Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Dangerous Waves by L.M. Brown The Five Deadliest Waves In The World. Given the level of lunacy these days, it’s hard to fathom why more surfers don’t die. It’s great they don’t, but watching a body get catapulted at Cape Fear, hammered at Jaws, or driven into the rocks at Shipsterns we’re immediately left wondering how the fuck they survived? Nature’s a freaky business. But every so often there are casualties, and when they come they’re heartbreaking and tragic. Looking back at the historical record, if you want to surf late into life, you should avoid these five spots. 1. Pipeline, Hawaii The data is irrefutable. Pipeline has killed more surfers than anywhere. Since 1989 it has taken the lives of seven surfers, and threatened the lives of countless others. Most recently, Florida’s Evan Geiselman, almost paid the ultimate price there. In December 2015 he hit the bottom and went unconscious before bodyboarder Andre Botha heroically pulled him to the surface and began resuscitation. Joel Parkinson hit the bottom and blacked out the year prior. Ask anybody that charges Pipe regularly and they’ll have their own near-death story. The list of deceased includes Andy Chuda (March 25, 1989), Travis Mussleman (March 20, 2000), Moto Watanabe (January 19, 2004), Malik Joyeux (December 2, 2005), Jon Mozo (February 9, 2005), Joshua Nakata (March 16, 2008) and Joaquin Velilla (January 12, 2007). 2. Teahupoo, Tahiti Search “surfer deaths at Teahupoo” and the phrase “nearly dies” comes up a lot. Most recently it was Niccolo Porcella that “nearly” died at Chopes. Before that it was Nathan Fletcher on the Code Red Day. “I don’t know how my head didn’t get ripped off,” famously said Nate afterwards. To date there have been more close calls than anyone wants to count, and five recorded deaths. The most notable is the 2001 wipeout of local charger Briece Taerea, who was out surfing in the lead-up to the Billabong Pro. He got sucked over the falls while trying to duck dive a 12-footer, he was driven into the reef where he broke his back in three places and was knocked into a coma. He succumbed to his injuries two days later. It stands as one of the most violent surf-related deaths on this list. 3. Puerto Escondido, Mexico Ron Cassidy in 2007, Noel Robinson in 2011, then Jay Adams in 2014, Puerto Escondido has taken the lives of some good men. The problem of tourists getting washed out to sea and lost was pervasive, but recent improvements in lifeguard protection have had a profound impact at Playa Zicatela, but that doesn’t make the wave any more safe on its heaviest days. “I don’t know how I didn’t die out there,” Mark Healey pondering after catching a giant left out there last year. During the recent Puerto Escondido Challenge Makua Rothman pulled into a dark, sandy pit and came up with a lung full of foam. He was forced to the beach where it took him a long time to recover. 4. Waimea Bay, Hawaii In 1943 the surf world was put on notice of just how dangerous big-wave surfing is when Dickie Cross disappeared at Waimea. On December 22, Cross and Woody Brown attempted to paddle out at Sunset Beach when a strong northwest swell quickly began filling in. With each set growing larger, the two paddled two and half miles down to Waimea to try and make it to the beach there. Brown made it, Cross did not. His body was never found. It would be years before anyone tempted fate out there again. In 1995 Waimea took the life of California’s Donnie Solomon, a fatality that hit New School guys like Kelly Slater, Shane Dorian and Todd Chesser close to to home. Most recently, on October 29, 2015, eccentric big-wave personality Alec “Ace” Coole paddled out at Waimea and disappeared. The search for his body was eventually called off days later. 5. Maverick’s, California Time and again Maverick’s has given the big-wave community reason to pause and reconsider. The 1994 death of Mark Foo made news around the world and quickly put Mavs on the map for all the wrong reasons. Its infamy was renewed in 2011 when Sion Milosky drowned. Cold and ominous, the Half Moon Bay heavy-water spot also almost took the life of aspiring charger Jacob Trette in 2012, and in 2011 Hollywood leading man Gerard Butler suffered a two-wave hold down during the filming of the Jay Moriarity bio-pic. It was a horrendous wipeout at Mavs that inspired Shane Dorian to develop the inflatable life vest so commonly worn by big-wave riders today. “It changed everything in my life, the way I approach everything,” said Dorian. Staying Safe Around Bears. Seeing a bear in the wild is a special treat for any visitor to a national park. While it is an exciting moment, it is important to remember that bears in national parks are wild and can be dangerous. Their behavior is sometimes unpredictable. Although rare, attacks on humans have occurred, inflicting serious injuries and death. Each bear and each experience is unique; there is no single strategy that will work in all situations and that guarantees safety. Most bear encounters end without injury. Following some basic guidelines may help to lessen the threat of danger. Your safety can depend on your ability to calm the bear. When you arrive in a park, always remember to check with the nearest visitor center or