Is a reef break the best place to drop bombs on!?

Protect Our Waves campaign action

Surfers Against Sewage’s (SAS) new campaign Protect Our Waves (POW) had it’s first action this month, The Gathering, a mass paddle out, in collaboration with local campaign group Access BroadBench Association (ABBA). Over 350 surfers from across the nation joined SAS and ABBA and paddled out at Kimmeridge Bay on International Surfing Day. The action called on the Secretary of State for Defence to allow surfers’ access to Broadbench, a special wave found on the outer boundary of a Ministry of Defence (MoD) firing range.





Broadbench is a quality wave in Kimmeridge Bay, described by many as one of Britains best. Unfortunately it falls right on the outer boundary of a MoD firing range. SAS are not asking the MoD to reduce their use of this important firing range. However, SAS believe there is a compromise that will ensure surfers and waveriders can have 100% access to Broadbench without impacting on the MoDs full use of the firing range.

Chinese demand for shark fin could cause extinctions

A third of the world's open-water sharks — including the great white and hammerhead — face extinction, according to a conservation survey that singles out overfishing as the main culprit. The survey of 64 species of open-water sharks and rays by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature notes the demand for shark fins, considered a Chinese delicacy, has soared along with income levels in China in the past decade.

Flinders University shark ecologist Charlie Huveneers says the proportion of sharks endangered was higher for the open-water sharks than for sharks in general, mainly because they were large species with slow reproductive rates and were slow to mature. Some, such as the grey nurse, produced only two pups every two years.

"That's one of the reasons why that species is listed as critically endangered in NSW," he said. Open-water shark species also lived in areas that were heavily fished and hard to regulate. The report identified the great hammerhead and scalloped hammerhead sharkand the giant devil rays as endangered. The smooth hammerhead, great white, basking and oceanic white-tip sharks are listed as vulnerable as are two species of makos.

Dr Huveneers said fishermen targeted sharks for their fins. The rest of it was discarded. Shark meat can fetch $1-$5 a kilogram, but the fin could bring up to $200 a kilogram. Commercial swordfish and tuna fisherman also caught sharks such as the blue shark and mako shark accidentally. Sharks are important in the ecosystem, especially those at the top of the food chain such as the white, great white and great hammerhead.

*source. The Age- AU

Western Australia monster slabs

In this media soaked world of ours we are bombarded by endless images of incredible waves and surfers so it takes something remarkable to stand out from the crowd these days, but thats just what an elite few over in Western Australia manage to do time after time.

With every session that WA based photographer Russell Ord captures the waves seem to get heavier and the shots more critical. This is a recent shot taken of Ozzy charger, Alfie Cater buried deep in the pit of a wave so thick it looks like the ocean is landing on his head!

Fair play lads!

For more info visit-
http://www.russellord.com/

Access to UK reef break threatened by the British Military

Surfers Against Sewage’s (SAS) new campaign Protect Our Waves (POW) is having its first action, The Gathering, a mass paddle out, in association with local campaign group Access BroadBench Association (ABBA). Surfers from across the nation will paddle out at Kimmeridge Bay at 11am on Saturday the 20th of June, which is International Surfing Day.

The action will call on the Secretary of State for Defence to allow surfers’ access to Broadbench, a special wave found on the outer boundary of a Ministry of Defence (MoD) firing range.

PHOTOCALL: 11am, Saturday the 20th of June, in front of Kimmeridge Bay car park there will be a mass paddle out by surfers, wind surfers, kite surfers and other water users. (Directions below.)

Broadbench is a quality wave in Kimmeridge Bay, described by many as one of Britain’s best. Unfortunately it falls right on the outer boundary of a MoD firing range. SAS are not asking the MoD to reduce their use of this important firing range. However, SAS believe there is a compromise that will ensure surfers and waveriders can have 100% access to Broadbench without impacting on the MoD’s full use of the firing range.

We are calling on the Secretary of State for Defence to implement SAS’s compromise, changing where the MoD currently fire from. This will in turn change the direction of the MoD’s firing and could leave Broadbench outside the boundary of the firing range. It will not impact on the MoD’s use of the firing range, leaving surfers and waveriders with 100% access to Broadbench and the MoD full use of their range.

International Surfing Day (ISD), will see surfing events taking place all over the world. There will be events in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia but nothing like the Gathering. SAS expect the Gathering to be the best-supported event with mass participation for the paddle out protest on ISD.

Andy Cummins, Surfers Against Sewage Campaign Manager says: “SAS’s Protect Our Waves campaign is galvanising a mass of support for the Broadbench wave. The water sports community is standing up for their rights, and lefts on International Surfing Day. We’re calling on the Secretary of State for Defence to do everything in his power to implement a compromise at Broadbench.”

Dr. Robin Canniford from the University of Exeter Business School says: “My studies have highlighted the social and economic benefits of waves, and Broadbench is a prime example. The wave benefits people from every walk of life and the tangible benefits are far reaching, way beyond the surfing community. We should learn from previous cases in the US and Australia and embrace these valuable commodities and not let the MoD restrict their use.”

Guy Penwarden, local Broadbench surfer and campaigner says: “Broadbench is a special wave, a jewel in the British surfing crown and having to watch it going unridden is heartbreaking. Surfers and the MoD can use this area without conflict and we hope the Secretary of State for Defence will recognise this. ”

www.sas.org.uk
www.broadbench.co.uk

*Image: SAS

How far North can you surf? The Iceland experience

The name says it all, Iceland, you just know its going to be cold. Not far from the Artic circle there are few places further north than this where surfing is possible, but the surf bug has hit Iceland in a big way and theres a small band of hardcore individuals leading the crusade, increasing the sports popularity and teaching their nation to surf. Heres a little more about Icelandic surfing from our friends at surf.is:

"Surfing in Iceland has been kind of a hardcore sport until now, put its becoming more popular as we have introduced the sport to the public with our one day learn to surf course. We never know what conditions we'll have for the courses or which location we'll go to surf with our clients until the day before after reading the forecast. Sometimes we stop at the local gas station on our way in the morning and take a final decision (after reading the forecast on the internet) on our destination. Theres no population in most of these surf spots so we can't call to ask about conditions. This makes our course more exiting and its never the same. The good thing we have plenty of locations to choose from. So the course is not only about surfing, it is also the anticipation of what lies ahead. We're also sure that there are plenty of surf spots in Iceland yet to be discovered"

for more info visit: www.surf.is

Trees for Jet Skis

Trees for Jet skis: Big wave Tow-in Jet ski goes Carbon Neutral

Northcore made the announcement today that they are extending their annual CO2 offsetting program to cover the Jet ski (Personal Watercraft- PWC) used by their brand Ambassador Richie Fitzgerald, by neutralising its annual Carbon emissions by investing in a tree adoption and re-forestation scheme.

Northcore spokesman said of the Jet ski- initiative “Richie Fitzgerald and his tow-in partner, Gabe Davies have a Jet-ski on permenant standby on Ireland's West coast which they use for charging some of the biggest waves on the planet at places like Aileens in Co Clare.

However the use of Jet Skis can pose a moral environmental dilema for tow-in teams worldwide. Its no secret that the use of Jet Skis isn't the most eco-friendly addition to the surfing way of life, so until a viable “green” alternative to internal combustion for PWC's is available these vehicles and the emissions they create will remain in the line ups as essential equipment for chasing down monster waves. So Northcore in conjunction with Richie have taken the decision to offset the annual CO2 emmissions of his and Gabe's PWC by extending our tree planting scheme administered by the Dutch based organisation, Climate Neutral Group.

The CO2 offsetting is based upon the annual fuel usage for Richie's Jet ski which creates approximately 1.28 tonnes of CO2 and it requires 64 mature rainforest trees to offset this emmission. These trees are growing in a re-forestation scheme in Malaysia and through the adoption programme both offset the PWC's CO2 and allow continued investment in the scheme with the planting of new trees extending the project”

Richie Fitzgerald says of his Jet ski going Carbon neutral “Jet Skis are a ‘necessary evil’ in the pursuits of big waves, so I am really delighted to be working with Northcore on their initiative to offset the annual emissions of our ski .”

The Climate Neutral group are in permanent partnership with the FACE foundation who manage the reforestation project in the forests of Sabah in the Malaysian part of Borneo. Here the forests are being seriously damaged by intensive and large-scale logging. The area has become overgrown with lianas, preventing the natural re-growth of most trees. The FACE foundation set up a project to recover the damaged tropical rainforest by planting trees and through sustainable management. Left to its own devices the rainforest would not be able to return to its original state. Besides extracting a volume of CO2 from the atmosphere each year, this project is preserving the outstanding biodiversity of the area. Moreover, the project provides jobs for local people in tourism, research and nature management.

For more information visit:
www.northcore-europe.com


For more information on Climate Neutral Group and it’s projects visit:
www.climateneutralgroup.com

Surfin Bird....

class tv show and class surf song- this made me smile.....