Comments for Oceans, Waves and Beaches

Comment on Another beach fill project fails > Isla Blanca Beach Park, Texas by John Weber

John Weber — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:28:40 +0000

For more on the many problems associated with beachfill visit http://beachfill.blogspot.com/

John

Comment on Masuo Ueda from Surfrider Japan talks about the tsunami and unfolding events by Jim

Jim — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:47:11 +0000

good question jim. surfrider japan’s major campaign in years past focused around a nuke plant dumping radioactive matl into the oceans there

Comment on Masuo Ueda from Surfrider Japan talks about the tsunami and unfolding events by Jim

Jim — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:19:45 +0000

and today, April 4th, what do we have to say about 3 million gallons of radioactive water being dumped into the Pacific? what do we learn from this? what do we have to watch for in the days and years ahead?

Comment on Taking our eyes off the diamonds (and focusing on the myth of artificial reefs) by cas

cas — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 03:00:25 +0000

i see the Boscombe reef has been closed due to safety reasons. No wonder ASR want people to forget about their failures.

Comment on Why I podcast by Oceans, Waves and Beaches | Dipping a toe in the water: The Sean Ahlum podcast

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:01:47 +0000

[...] via itunes here. And if you’re wondering why I create podcasts like these, that answer is here ‹Previous Post Surfrider in [...]

Comment on The relentless power of the ocean by H. S.

H. S. — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:57:07 +0000

The nature has its own rhythm and it destructs but also regenerates. Maybe we don’t want to admit this but our lives are a part of the nature and also go through cycles of destruction and regeneration. The disaster should teach us to be humble and accept the fact that our lives depend on the fate of this planet and our environment. We should commit deeper to the surfrider (or other environmental) causes and think really seriously about how to co-exist with the nature and prepare for the natural disaster. (If you are stupid enough to go out in the ocean in the middle of storms thinking you will catch a bigger wave – it’s your life – I won’t stop that person from going!)
This is probably the ultimate conclusion drawn out of this earthquake-tsunami experience but many Japanese people are not ready. People are hurting. The grieving process hasn’t begun for many families missing their loved ones. So for now, maybe no surfing in Japan. But I think if you are a surfer, you should really go out and surf. The experience should center you and reminds how small your existence is in the middle of the ocean below the sky above the water. Maybe this is the fine time for community leaders, activists, surfers to think deeper and plan ahead.

Comment on Do artificial reefs work? Vol 3. Will artificial reefs reduce crowds? by Adam Fraser

Adam Fraser — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:04:24 +0000

Great article, Jim. Some simple math and – frankly – common sense go a long way.

From a scientific point of view, however, it’s always best to try to prove yourself wrong rather than show evidence for why you’re right. So what I’d like to see is a post that goes the other way and tries to find reasons when/how artificial reefs can reduce crowds.

You could start with the math that you did and (1) define what a significant improvement in a crowd at a given break would be. (2) Tweak each variable (number of breaks, surfers per-break, ridable days or hours per-year for the artificial reef and the existing breaks) until you reach the desired outcome. And (3) explain… are the numbers unrealistic? Do the apply to any real world scenarios? If they do, then this may be the wrong battle, if not — QED!

A competent “artificial reef engineer” (which may be an oxymoron given some of what I’ve heard) would have already done this math, and have arguments lined up for why their configuration of variables works. Doing it ourselves would give Surfriders the power of a pointed counter-argument (or the realization that they need to pick their battles).

It may be that you or someone else has already essentially done this, if that’s the case, I’m all for links!

Comment on Taking our eyes off the diamonds (and focusing on the myth of artificial reefs) by Jim

Jim — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 02:04:05 +0000

Bruce, you’ve asked quite a few questions.

Re. Polish rougher ones or improve breaks. That’s a tough one as regardless of our intentions to make something better there is always the chance we’ll do the exact opposite. Think of any wave, anywhere… they’re never great waves ALL the time. Pipeline is optimal in winter, etc.

Re. Learned from failed projects. I think the single largest thing we’ve learned is that “creating” waves is incredibly hard. People have been at it for a decade or so, spent millions and there is literally not a wave we can point to that has any consistency.

Re. Enough waves for everyone. This is a math problem, it’s not as logical as it may sound. I did a post on this very subject http://oceanswavesbeaches.surfrider.org/do-artificial-reefs-work-vol-3-will-artificial-reefs-reduce-crowds

Comment on Taking our eyes off the diamonds (and focusing on the myth of artificial reefs) by Bruce White

Bruce White — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:28:15 +0000

Yes, I agree there are diamonds.
Questions are:
How do we polish some of the rougher ones?
What do we know about how to improve breaks?
What have we learnt from the failed projects?
How do we get enough waves for everyone?

Comment on Taking our eyes off the diamonds (and focusing on the myth of artificial reefs) by Rob Nixon

Rob Nixon — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:13:14 +0000

Apparently ASR, Ltd’ just doesn’t care anymore!

A tweet from me tagging ASR, Ltd> “It looks like @ASRltd. has been missing some appointments and left Opunake, NZ to fend for themselves>>> http://ht.ly/4k3wf #surf#fail”

Their response> “@robnixon ohh oops & #getoverit, but check out blog.asrltd.com for possibly the only#japan ocean #radiation model available.”

I guess they think, “Hey Opunake and Bournemouth stop bitching and just get over it.”