backcountry office for the latest bear safety information. Following viewing etiquette is the first step to avoiding an encounter with a bear that could escalate into an attack. Keeping your distance and not surprising bears are some of the most important things you can do. Most bears will avoid humans if they hear them coming. Pay attention to your surroundings and make a special effort to be noticeable if you are in an area with known bear activity or a good food source, such as berry bushes. Once a bear has noticed you and is paying attention to you, additional strategies can help prevent the situation from escalating. Identify yourself by talking calmly so the bear knows you are a human and not a prey animal. Remain still; stand your ground but slowly wave your arms. Help the bear recognize you as a human. It may come closer or stand on its hind legs to get a better look or smell. A standing bear is usually curious, not threatening. Stay calm and remember that most bears do not want to attack you; they usually just want to be left alone. Bears may bluff their way out of an encounter by charging and then turning away at the last second. Bears may also react defensively by woofing, yawning, salivating, growling, snapping their jaws, and laying their ears back. Continue to talk to the bear in low tones; this will help you stay calmer, and it won't be threatening to the bear. A scream or sudden movement may trigger an attack. Never imitate bear sounds or make a high-pitched squeal. Pick up small children immediately. Hike and travel in groups . Groups of people are usually noisier and smellier than a single person. Therefore, bears often become aware of groups of people at greater distances, and because of their cumulative size, groups are also intimidating to bears. Make yourselves look as large as possible (for example, move to higher ground). Do NOT allow the bear access to your food. Getting your food will only encourage the bear and make the problem worse for others. Do NOT drop your pack as it can provide protection for your back and prevent a bear from accessing your food. If the bear is stationary, move away slowly and sideways ; this allows you to keep an eye on the bear and avoid tripping. Moving sideways is also non-threatening to bears. Do NOT run, but if the bear follows, stop and hold your ground. Bears can run as fast as a racehorse both uphill and down. Like dogs, they will chase fleeing animals. Do NOT climb a tree. Both grizzlies and black bears can climb trees. Leave the area or take a detour. If this is impossible, wait until the bear moves away. Always leave the bear an escape route. Be especially cautious if you see a female with cubs ; never place yourself between a mother and her cub, and never attempt to approach them. The chances of an attack escalate greatly if she perceives you as a danger to her cubs. Bear attacks are rare; most bears are only interested in protecting food, cubs, or their space. However, being mentally prepared can help you have the most effective reaction. Every situation is different, but below are guidelines on how brown bear attacks can differ from black bear attacks. Help protect others by reporting all bear incidents to a park ranger immediately. Above all, keep your distance from bears! Brown/Grizzly Bears: If you are attacked by a brown/grizzly bear, leave your pack on and PLAY DEAD . Lay flat on your stomach with your hands clasped behind your neck. Spread your legs to make it harder for the bear to turn you over. Remain still until the bear leaves the area. Fighting back usually increases the intensity of such attacks. However, if the attack persists, fight back vigorously. Use whatever you have at hand to hit the bear in the face. Black Bears: If you are attacked by a black bear, DO NOT PLAY DEAD . Try to escape to a secure place such as a car or building. If escape is not possible, try to fight back using any object available. Concentrate your kicks and blows on the bear's face and muzzle. If any bear attacks you in your tent, or stalks you and then attacks, do NOT play dead—fight back! This kind of attack is very rare, but can be serious because it often means the bear is looking for food and sees you as prey. Bear Pepper Spray. Bear pepper spray can be an important thing to carry when exploring the back country. It is used defensively to stop an aggressive, charging, or attacking bear. Although it’s used in the same manner you would use mace on an attacking person, bear pepper spray and human pepper spray are not the same. Make sure you select an EPA approved product that is specifically designed to stop aggressive bears. It is not a repellent so do not apply to your body or equipment. Check with your national park to see if bear pepper spray is recommended or allowed for the activities you have planned. Learn more about selecting and using bear pepper spray in this introductory video or by visiting the Using Spray to Deter an Aggressive Bear page on Yellowstone's website. FYI: What Is Sea Foam? Where Does It Come From? Just a few hours before a tornado touched down in Queens, New York this past September, I was hanging out on a beach in The Rockaways, a narrow peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic just southeast of Brooklyn (though it is technically a