‘This is our spiritual home’: A multitude of Surf lifesavers Come together to Pay tribute to Shooting Those lost.

Gazing quietly toward the surf on Bondi shoreline, hand in hand with hundreds of other volunteers, Lockie Cook opened up to the grief of a area's deeply distressing week in recent history.

“It feels like my defences are coming down,” he remarked.

Beach rescuers gathered in their hundreds on the weekend to observe two minutes of silence and remember those who died in the previous weekend's violence.

From the very young to the elderly, alongside friends and neighbours dressed in red-and-yellow uniforms embraced one another, forming a chain stretching from the crescent-shaped beach’s north end toward its south end.

“The big thing to emerge from this tragedy is just the depth to which this community means to me,” he said.

“Here is our spiritual ground … It’s just important we unite and truly recover.”

A Moment of Quiet Contemplation

At 8.15am, the period of silence was called for by a man at the beach’s central lifeguard post, around which lie clusters of tributes.

“A short time can be a an eternity but take this time for introspection,” he advised.

“Link arms with the person next to you, shut your eyes and reflect on the loved ones grieving so we can grow back stronger for this locality.”

Lifesavers looked down or to the horizon as the community and its leaders stood by. The only sounds were the ocean's rhythm, a distant canine cry and a whirring rescue helicopter, which passed along the shore as the quiet ended.

Taking Back the Sand

Friends and families slowly came together in an embrace and applaud their companions at the far end of the beach as cheers rose from the observing onlookers.

This was another example of the rescuers working to unite the beachgoers this past week, said one participant, a local of the north club and a person who assisted on the day of the attack.

“Right now, I sense the love and support,” said the participant, who asked not to be named.

Having made his home in Bondi for most of his years, he joined the community swim on the following day and has sought to take back the beach as his own.

“It was like asserting a presence, it’s therapeutic,” he said.

The Ethos of Rescue

Gene Ross, a longtime lifesaving teacher, spent the period of reflection next to his newly certified son, considering the unity his club had exhibited in the days following Sunday.

“Carrying out the tragedy here … prompted Australia to rally behind the individuals affected.”

Hundreds of rescuers laughed and cried together as they returned in the direction of their patrol bases and through the park where their colleagues saved lives on Sunday.

Dozens more stayed on the water's edge, on duty to help people returning to the ocean.

“Our duty is to all and that’s the core principle of lifesaving,” Ross affirmed.

“It is our calling as volunteers: we head into the crisis.”