Surfing and the Environment
(Focusing on the West Coast and Hawaii)
"Oh, it (surfing) has a huge effect on people ... I think it's mostly lifestyle. I think it's very close to being religious, too, in a lot of senses. It (the ocean) teaches you about respecting the environment, and it's easier to get in touch with yourself out in the ocean by yourself, alone with your thoughts."
- Kelly Slater 27, Cocoa Beach, Florida, 6 time surfing world champion
The sport of surfing has seen its ups and downs throughout its course in history. From the famous Duke Kahanamoku, to the recent world champion, Mark Occhilupo (Occy), surfers have cared a great deal about the ocean. But the world has not always seen surfers as being respectable individuals with values and principles:
During the mid-80's, the surf industry was an embarrassment. The industry was making a substantial amount of money at the cost of degrading the surfing industry. Words like "tubular," "radical," and the term made famous by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "cowabunga," found there way into mainstream society. It was at this point in time that the outside world began to view surfers as lazy, bleached-blonde, tan bodied individuals without brains. So....
In 1984, the Surfrider Foundation was born thanks to the minds of Glen Hening, Tom Pratte, and Lance Carson, a group of Southern Californian surfers. As a bona fide IRS non-profit organization, the founders sought to represent surfers as intelligent, responsible, concerned guardians of the world's oceans and beaches.
Malibu: The very first victory of the Surfrider Foundation was the Malibu deal. Health officials were cutting a gap in the lagoon that was dumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of polluted water right into the lineup at First Point. The Foundation came in and convinced them to divert the water flow so the wave wouldn't be destroyed. At that point, they were more worried about keeping the shape of the wave rather than the quality of water. The water quality battle would come later.
Other Achievements: While there are too many to list, major ones include the Humboldt lawsuit of 1991, which was the second largest Clean Water Act suit in American history, charging two pulp mills in Humboldt with over 40,000 violations of the law. In 1993, the foundation convinced Chevron to extend an outfall emissions pipe which had previously been dumping directly into the surf zone. In March of the same year, several members of the Surfrider Foundation swam out in 38 degree Fahrenheit, New Jersey water to protest a dioxin dump. They also diverted a major Los Angeles storm drain, which had been polluting the beach and forcing its closure for years, into a sewer system for proper treatment. More achievements can be found on the Surfrider Foundation website, linked below.
So what do we have to worry about today?
While the consciousness of surfing and the ocean has broadened into mainstream society, there are still plenty of environmental issues facing our waters. The ocean is a large body of water, touching each and every continent. So, what happens in the Atlantic Ocean effects what happens in the Pacific Ocean. Having lived on the West Coast most of my life, looking at the West Coast and Hawaii seemed like a logical thing to do.
THE WEST COAST AND HAWAII:
Huntington Beach, CA hosts many surf competitions and is home for a lot of serious surfers. But during this past summer, the beach was closed due to high counts of bacteria. This area has faced many problems with sewage and polluted run-off. But just as the beach was finally opening to the public in mid-September, lifeguards found 1,200 hypodermic needles floating along the coast, the kind that dentists use to inject Novocain. The needles appeared to have been used, since the caps covering the hubs had been broken off. However, the needles posed little threat of transmitting diseases because hubs only come into contact with Novocain and not blood. Investigators found that the needles had been dumped at sea and floated into the swell. They are still searching for caps with serial numbers, so they can trace it back to the perpetrators and bring them up on criminal charges.
California state officials have been trying to put a highway through San Onofre Beach State Park. But the highway would run through San Mateo and Christianitos Creek watersheds, which is home to eight endangered and threatened species. The watersheds also empties into the famous Trestles surf breaks. Construction of the highway would disrupt the flow of water as well as pollute the surrounding areas. Luckily construction has been delayed until 2004. This gives the Surfrider Foundation and the Sierra Club time to continue the battle against the highway. Check out this page for details and ways to help: http://www.friendsofthefoothills.org/.
Vandalism in Ventura has caused raw sewage to spill into Ventura Harbor. Vandals stuffed a bunch of raw debris into a manhole. This blocked the sewage line and caused raw sewage to flow out of the sewer and into a storm drain that emptied out into the coast. An event like this shows the simple importance of keeping the sewage line unclogged.
Just this past month in November, the Surfrider Foundation has filed a law-suit against the City of San Diego and The International Boundary Water Commission for violating the Clean Water Act. An area co-owned by both parties has been used to discharge partially treated and toxic-laden sewage effluent 3.5 miles offshore of Imperial Beach. Just this year, 5.91 billion gallons of sewage effluent not treated with secondary standards has been dumped. The Surfrider Foundation gave notice to the perpetrators in March of this year, but still the violations have continued and no measures have been taken by the US EPA nor the State Water Resources Control Board to prosecute a court action to redress the violations.
The state of California filed a law suit against the Federal Government in early November over leases given to oil companies to drill off the coast of Central California. Governor Gray Davis and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt are at odds with each other over the rights of the State Government and Federal Government in decisions. Oil companies pay the Federal Government large amounts of money for leases to drill. But in 1993 local communities near drill sites demanded that studies be made regarding the impact of offshore drilling. Under the Coastal Zone Management Act, amended in 1990, Congress gave states a say in activities affecting coastal communities. The law suit is under way.