part of Queens). The storm hadn’t rolled in yet, but the wind had– little white clouds raced across the sky, sand flew through the air above the beach, and, along the shoreline, huge globs of foam blew off the water and collected on the beach in thick, jiggling blankets of yellowish-white. Foam built up in big, shapeless piles behind rocks, and dollops of the stuff broke free and scampered up the beach like animate loogies. Never before had I seen this much foam and, given that this was New York City, I wondered if perhaps it was not a natural occurrence. Could grotesque quantities of sea foam form naturally, or was it a sign that the city’s overburdened wastewater system could have, once again, been splurting raw sewage into the ocean? According to a 2011 paper by several Austrian scientists called “Foam in the Aquatic Environment,” the answer is–somewhat unhelpfully–yes, and yes. In order for foam to form, you need air, water, and a key third ingredient called a “surfactant”–a kind of sticky molecule that clings to the surface between water and air. This surfactant ingredient can come from a lot of places; human-made sources include fertilizers, detergents, paper factories, leather tanneries, and sewage. But surfactants also come from the proteins and fats in algae, seaweed, and other marine plant life. There are lots of different molecules that can act as surfactants, but they all have one thing in common: one end of the molecule is hydrophilic (attracted to water) while the other end is hydrophobic (repelled by water). When a bunch of surfactant molecules get mixed together with plenty of water and air, they all want to line themselves up right at the boundary, with one end (hydrophilc) facing the water and the other (hydrophobic) facing the air. They’ll even line up back to back, so that the hydrophilic ends are pointed at each other, with a thin layer of water in between. That thin layer of water takes the shape of a sphere, because a sphere requires the least energy of any shape, and voila , it’s a bubble. Things get slightly more complicated when there are many bubbles packed together–as you might have noticed while taking a bubble bath as a kid (or as an adult), foamy bubbles aren’t perfect spheres–but the basic idea is the same. It’s all about the surfactant. “Foam in the Aquatic Environment” mentions several reports of “unusual quantities” of foam forming near large algal blooms. “Great amounts of carbohydrates and proteins are released by the mucilaginous cell colonies,” the authors write, giving rise to “copious amounts of viscous foams and mucus in the water column.” When the algal proteins or carbohydrates get close to shore, the waves “act like a big blender,” explains Raphael Kudela, a marine ecologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “Physical agitation breaks them up and lets them reform,” as foam; the foam is then swept ashore, where it accumulates. So the foam at Rockaway Beach may or may not have been “natural”–there was, after all, the funky odor I noticed after diving into the waves–but in any case it’s clear that significant sea foam onslaughts–like the one that blanketed a small Scottish fishing village at the end of September–can happen naturally. A small village in Aberdeen, Scotland was swamped in sea foam after a storm in September. In any amount, natural sea foam is usually harmless–but, as marine biologists in California discovered a few years ago–not always. In the fall of 2007, Dave Jessup, a biologist at the California Department of Fish and Game, began investigating a mysterious affliction that left hundreds of marine birds dead or stranded near Monterey. The birds’ breast and tail feathers were marked by a ring of yellow-green slime that smelled like linseed oil, and were all severely malnourished. Thinking that the birds might have been victims of an oil spill (oil de-waterproofs birds’ feathers, exposing them to cold, requiring the animals to burn their excess energy for warmth), investigators sent a sample of the slime to the state lab for analysis, but the tests came back negative: the slime wasn’t a petroleum product. Jessup began investigating another possible cause: the so-called “red tide,” an annual algal bloom that gives the water off the coast a reddish- brown hue. The bloom was unusually large that year, and Jessup had come across cases of toxic algae before, so he contacted Raphael Kudela of UC Santa Cruz for help investigating a potential connection. Kudela and his collaborators told Jessup that, as far as they knew, the organism causing the red tide bloom, Akashiwo sanguinea , didn’t have any harmful effects on life, but they also provided him with satellite images of the bloom so that he could track its location and intensity. When he compared the movement of the bloom to the timing and location of recorded bird strandings, Jessup found a perfect match. He even used the most recent satellite images to predict where the next bird stranding would occur, and his prediction was dead-on. Since the algae itself was nontoxic, it couldn’t be the direct cause of the birds’ affliction, so Jessup turned his attention to the only logical suspect left–the massive piles of foam that kept appearing on the beach near the red tide. At some point, it occurred to him to dip a clean feather in a mixture of foam and saltwater. “With a normal feather,” Kudela explains, “you just shake it out and it’s dry.” When he removed it from the mixture, however, Jessup’s feather did not shake dry–it was soaked. How To De-Waterproof A Feather. Kudela remembers getting a message from Jessup saying, “It’s the foam.” From there, the puzzle came quickly together–Kudela’s lab analyzed the structure and chemical composition of the foam to identify which surfactant it contained, then replicated the material using a protein from Akashiwo sanguinea , the red tide organism. The slimy yellow-green ring they had found on the birds contained the same stuff–the birds had waded through the foam on the water, and when they did, those surfactant molecules had stuck, hydrophobic end first, to their feathers, while the hydrophilic end pulled water molecules close to the animals’ skin, effectively de-waterproofing them. The birds were dying of hypothermia, but it wasn’t because of an oil spill; it was the foam. How to Remove Brown Algae From Your Aquarium. Prevention Measures for This Common Occurrence in New Fish Tanks. Pin Share Email. If you have owned a fish tank, you are probably familiar with the dreaded brown film that can quickly take over its interior. This film is known as Silica Algae or Brown Algae, and it begins as brown patches on the gravel or glass of the tank. Once established, it can rapidly coat most surfaces of the aquarium with a thin, dark brown coating. This problem is especially common in new aquariums, which may cause concern for people new to fish keeping. The good news is that this issue is pretty easy to clean up; for the most part, it is easily removed. It is also relatively easy to stop brown algae from even growing in your aquarium if you know the cause. A few preventative measures will have your tank looking great and algae-free. Many Brown-Colored Algaes. The true Brown Algaes, comprised of the Class Phaeophyceae, are a large group of multi-cellular algaes, including many of the seaweeds in cold marine waters, such as kelp. These are not the types of algae that are growing in your aquarium! Also, the Golden Algae, Class Chrysophyceae, are a large group of yellow-brown algae found mostly in freshwater environments; they are an important food source in food web dynamics of freshwater ecosystems. They are single-celled organisms that have a cellulose cell wall just like a plant. Many are also flagellated—having a tail for propulsion—so they are normally found suspended in the water column. These Golden Algae are also not often found in the home aquarium. However, there is another kind of algae that grows in aquatic environments; it appears brown, especially under artificial lighting in the aquarium setting. This is referred to in the aquarium trade as Brown Algae or Silica Algae. What Is Silica? In its natural state, the basic and abundant element Silicon combines with oxygen; the result is Silica, which is the basic compound in sandstone, quartz, and glass. Since this substance is readily available in the aquatic environment, myriad single-celled organisms use it to create a protective outer "clamshell." The organisms that do this are known as diatoms. Brown Silica Algaes (Diatoms) "Brown Algae" is the common name that refers to the diatoms, Class Bacillariophyceae, that find their way into both freshwater and saltwater home aquariums. Diatoms are unicellular organisms that can occur either as solitary cells or in colonies. Like plants and other algaes, diatoms photosynthesize light into energy. Each species creates a unique opal-like crystalline covering around its cell wall; these appear almost like snowflakes and are quite beautiful under a microscope even though they function as substantial armored protection for the tiny organisms. Planktonic forms in open water usually rely on turbulent churning of the upper water to keep them suspended. But most diatoms are non-motile, as their relatively heavy cell wall causes them to readily sink to the bottom, creating a thin film across the bottom of any aquatic environment. Is Brown Algae Dangerous? In general, Brown Algae diatoms will not harm your fish if you keep them under control. Some fish do like to eat these diatoms and can help to clean up your tank, but Brown Algae is generally not good for the home aquarium environment. Unlike blue-green algae that can come off in large slimy sheets, these diatoms don't stick together. Patches of diatoms will generally make your tank look less appealing. Causes of Brown Algae. Brown Algae is a common occurrence in a newly set up aquarium. Aquariums kept in dark places are also more likely to develop Brown Algae problems because the plants and green algaes that grow in bright light compete for the nutrients diatoms need. Brown Algae is also a sign that the water chemistry of your aquarium is not in optimal balance. After providing proper lighting, improving water quality should be your next concern. In general, you can look at a few main causes: excess silica or nitrate in the water or an abundance of nutrients. Silica can build up in the aquarium from tap water that is high in silicic acid. It can also leach from some types of substrates that you may be using, such as silica sand. If the problem is due to high silica in the