacking a flotation-held camera, were likely filmed here.

I once visited the Farrallons in the 1990s with a strong first-impression from the acidic and overwhelming smell of bird guano as the islands support the largest seabird colony in the continental US. A lonely observation hut, usually deserted, exists for PhD students to study the islands unique ecosystem. It reminds me of Skull Island.

And from Gubser: "I wanted to show that, if you put your mind to something, you can do anything."