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 the overall power of waves worldwide is on the rise. This trend is consistent with the prediction that storms will increase in size and power as a result of global warming.   Link

It should come as no surprise that on January 5th of this year Mike Parsons set a new record for the biggest wave ever ridden when Brad Gerlach towed him into a 70ft+ bomb at the Cortes Bank.  And it should come as no surprise when that record gets broken.

Earlier this month giant waves were photographed moving across the skies over Iowa. They’re a natural phenomenon called “undular bore waves”.

When you look at them on a satellite image, they kinda resemble a WWIII wave period animation.

Link

Pororoca is a bore in the Amazon river that could be the world’s longest natural wave.

“Twice a year, between the months of February and March, the Atlantic Ocean waters roll up the Amazon river, in Brazil, generating the longest wave on the Earth. The phenomenon, known as the Pororoca, is caused by the tides of the Atlantic Ocean wich meet the mouth of the river. This tidal bore generates waves up to 12 feet high which can last for over half an hour.”

Check out this great post on Fogonazos. It’s got some great pics, video and links.
Thanks, Fogonazos!

I guess when they built the Montauk Point Lighthouse in 1796, the builders didn’t expect the point to slowly disappear.  Well, time has taken its toll and apparently, the lighthouse is now in danger of collapsing into the ocean unless something is done to stop the relentless waves from eroding the ground on which the lighthouse stands. 

The Army Corps of Engineers is proposing a $14 million sea wall.  Surfers are opposed to the sea wall because they say it would ruin the waves, so the local chapter of Surfriders has proposed moving the lighthouse back  from the water in order to save Alamo.  Although it would cost nearly twice as much to move the lighthouse, the surfers claim it’s a better proposition for the taxpayers: "You’re done for 300 years."  I, for one, can appreciate their acknowledgement of the fact that 300 years from now we’re gonna be stepping on this same rake again.

What’s kinda funny here is that, according to the article in the New York Times, surfing is actually prohibited at the point (but only enforced sporadically).  It’s amazing that the surfers have made it this far.

70percent put me onto these cool videos of Perry Farrell interviewing Kelly Slater. Slater mentions some new wave pool technology that he’s licensed. It’s called Surf the Ring. So far all I’ve been able to find on the web is this one-page site that offers very little info.

It’ll be cool to see if they actually produce one of these wave pools. These days the way mankind is learning to create and manipulate surfable waves…. just think about how much better you’d be at riding waves if you could go and practice at a wave pool that offered an all-you-can-eat buffet of perfect waves.
Surfing could be headed for a brave new world.

Here are links to the other 4 parts of the Slater interview:

Part 1: Early Days
Part 2: Mess of Energy
Part 3: Clean Surf
Part 4: Dolphins

Ironically, in the surfing world Florida is known more for producing great surfers, but not great waves.  The folks in Coco Beach, FL (home of Kelly Slater) are looking to make some nice waves by installing an artificial reef.  They’re working with the same company, ASR Ltd, that designed the Mount Reef in New Zealand. 

http://spacecoastreef.com has some interesting info & links on their site.  Here are some of their preliminary reef specs:

• Surfable Days: 300 per year (assuming at least 2 ft swell for those days)
• Surfing Ride Length: 400 ft (avg)
• Surfing Ride Duration: 40 seconds (avg)
• Breaking Intensity: High – tub rides during favorable swell & tidal conditions
• Construction Cost: $3 Million (USD)

Great to see the people of FL taking matters into their own hands.

Thanks, 70percent. 

 
Apparently 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 the shape of world-class surfing breaks has been utilised to design the reef with sophisticated computer models…" Better still, ASR Ltd claims that "national and international studies show that multi-purpose reefs bring 20-70 times their full construction cost back to the community through visitor spending."  I think the Mount Reef project  ran about 1,350,000 NZD, but don’t quote me on that – check out what happens when you click their link to where the money has gone.

Time will tell how well the Mount Reef holds up.  If it proves to be sturdy, then I’d imagine we’ll see more reefs like them being installed at some of the world’s more crowded beaches.

Lots of great pictures and videos that document the entire project from start to finish on the Mount Reef website.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – surfers are an innovative bunch.  When there are no waves to be found, surfers find a way to improvise.  For instance, landlocked Europeans do a fair bit of surfing in rivers.

YouTube’s got several videos of river surfing in Munich.  There’s even a project called Tube6 to make a wave in a river for the sole purpose of surfing.

Thanks, 70percent

Surfrider found a pretty tasty looking point (rights AND lefts) that has likely never been surfed.  Can you guess where it is? 

Hint: If you wanted to score some really sick waves there, all you’d have to do is clear out some of the islands that sit about 500 miles offshore to the east (to make a window for some groundswell)….and it’d pay to be as covert as possible because the locals probably won’t shine a liking to your presence in the lineup.  My guess is a high-altitude air drop would be the best way to make your assault.  Getting out is gonna be a whole other ball of wax.

Broceanographers 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 accurate information on the planet.  I wonder how many surfers are aware of the fact that nearly all of those sites get their data from the same sources, one of which being NOAA.

NOAA operates a global network of buoys and satellites, constantly monitoring Earth’s weather conditions.  NOAA also built and maintains WaveWatch III, a computer model that predicts global swell movements. Just  about every surf forecasting site that I’ve ever seen uses the WWIII model, which is freely available for public use, to generate their forecasts.  Whenever you see a fancy map of swell movements, chances are that the map is being generated by the WWIII model.  Some sites, like Surfline, make little tweaks to WWIII based on local knowledge & expertise in order to generate a more accurate forecast.  That’s right, we can all thank NOAA for those fancy, animated maps that show purple blobs prowling the ocean.

This fall the mothership is getting a new mothership.  Wired Magazine has a cool article about the new building that’s replacing NOAA’s old headquarters.  It sounds like some cool architecture. Link