water, and Brown Algae seems to persist, get a special silicate-absorbing resin for the tank's filter. In addition to possibly being high in your tap water, the nitrates that feed diatoms can build up from uneaten food, dead material, or from overstocking fish. Increasing water changes to remove nitrates with slow the growth of these diatoms. Removing Brown Algae. As the diatoms are merely resting on the bottom, a Brown Algae issue is easy to clean up; no scrubbing is necessary. This type of algae does not adhere strongly to the tank surfaces and is easily wiped away. Just wipe off any tank decorations that may be affected, wipe off all surfaces inside of the aquarium, and then vacuum the gravel. The hardest part of removal is usually getting it out of the gravel, but vacuuming the gravel with a siphon will quickly remove it. Vacuuming is important to ensure the algae will not grow back as quickly. In a freshwater aquarium, you can add a sucker-mouth fish that will readily eat brown algae. Stock one plecostomus or several otocinclus catfish to do this job. In a saltwater aquarium, many species of fish and invertebrates are diatom grazers. Preventing Brown Algae. Increasing the lighting so the tank gets at least eight hours of light per day. As a new tank matures, Brown Algae are often eliminated naturally by plants and green algae competing for nutrients in the water, such as nitrite and nitrate. As with any algae, keeping the tank clean and performing regular partial water changes are the best preventative measures. The best maintenance measures are summed up simply: to a water source that is high in nitrate or silica. Unfortunately, it is still possible to get algae in spite of regular maintenance, especially in a newly established aquarium. Prompt attention to sudden algae growth will prevent more serious problems later on. 5 of the Biggest, Heaviest, Scariest Waves Ever. Big waves are something that are just now starting to make their big break into the competitive surfing world. And it makes sense–the vast majority of the non-surfing world can connect much more readily with Laird’s Millennium Wave or GMac’s Nazare monster than with two foot Huntington slop or eight million consecutive air-reverses. From Cortes to Mullaghmore, here are five of the biggest, heaviest, scariest Waves Ever. 1. Cortes Bank sits barely submerged about a hundred miles west of San Diego, on the outer limits of California’s Channel Islands chain. The shallowest part of the bank is the top of Bishop Rock, which sits anywhere from 3-6 feet from the surface depending on the tide. Way back in 1961, Oceanside’s Harrison Ealey pulled up his man-pants and became one of the very first – if not the first person (opinions vary on the matter) – people crazy enough to surf the wave that breaks above it. Shawn Dollar broke Shane Dorian’s world record for biggest paddle-in wave with his 61-foot behemoth. Chris Dixon wrote a book dedicated to this wild place that everyone should read, entitled Ghost Wave. 2. Nazare became the centre of a debate shit-storm when GMac surfed what was, no matter what your opinion, a really gigantic lump of water. Consisting of three sections ( Praia – along the beach, Sítio – an old village on top of a cliff, and Pederneira – another old village on a hilltop), Nazare is home to just under 16,000 people, the best beaches in Portugal, and some really big waves. About a half mile off the coast sits the mouth of largest underwater canyon in Europe, which funnels long-period swells directly towards the town and its residents, some of whom, you can bet, think that the bunch of wild men that show up every winter to surf there are insane. Keep your ears perked for whether Benjamin Sanchis’s butt-puckeringly big wave is the new record. Garrett McNamara’s record-breaking tow in, Nazare. 3. Jaws has been, and always will be, a bit of a benchmark for big-waves. Every year, all the biggest names in big-wave surfing flock there to high- five, surf giant waves, and evade death’s watery clutches. Also known as Peahi, Jaws trips the ocean onto the north shore of Maui, where spectators watch from the cliffs above. Up until Shawn Dollar’s Cortes Bank wave, Shane Dorian held the world record at Jaws for his paddle wave that measured in at a ball-crunchingly big 57 feet. Shane Dorian’s 2011 record-breaking Jaws wave. 4. Teahupoo is one of the most dangerous waves on earth. Located on the southwest coast of picturesque Tahiti, Chopes is a backless monster that dumps its weight onto a shallow reef. Teahupo’o actually is loosely translatable to “sever the head,” or “place of skulls.” Whatever the direct translation is, it’s got nothing to do with puppies or the melodious tinkle of children’s laughter. Since Laird’s famous Millennium Wave, there have been five recorded deaths and countless injuries. Laird Hamilton takes on Teahupoo. 5. Mullaghmore comes from the Irish saying, “An Mullach Mor,” meaning “The Great Summit.” Touted as one of the best big-wave surfing destinations in the world, the village is steeped in history from Celtic legends to IRA bombings. It’s cold, it’s stormy, and it’s one of the most visibly stunning places on the planet. The tallest wave ever recorded there climbed to 67-feet, and was spawned by something aptly named “The Viking Storm.”