When waves crash on the shore they actually create vibrations in the Earth that can be detected by seismometers and used to determine the power of the waves. Seismologists have been archiving this data from 22 locations across the world for decades. Recently, a researcher noticed a trend in the data indicating that [...]
Archive for the 'The Ocean' Category
Seismologists say the surf’s up across the globe
Published by April 26th, 2008 in Broceanography, Science & Technology, The Ocean, Waves and World Records. 1 CommentRecent storms off the east coast of Australia literally whipped up freakish amounts of sea foam that ultimately made its way to shore north of Sydney.
Scientists explain that the foam is created by impurities in the ocean, such as salts, chemicals, dead plants, decomposed fish and excretions from seaweed. All are churned up together [...]
Underwater Map of California’s Coast
Published by April 17th, 2007 in Science & Technology and The Ocean. 0 CommentsThe California Coast State Waters Mapping Project aims to map the seafloor off California’s coast. They recently released data that illustrates the seafloor surrounding Mavericks. Visit http://www.mbnms-simon.org to read all about it and check out some cool images and this cool video.
Here’s a look back at all of last year’s swell activity. I got the animations from NOAA.
Nice waves breaking on a man-made reef in NZ
Published by October 6th, 2006 in Science & Technology, The Ocean and Waves. 0 CommentsApparently there weren’t enough waves at the Bay of Plenty, so they had to make more. The Kiwi’s Mount Reef project seems to be a success in terms of the quality of waves that it’s creating. "The artificial reef is designed to have a primary purpose of creating high quality surfing waves. A database showing [...]
Ship Tracker & VOS Program
Published by October 3rd, 2006 in Science & Technology, The Ocean and Travel. 0 CommentsHere’s a cool site that tracks ocean-going vessels. Take a look at the map and see just how many ships are out there at once. And it doesn’t even track all vessels, rather just the ones that are part of the World Meteorological Organization’s Voluntary Observing Ship program as well as yachts that report [...]
Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood
Published by September 20th, 2006 in Environmentalism & Politics, Health & Fitness, The Ocean and Wildlife. 0 Comments
Not all seafood is good for you. In fact, some seafood can actually be bad for you and the environment. Here’s a cool guide that tells you how eco-friendly your favorite type of seafood is. The guide also indicates whether there is a health advisory for each species. Pretty nifty.
Link
3rd Annual Surfrider Paddle for Clean Water
Published by September 11th, 2006 in Environmentalism & Politics and The Ocean. 0 Comments
Surfrider is having their 3rd Annual Paddle for Clean Water this Sunday. If you’re wondering exactly what a "Paddle Out" is:
A “Paddle Out” is a public rally where citizens concerned about the state of our coasts and ocean [...]
Altered Oceans: latimes.com’s disturbing report on the state of the ocean
Published by September 1st, 2006 in Environmentalism & Politics and The Ocean. 0 Commentslatimes.com has a five-part series, called Altered Oceans, on the various ways that we’re damaging the ocean. It’s got some disturbing photos, videos, and graphics. Seriously, you should check it out.
Link
Thanks, 70percent.org
NOAA’s New Building
Published by September 1st, 2006 in Science & Technology, The Ocean and Waves. 0 CommentsBroceanographers are constantly checking surf reports for current conditions as well as forecasts for the next swell. There are countless websites that report surf and ocean weather conditions. Each site tries to set itself apart from all the others by focusing on specific regions, using fancy graphics, and making claims that they’ve got the most [...]
Upwelling can cause “dead zones” in the ocean
Published by August 31st, 2006 in Science & Technology and The Ocean. 0 CommentsEarlier this month there was an area off the Oregon coast where the seafloor was littered with piles of dead sea life (typically slow-moving sea life, like crabs, worms, jellyfish - but no dead fish were found). This is the fifth year in a row that this has happened in the area, so scientists have [...]
$25K fellowship to travel the world studying the intersection of surf culture and environmental stewardship
Published by August 25th, 2006 in Culture, Entertainment & Media, The Ocean and Travel. 0 CommentsIf I could go back and do college all over again, I’d give some serious thought to doing it like Alexandra Cheney. Wheaton College granted her a $25K fellowship to travel to some of the world’s finest surf destinations (Polynesia, Australia, Japan, Costa Rica, Brazil and South Africa). Her mission is to study the intersection [...]
Time-lapse video of tide & currents at Black’s
Published by August 15th, 2006 in The Ocean and Waves. 2 CommentsHere’s a cool video that shows tidal movement at Black’s beach over time.
http://cil-www.coas.oregonstate.edu/ncex/blacky.c1.small.mov
Underwater gliders monitor ocean conditions
Published by August 11th, 2006 in Science & Technology and The Ocean. 0 CommentsUnderwater gliders are helping oceanographers remotely collect real-time information about water currents, pollution and ocean organisms. They’re currently patroling the waters off the coast of California.
Here’s a link to the project portal and a regularly updated video depicting the gliders movements.
