Swimming with the sharks

Ena and I went swimming on Shikanoshima last week. It was our first time to go together this year. We road our bikes counter-clockwise around the island to get to the beach on the northern tip, passing some nice scenery on the way:
We had picked up some cheap inflatable beach toys earlier and were happy to finally be able to give them a field test:
The ball works perfectly:
The nozzle on the big green ring had an unfortunate habit of constantly opening, meaning my lungs had to constantly fill it back up again. Nonetheless for 300 yen it wasn't a bad purchase!

I've been a bit worried about swimming in these waters since there was a story on the news a couple weeks back about beaches in neighboring Nagasaki prefecture being closed due to the presence of hammerhead sharks. Further internet research turned up all sorts of stories of people in the waters around Kyushu getting attacked or even eaten whole by sharks, including great whites. But it was REALLY hot out and there were lots of other bathers so we just said "screw it".

Its kind of a long bike ride out there from our place, but on the way back we could enjoy the sun setting at our backs as we crossed the bridge from Uminonakamichi: