Community
Sister act wraps up its year of brrrr
A warm and supportive crowd defied a chilly Tacoma morning and chillier water to celebrate as two Key Peninsula-raised sisters flung themselves into Puget Sound waters on Sunday, Oct. 4 — as they did daily for the prior 364 days.
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Their splash-ins fulfilled a pledge that the media-savvy Stafki sisters — 22-year-old Emma and 17-year-old Annie — made last October as part of their crusade to draw attention to the plight of the Sound’s orca population.
Already well-known for producing an award-winning documentary about the threatened animals, they chronicled their year of cold plunges on their website, Instagram and other social media.
Their publicity campaign attracted attention, including from Seattle-based KING-TV, which featured the Stafkis as they surpassed the first 100 days of their self-imposed challenge.
The Stafki sisters had plenty of company for their 365th consecutive trip into the frigid waters of Puget Sound. Photo by Chapin Day
A day at the beach
Only their camera-toting mother witnessed most of their daily dips, but others drew environmentally like-minded plungers, friends, relatives or members of other maritime groups.
Sunday’s event, held in cooperation with the South Sound chapter of The Surfrider Foundation and advertised as a beach cleanup as well as fulfillment of the sisters’ pledge, drew about 250 participants of all ages to Owen Beach in Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park.
The beach clean up began at 9 a.m. Spirited and well-intentioned efforts by numerous bucket-toting volunteers were largely thwarted by the fact that Owen Beach was already remarkably clean.
By 11 a.m., plunger activity began as scheduled.
Emma and Annie addressed the crowd after each received plaques from the Surfriders Foundation honoring their yearlong achievement and, humorously, miniature orca stuffies.
The South Sound chapter of the Surfrider Foundation gave Emma and Annie Stafki plaques and stuffed orcas to commemorate their 365 days of plunging. Photo by Chapin Day
Then, after a hastily organized group photo of the gathered throng, the Stafkis urged the plungers to join them in the water.
Cold comfort
Slightly less than half of the crowd, those most bathing-suitably-attired, joined the sisters in the gently lapping but frigid water.
As the crowd surged in, it produced a chorus of joyful shouts from veteran plungers and startled squawks of “ohmygoditscold” from novice participants.
Some scarcely dampened their knees before streaking right back to sensible solid land and the comfort of the towels arrayed on the beach. Most stayed much longer and some performed full-immersion belly-flop style. Brrrr!
Many who joined the Stafkis on Sunday stayed in the water to enjoy a cool soak. Photo by Chapin Day
Before embarking on their 365th cold plunge, the sisters said they felt some relief that their promise is now fulfilled. They won’t face the daily decision about scheduling where and when to plunge.
But they also expressed satisfaction with its results.
What’s their next move?
“For now,” Emma said, “we want to develop our website” in hopes of spreading their mutual concerns about the Southern Residents and other orcas.