Link
Nearshore Canyon Experiment @ Black’s
Published by August 9th, 2006 in Science & Technology, The Ocean and Waves. 0 CommentsHere are a couple of links to an interesting study of the deep canyons that make the waves at Black’s so special.
http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/article_detail.cfm?article_num=591
http://science.whoi.edu/users/elgar/NCEX/ncex.html
Up to 10 million different microbes live in the ocean
Published by August 3rd, 2006 in Science & Technology, The Ocean and Wildlife. 0 CommentsUntil now scientists had identified and named about 5,000 different marine microbes, but a recent survey suggests that there could be over 100 times that amount living in our oceans. Using a DNA probe marine biologists found 20,000 microbes living in a single liter of seawater.
"A swimmer taking just a swallow of seawater may be [...]
Making Better Surf and Cleaner Power
Published by August 1st, 2006 in Science & Technology and The Ocean. 0 CommentsScientists in Australia are taking a novel approach to generating power from wave energy. From the looks of it, this generator would not steal as much of the waves’ power, so surfers would not suffer from smaller waves.
I wonder if the English have looked into using this technology for their proposed wave energy project.
Check it [...]
29,000 plastic ducks adrift in the ocean for 14 years
Published by July 27th, 2006 in Science & Technology and The Ocean. 0 CommentsHere’s a cool story cool story about how researchers are learning more about ocean currents by tracking where the toy ducks wash to shore. Keep your eyes peeled for those ducks - they’re probably worth something.
Link
Study finds 1.5M people per year get sick from Cali beaches
Published by July 25th, 2006 in Environmentalism & Politics, Health & Fitness and The Ocean. 0 CommentsThe LA Times reports that an environmental economist at UCLA, in partnership with Stanford University, recently published a study concluding that each year 1.5 million people get sick from visiting California beaches. The study goes so far as to estimate that all those illnesses cost the economy up to $414 million annually.
“Researchers estimated that [...]
News & resources on Indonesia’s tsunamis
Published by July 20th, 2006 in The Ocean and Travel. 0 CommentsIt’s no secret that Indonesia is a popular destination for surfers. If you’re planning on traveling to Indo, you should read up on the latest news. Until Indonesia implements a reliable tsunami warning system, the rest of the world is going to have to help them along. Awareness always helps.
This site http://indonesiahelp.blogspot.com/ appears to be [...]
Anyone who’s seen or read The Perfect Storm has heard of rogue waves, aka "freak waves", giant waves that form and break far out at sea. These freakishly large waves can obliterate small ships and do serious damage, even sink, large ocean going vessels like oil tankers. Until recently scientists understood little about what causes [...]
Samurai Surfers Throw Down in Puerto Rico
Published by July 11th, 2006 in Culture, Entertainment & Media and The Ocean. 0 CommentsHere’s a pretty sweet story from PBS about a group of Puerto Rican surfers fighting to protect their local break from being wrecked by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
(Javascript required to view QuickTime movie, please turn it on and refresh this page)
Although the story is nearly a year old, those cats down in PR [...]
Surfers vs Environmentalists
Published by July 3rd, 2006 in Culture, Environmentalism & Politics, Science & Technology and The Ocean. 0 CommentsMost surfers typically support green initiatives that promote environmental sustainability, but evidently not when it comes at the cost of smaller waves. Surfers in the south of England (Cornwall) are fighting the construction of a wave energy farm on the grounds that it will reduce the power of the waves by more than 10% along [...]
Save Trestles . . . !
Published by June 29th, 2006 in Environmentalism & Politics and The Ocean. 0 CommentsAccording to NPR, the Natural Resources committe of San Deigo’s City Council unanimously approved a resolution, drafted by the Surfrider Foundation, that opposes the construction of a toll road through San Onofre State Park, home to one of San Diego’s finest surf breaks. Environmentalists say that building the road according to the current plan would [...]
Aloha, Mr. Bush.
Published by June 28th, 2006 in Environmentalism & Politics and The Ocean. 0 CommentsOn June 15, in a majestic display of compassionate conservatism, George Bush used his executive authority to create the world’s largest marine wildlife sanctuary by declaring a chain of ten islands and their surrounding waters a national monument. Roughly the same size as the State of California, the new reserve covers 140,000 square miles of [...]
This is kinda funny . . . like a heart attack.
Published by June 26th, 2006 in Science & Technology and The Ocean. 0 Commentslalatimes.com has a funny article about a fictional company, BuyAWave.com, that tracks ocean waves and sells them online. Fortunately, the idea is a little far-fetched, but not so much that we won’t ever have to worry about some miserable bastards actually trying it, if they figure out how to track ocean waves in greater detail. [...]
SurfParks is looking to make some serious waves
Published by June 26th, 2006 in Culture, Science & Technology and The Ocean. 0 CommentsSet to open their first location in Orlando, FL later this year, SurfParks plans on making some tasty waves, specifically for surfing, in wave pools all over the country. We’re talking waves made by surfers for surfers.
If the idea takes off, it could bring big change to the sport of surfing. Imagine, instead of [...]
Rip currents are often misunderstood.
When it rains all the filth and muck that’s accumlated on land gets washed into the ocean. If you think about all the crap that you see on the streets in your town, it’s pretty nasty. Paddling out after a rain puts you at risk of getting sick. Exactly how and when you get sick [...]
