Winter is here! 5 weeks late...
SURF:
Winter is finally here! Not a full blown winter of course, but still, some clouds and a breeze about 10mph from the W overhead. Batten down the hatches!
FORECAST:
After the slightly junky Saturday and cleaner smaller Sunday, we get more junky surf on Tuesday. Look for more shoulder high sets and breezy conditions again with a chance of showers. That clears out by Wednesday and the surf leaves with it. We do though have another small waist high+ NW windswell on the charts for Thursday. Basically the good weather and firing surf the past few weeks has been replaced by breezy cloudy conditions and average surf. Nothing to write home about.
WEATHER:
Well... winter has finally arrived, but don't expect anything exciting. We have a weak cold front moving through today and we'll get a shot of showers, maybe in the 1/4" range. As a comparison, a normal dousing is about 1/2" and one of those full blown dumpers with wind and everything is about 1". So today's 1/4" isn't much. We get a break over the weekend with sunny skies but air temps only hit the low 60's. Another cold front moves through Sunday evening/Monday morning and models are having a tricky time with this one. We may get another 1/4" of rain like today's weak cold front or something a little stronger in the 1/2" range. Only time will tell- make sure to check back with Twitter/North County Surf. High pressure kicks in towards Tuesday and the weather looks sunny and mild by mid-week.
BEST BET:
Well... there will be a little surf the next few days but the weak cold fronts moving through will mess it up a bit. Saturday morning is probably your best bet even though there may be some wind on it.
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
Even though your more likely to get eaten by an alligator than a shark (I'd hate to live in Florida), it still doesn't hide the fact that recent research shows that sharks live longer than we previously thought. Oh joy. Great white sharks -- top predators throughout the world's ocean -- grow much slower and live significantly longer than previously thought, according to a new study led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). In the first successful radiocarbon age validation study for adult white sharks, researchers analyzed vertebrae from four females and four males from the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. Age estimates were up to 73 years old for the largest male and 40 years old for the largest female. "Our results dramatically extend the maximum age and longevity of white sharks compared to earlier studies," said Li Ling Hamady, MIT/WHOI Joint Program student and lead author of the study published in PLOS ONE. "Understanding longevity of the species, growth rate, age at sexual maturity, and differences in growth between males and females are especially important for sustainable management and conservation efforts." Age determination in fish relies primarily on analyzing growth increments in mineralized tissue, such as otoliths (ear bones), vertebrae, and fin rays. These grow throughout a fish's life, adding annual rings, similar to growth rings in trees. Estimating age in white sharks can be challenging. While vertebrae are constructed of layers of tissue, laid down sequentially over an individual's lifetime, the alternating light/dark banding patterns can be narrow and less distinct than in other species, and the bands don't necessarily signify annual growth. "Traditionally, ageing sharks has relied on the assumption that band pairs are annual. In many cases this has been proven correct for part or all of a species life, however in more and more cases this is being disproven," said coauthor Lisa Natanson, a fisheries biologist at NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) lab in Narragansett, R.I. In previous studies, which assumed annual deposition of growth bands, the oldest white shark individuals identified were from the southwestern Pacific Ocean at 22 years old and the western Indian Ocean at 23 years old. For this study, researchers took advantage of radiocarbon produced by thermonuclear device testing done during the 1950s and 1960s. Radiocarbon mixed from the atmosphere into the ocean, and was incorporated into the tissues of marine organisms living during that time period. The rise in radiocarbon -- measured as 14C -- gave researchers a specific spot in time pinpointed in the vertebra layers, which can be used as a "time stamp" to help determine the age of an animal. The National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility at WHOI conducted radiocarbon analysis on collagen in the white shark vertebrae. All of the vertebrae samples came from white sharks caught in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from 1967 to 2010 that were archived at the NEFSC lab in Narragansett, which has the largest collection of this kind. The samples were also digitally photographed with a camera attached to a stereomicroscope using reflected light for counting growth bands. "This research demonstrates the power of applying cutting-edge techniques in isotope geochemistry to answer fundamental questions in ocean ecology," said co-author Simon Thorrold, a biologist at WHOI and Hamady's Ph.D. advisor. "The radiocarbon time stamp in white shark vertebrae provides irrefutable evidence of white shark longevity that had proved to be impossible to verify using traditional age estimation methods." Researchers found that band pairs are laid down on an annual basis in small to medium-large sized white sharks in the northwestern Atlantic. However, the largest individuals may experience a change in the rate of vertebral material deposition at some point after maturity, or the bands may become so thin that they are unreadable. Assuming a lifespan estimate of 70 years or more, white sharks may be among the longest-lived cartilaginous fishes. While they are predominantly found in temperate and subtropical waters, white sharks migrate long distances and can be found throughout the global ocean. White sharks are considered "vulnerable" worldwide. Since individuals are slow growing, and mature late, white shark populations could be even more sensitive to fishing, environmental and other pressures. "These findings change the way we model white shark populations and must be taken into consideration when formulating future conservation strategies," said co-author Greg Skomal, a WHOI adjunct scientist and MA Marine Fisheries biologist.
BEST OF THE BLOG:
Another Scooby Doo mystery is coming into focus. Just what the heck is being built on the plot of land at the corner of La Costa Ave. and Rancho Santa Fe?! A movie theatre? Another Walmart? A wavepool? (I wish). Check out the latest on the North County Surf blog. Plus the mid-week Surf Check and an in-depth THE Surf Report. All of that and more in the blog below!
PIC OF THE WEEK:
Considering the horrendous crowds we've had with our recent run of surf, I thought a little empty drainer would get your weekend off to a good start. Yes, there are still empty waves out there- just 5,000 miles away. For more empty shots, check out Todd Glaser's work here.
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
Brazen
Representing Bieber
Built for Speed
