Just the best parts of winter.
SURF:
Lots of surf this week and only a hint of showers. It's like the best parts of winter without all that other stuff you don't want! Good news for us is that there's a few more storms in the Pacific lined up like incoming planes at LAX- but the rain will stay to the north.
For Friday, the surf starts off slow as our current swell is on it's way out and the 6'+ high tide in the AM doesn't help.We do though start to see some new chest high+ NW by Friday afternoon that rolls into head high surf on Saturday. Sunday drops to the chest high range and we should have semi-clean conditions. And here's the sun and tides for the weekend:
- Sunrise and sunset are:
- 6:49 AM (1st light is around 6:30 for you Dawn Patrollers)
- 5:12 PM (last light is around 5:30 for you After Work Warriors)
- And tides are:
- 5' at dawn
- 6' at 9 AM
- -1' at 4 PM
- 0' at sunset
FORECAST:
After a fun weekend of surf, Monday kicks into gear with more head high surf from the NW. The swell continues to build into Tuesday evening with overhead surf. Wednesday holds and the 2nd half of next week is smaller but fun in the waist-chest high range.
We then start to see another swell from the WNW late on Sunday the 1st for shoulder high surf that lasts into Monday the 2nd.
And if that's not enough, models show an early early early season SW trying to take shape for the 1st also. The storm looks impressive on the charts but it's short lived- so it won't have time to build into something big- but the OC could see shoulder high surf from it. Make sure to check out Twitter/North County Surf if anything changes between now and then.
BEST BET:
Saturday and Tuesday and Saturday.
WEATHER:
Still no major storms in sight. It has to kick into gear again, doesn't it? Regardless, nice weather is on tap for most of the weekend then a little more clouds on Sunday. After that, models show high pressure setting up shop and good weather from Tuesday on. Don't worry though, we're still on track for rainfall this winter, if not slightly above. Here's where we stand:
- Newport Beach: 6.45" so far, which is 100% of normal
- Oceanside: 7.49" so far, which is 126% of normal
- San Diego: 7.23" so far, which is 162% of normal
Now a couple more weeks of sunshine of course will leave us below normal for rainfall, but I'm not thinking that far ahead. Knock on wood.
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
As if we didn't have enough problems with sharks setting up shop off the Southern California coast in recent years, now it looks like their species are trying to get on our beaches too. Or at least learning to walk. Son of a gun! Is no place safe?! Before I push the panic button, I'll let the experts explain:
So -- some sharks walk. Just not the scary ones. While great whites haunt the deep, walking sharks are content to scuttle in the shallows. They've been walking, or something close to it, for at least 9 million years. They're evolutionary superstars, too: Walking sharks could be the most recently evolved shark on Earth. That's according to findings published this week in Marine and Freshwater Research. Shark scientists spent years sampling the DNA of the only known walking shark species to estimate when they evolved. They found four new species while they were at it.
The youngest species might've evolved less than 2 million years ago. And by evolutionary standards, that's recent -- and a major contradiction to the widely held belief that sharks are slow to evolve. "The discovery proves that modern sharks have remarkable evolutionary staying power and the ability to adapt to environmental changes," said Mark Erdmann, the paper's co-author and Conservation International Vice President of Asia-Pacific marine programs. Sharks are older than dinosaurs, dominating the seas for as long as 400 million years (the oldest dinosaur fossil is thought to be about 240 million years old, by comparison). So the fact that sharks continue to evolve as recently as 399 million years later is pretty remarkable.
Walking sharks, also called "epaulette" sharks for their spots that resemble the military decor, "walk" on their muscular fins to forage for small fish along shallow reefs and sea grass. It's a behavior partially driven by changing sea levels and shifting landscapes, which ultimately influenced where most of the nine known species settled -- eastern Indonesia and neighboring islands, New Guinea and parts of Australia. Based on differences in the sharks' DNA, scientists created estimated evolutionary timelines. They found walking sharks started to split off from their evolutionary relatives around 9 million years ago.
During mass extinction events, carpet sharks, the group that includes walking sharks, were among the "most affected" animals, researchers wrote. Sea levels= rose and ocean temperatures dropped, pushing the sharks to migrate to warmer waters. Sharks off the coast of Australia "hitched a ride" on moving tectonic plates all the way to New Guinea, researchers said. When the plates stopped shifting, the land settled, creating barriers for species to migrate. This might be why the sharks' habitat rarely overlap, they wrote.
Erdman said the group hopes their research could encourage conservationists to add a few of the sharks to the IUCN Red List, a global inventory of threatened species, based on how little is known about them. "A global recognition of the need to protect walking sharks will help ensure they thrive providing benefits for marine ecosystems and to local communities through the sharks' value as tourism assets," he said. "It's essential that local communities, governments and the international public continue working to establish marine protected areas to help ensure our ocean's biodiversity continues to flourish."
BEST OF THE BLOG:
ATTENTION SURFERS! The North County Board Meeting is having their next meeting on Thursday, January 30th! For those of you unfamiliar with the group, it's simple: We're a group of 100 business professionals who have a passion for surfing, giving back to our community, and supporting local businesses. We meet once a month to either surf, do charitable work, or in the case of this month- meet at a local business to support their efforts. On Thursday, January 30th, we'll be meeting at C3bank. You've probably seen their new building in the heart of downtown Encinitas- it's the one with the big image of customer Rob Machado on the window. Come on by from 5:30-7:30 PM to see why Rob, the North County Board Meeting, and other surf owned businesses use their services. We'll have drinks and food so bring your appetite. Special thanks to Secco Wine Club and Wave Soda for supplying drinks for the event! And make sure to bring a friend; we're always open to meeting new surfing business professionals in the area. Thanks for the support and I hope to see you at at C3bank on January 30th!
PIC OF THE WEEK:
It's been fun wearing a 4/3, booties, gloves, and a hood during the dawn patrol lately, but I could use some of this right now. For more shots of winter inspiration, check out Andrew Shields work here.
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
Brazen
Seen Cats The Movie 3 Times Already!
Did A Tom Curren Head Snap While Doing A Tom Carroll Snap And Snapped My Board
