It's finally here!
SURF:
Not exactly sure what 'it' is, but we finally have surf, sunny skies, and manageable winds!
FORECAST:
Even though the SW swell drops over the weekend, don't despair- more SW is on it's way. Most of the storms last week were aimed E to W, not ideally N to S, but we'll still get pulses of chest high+ surf during the coming week.
WEATHER:
May Gray and June Gloom are going to be a distant memory this weekend. High pressure started building today and we have great beach weather. FINALLY. Tomorrow things really start to warm up and we have temps near 80 along the coast. Saturday will be in the mid-80's and Sunday near 90. And that's the cool spot in Southern California; inland will be near 100 and our friends in Death Valley around 122. Not cool. Literally. Things don't return to normal until Wednesday; that's when the low clouds return and temps hit the low 70's. Make sure to keep up to date on the weather this weekend at Twitter/North County Surf.
BEST BET:
Today with leftover SW and nice weather or next weekend with better surf and seasonal weather. Bonus: Monday may be fun with some smaller background SW but beach temps near 90 AND... water temps near 70?!...
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
The last of the useless ocean trivia. There will though be a pop quiz on Monday.
Air pollution is responsible for 33% of the toxic contaminants that end up in oceans and coastal waters. About 44% of the toxic contaminants come from runoff via rivers and streams.
Each year, three times as much rubbish is dumped into the world's oceans as the weight of fish caught.
Oil is one of the ocean's "greatest" resources. Nearly one-third of the world's oil comes from offshore fields in our oceans. Areas most popular for oil drilling are the Arabian Gulf, the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
Refined oil is also responsible for polluting the ocean. More oil reaches the oceans each year as a result of leaking automobiles and other non-point sources than the oil spilled in Prince William Sound by the Exxon Valdez or even in the Gulf of Mexico during the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill.
The record for the deepest free dive is held by Jacques Mayol. He dove to an astounding depth of 282 feet without any breathing equipment. Mark Healey I am confident will break that later this year.
A mouthful of seawater may contain millions of bacterial cells, hundreds of thousands of phytoplankton and tens of thousands of zooplankton.
The Great Barrier Reef, measuring 1,429 miles in length, covering an area more extensive than Britain, is the largest living structure on Earth and can be seen from space. Its reefs are made up of 400 species of coral, supporting well over 2,000 different fish, 4,000 species of mollusk and countless other invertebrates. It should really be named 'Great Barrier of Reefs', as it is not one long solid structure but made up of nearly 3,000 individual reefs and 1,000 islands. Other huge barrier reefs include the barrier reefs of New Caledonia, the Mesoamerican (Belize) barrier reef, and the large barrier reefs of Fiji. The largest coral atoll complexes occur in the Maldive-Lakshadweep ecoregion of the central Indian Ocean and in Micronesia.
Fish supply the greatest percentage of the world's protein consumed by humans and most of the world's major fisheries are being fished at levels above their maximum sustainable yield; some regions are severely overfished.
More than 90% of the trade between countries is carried by ships and about half the communications between nations use underwater cables.
Swordfish and marlin are the fastest fish in the ocean reaching speeds up to 75 mph in quick bursts; bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) may reach sustained speeds up to 55 mph.
Blue whales are the largest animals on our planet ever (exceeding the size of the greatest known dinosaurs) and have hearts the size of small cars.
Oarfish (Regalecus glesneexternal link), are the longest bony fish in the world. They have a snakelike body sporting a magnificent red fin and can grow up to 55 feet in length! They have a distinctive horselike face and blue gills, and are thought to account for many sea-serpent sightings.
Many fish can change sex during the course of their lives. Others, especially rare deep-sea fish, have both male and female sex organs.
PIC OF THE WEEK:
Is that thing even rideable? For one- it's big. Secondly, it's thick. And third- that exposed ledge is nuts. If you somehow make the drop and don't get axed by the lip, that ledge will break your board in two (as well as you). Now you know why no one is out.
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
Going Places
Being Called Up From The Minors
Stalled So Deep I Ended Up In China
