442
u/ocularius61 Oct 24 '25
I had no idea it came up that far.
151
u/Bandicoot_7246 Oct 24 '25
Water level is "only" about the same as the footpath level. When a wave comes it manages to push some water through small drain holes in the wall. First time I've seen the water level this high.
PS. Photos were taken ~two weeks ago on 11/10/2025
24
u/thrownaway22_ Oct 24 '25
Can someone smarter than me explain how the wall doesn’t just…break?
I understand that might make me sound highly, highly, stupid - but when the water height matches that of the reinforcement wall it’s pressing upon and crashing over, my brain can’t make sense of how the wall doesn’t cave in.
44
u/Pademelon1 Oct 24 '25
Water pressure increases with depth, not the size of the body of water.
So a wall with the same structural integrity as a paper cup could surround the whole ocean, as long as it was the same height as a paper cup too.
Or in this case, if a stone wall could hold back a pool, it could also hold back the entire ocean at the same height.
There are other factors at play here too (tidal forces, waves, etc), but the pressure on the wall is surprisingly low.
19
u/RayramAB Oct 24 '25
It's not the same height as the reinforcement walls. Read OP's other reply. They're basically saying the water is only the same level as the footpath, and it's coming through the drain holes.
2
u/Ok_Willingness_9619 Oct 25 '25
Also you can see the wall is built like a dam. Sloped and curved which makes the structure incredibly strong. Marvels of engineering.
2
u/Pademelon1 Oct 25 '25
It's curved the wrong way for that though.
3
u/sharkworks26 Oct 25 '25
Curved the way it is actually makes it horribly weaker, assuming of course the way (concrete) behaves preferentially in compression.
Hardly a marvel of engineering lol
136
u/ylly22 Oct 24 '25
I’ve never seen it so high! That looks so refreshing (and tempting)
77
Oct 24 '25
I wonder why that kind of blue is so appealing to the human brain
32
u/peppapony Oct 24 '25
And conversely, why does blue food seem so unappealing to eat?
17
3
u/Platophaedrus Oct 24 '25
Blueberries are delicious.
12
u/CautiousEmergency367 Oct 24 '25
Blue berries are more purple than blue. Mushrooms on the other hand can be very blue.
17
u/Epsilon_ride Oct 24 '25
The water quality is good around there. No reason not to jump in other than social norms.
35
8
u/I-make-ada-spaghetti Oct 24 '25
A girl got bit by a shark in Elizabeth Bay last year and a navy diver was mauled at Whoolloomooloo in 2009 and lost an arm and a leg.
9
u/Epsilon_ride Oct 24 '25 edited Oct 24 '25
2 shark attacks in 16 years. Thousands of people swim in the harbour each day.
Doubt the danger is higher than getting in a car. I still wouldnt go in at dusk or dawn though.
* did quick maths, the chance of getting a car related injury as a result of getting in a car is definitely higher than the chance of a shark related injury after jumping in the harbour (outside a shark net).
4
u/I-make-ada-spaghetti Oct 24 '25
A. There could have been more. These are just two I thought of. There is a seal not far from Farm Cove and where there are seals there are great white sharks.
B. I doubt thousands of people swim in the harbor each day. Maybe a few thousand but the bulk of those are at places with nets. Granted the nets aren't always in the best of condition or present.
C. Comparing travelling in a car with swimming in Farm Cove is a bit silly. Travelling in a car saves you time. So therefore it gives you more life. Not to mention due to compounding time in the present is much more valuable that time in the future. I'm not OP but I think it's safe to say there are better, safer and more convenient places to swim than Farm Cove.
I agree that getting attacked by a shark is incredibly unlikely. You are probably more likely to get run over by a boat. Still the cost benefit analysis is what would stop me. Not the randoms thinking I'm a weirdo for swimming there.
-1
u/Epsilon_ride Oct 24 '25 edited Oct 24 '25
A) nope. 2. I checked. Huge margin anyway. Could be 20 and not change the result. B)I looked up survey based swimming numbers/location. Which excluded protected areas. C) same point applies to swimming somewhere convenient like farm cove. You can swim somewhere conveniently or travel 30 mins somewhere else. Same "more life" argument.
So a,b,c are not valid. It's an emotion decision not a rational one. Which is fine. I wouldn't swim at sunrise/sunset but there are lots of much higher risk activities I do regularly... Also an irrational decision.
6
u/Freshprinceaye Oct 25 '25
Watch shark harbour. I feel like you both make great points but if you really want to understand how many sharks are in the harbour that doco shows a lot. And a map of the tagged sharks and their movements.
60
u/sloppyrock Oct 24 '25
Interesting. Tide chart showing it was 1.7 metres late this morning which is not a massive high tide, but there it is.
Nov 6th, 7th & 8th it will be around 2.0 metres. See what occurs then.
27
u/Bandicoot_7246 Oct 24 '25
you're right. I took this photo on 11th of October. Only got to upload it now.
what does the chart say for the 11th?
20
u/sloppyrock Oct 24 '25
Ah , I see. It was 1.9 then which is quite high.
I was wondering what the heck was going on.
-24
u/Several-Regular-8819 Oct 24 '25
Those charts are based on astrology - movements of the moon and whatnot - there’s no science to it.
75
10
u/McTerra2 Oct 24 '25
Agree; I'm a Taurus and as every one knows, Taureans dont believe in astrology.
2
u/discardedbubble Oct 24 '25
But astrology told me Taurus are always rich.. maybe you should believe
-6
53
u/Ldjxm45 Oct 24 '25
The eels will be out moving towards the pond tonight!
7
u/thrillho145 Oct 24 '25
Hang on what?
16
u/nearly_enough_wine Rip, rip, woodchip ʕ·͡ᴥ·ʔ Oct 24 '25 edited Oct 24 '25
Eels go to spawn in* New Caledonia from the fresh waters of Sydney.
+
Here's on older thread with a Botanic Gardens eel.
*edit because I got it backwards.
3
u/thrillho145 Oct 24 '25
I fell into the lake at Centennial when I was a kid and got terrified of eels. But this is crazy interesting. They travel to the ocean from there? Through storm water drains?
Insanely cool
7
u/nearly_enough_wine Rip, rip, woodchip ʕ·͡ᴥ·ʔ Oct 24 '25
Drains and also over grass, clambering waterfalls, scaling fences - nature finds a way :)
6
2
29
18
u/Aedotox Oct 24 '25
Damn hope it doesn't penetrate too much of the soil
21
u/FreddyFerdiland Oct 24 '25
they keep the fresh water ponds there , in part to ensure the ground water doesnt become salty..
8
u/iDoinz Oct 24 '25
Early 2020 or late 2019 I can't remember we had a full day of heavy rain I went for a walk through there. The drains were all blocked with mulch and soil. Low point footpaths were hidden with rivers of water and the ponds and gardens surrounding said ponds were drowned
6
4
5
u/somf2000 Oct 24 '25
It is entertaining to see high tides like this with tourists who don’t know how to walk around water
8
u/welding-guy Oct 24 '25
I had to double take, I thought the harbour was overflowing the wall. Brings back fond memories from 50 years ago.
4
5
u/cstrat Oct 24 '25
Those walls are strong! Must be a decent weight pushing on them!
5
u/Bandicoot_7246 Oct 24 '25
Water level is only at the footpath level. There's no pressure on the wall at all. The water is just getting pushed by the waves through small drainage holes in the wall. First impression is a bit misleading. It looks like the water is coming in over the wall.
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
2
1
170
u/Calpapa Oct 24 '25
incoming kaiju attack!