Raw Sewage seems to also be a problem in Florence, Oregon. The city of Florence has violated clean water laws over 174 times since 1994. The problem is that during heavy rainfall, raw sewage and partially treated sewage flows into the Siuslaw River. The city's sewage treatment plant can't handle all the increased sewage due to rapid population growth in the area. The cost of building a better facility is between $12 million and $17 million and it would take at least two years to build. Many environmentalists feel that the city should take measures immediately.
Broken pipes at Otter Crest, Oregon, a popular surf spot, have resulted in sewage effluent raining down cliffs. The sewage has caused severe ear and skin problems for individuals who come in contact with the contaminated water. The pipes are owned by a private company which has been permitted to discharge treated effluent in accordance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. But broken pipes are considered a Class II permit violation, so they are currently under investigation.
The Army Corps is planning to build a $13 million seawall at the mouth of Grays Harbor, WA. This wall would cover the entire beach of Half Moon Bay (different from the one in CA), a popular spot for swimmers, windsurfers, kayakers, and beginning surfers. The City of Westport is backing the Army Corps decision due to fears that without the seawall, massive erosion will occur. Unfortunately, if the seawall is built, it will destroy the cove and increase the rate of loss of the proposed nourished beach by four times. See picture below:
In October of this year, Killer Whales off the Washington Coast and the British Columbia Coast were found to have high levels of PCB's in their bodies. Killer whales are considered the most contaminated marine mammals in the world. PCB's don't cause death, but rather weaken immune systems, hamper reproduction, and cause skin disorders and subtle changes in physiology. While this may not seem to have much to do with surfing, it actually does. If the whales are getting contaminated by PCB's then humans can easily be affected by the same substances that are seeping into our oceans. marine mammals are considered by many scientists to be good indicators of the health of ecosystems.
Because of the recent local oil pipeline rupture in Washington many oil tankers moved into the Puget Sound. Waters off the harbor are difficult to navigate and two of the tankers were already cited for not having navigational maps. One of these tankers had a 11.75 million gallon oil capacity. The tankers must pass through the narrow Rosario Strait. This increases the chance for catastrophic oil spills in the area which could greatly cause problems to all forms of life in the area.
Surfing in Hawaii is a way of life. The Clean Water Branch of the Hawaii Department of Health runs a program that tests the beach water around the entire state. Hawaii has one of the strictest bacteria standards in the nation. The presence of raw sewage in the water causes immediate posting of signs at contaminated beaches. Each site in Hawaii is monitored 5 - 7 times a month. Yet out of the 184.9 miles of sandy shoreline, only 24.4 miles are considered safe, clean, accessible, and generally suitable for swimming. The major problem is caused by storm drains located near beaches.
Soil on Hawaii can actually contaminate the water. Tropical soils naturally contain fecal indicator bacteria, more specifically E. coli. But closures of beaches are not based on primarily on bacteria levels; they are based on the potential of health risk to the public.
THE OCEAN AS A WHOLE:
The Ocean covers over 70% of the Earth's surface and water offers a perfect source to carry pollution. The majority of ocean pollution comes from oil spills or leakages of oil that originate on land or rivers, that eventually flow out to the sea.
Toxic wastes cause harm to both marine life and human life. They come from leakage of landfills, dumps, mines and farms. PCB, DDT, and Sevin are the most common chemicals that contaminate the ocean from industry and sewage. Insecticides, pesticides, and heavy metals come from farm sources. Radioactive wastes also pose a threat to the ocean. Many pollutants build within seafood consumed by people. Metal mercury has contaminated fish which led to birth defects and nervous system damage when consumed by people. And Dioxin is suspected in causing cancer in humans. Medical wastes spread the very diseases that people have been trying to stop.
Dumping in the ocean was once free reign for anyone, but today it is regulated. Still, the wastes dumped from the early 1900s still remain in our waters. Syringes, laboratory rats, human stomach lining, Navy decontamination kits, test tubes with various substances (with radioactive markings), tampon applicators have all been found dumped in mass quantities in the ocean. Many sewage pipes share space with storm water drains and during heavy rainfall, mingling occurs.
Surfers around the world have gotten sick from contaminated waters and many popular surf spots have been destroyed by construction. It is up to us to protect the ocean from harmful pollutants.
"... I'd tell them it's a sport that takes a lot of patience, you've gotta pay your dues and learn about the ocean and learn to respect the ocean, and from there you can begin processing..."
- Matt Kechele 37, Sabastian Inlet, FL
Please consider joining the Surfrider Foundation. Student membership is only $15 annually. Help protect our mother ocean.
"Regard newness and rebirth. I gave life it's start (I know it's a cliché, but it's true). Look, all I'm saying is if I can do that for an entire planet, think what I can do for you."
- The Ocean (from DIVE) call 1.800.789.2451 or http://www.time2dive.com
ENVIRONMENTAL LINKS:
The Surfrider Foundation http://www.surfrider.com
Center for Marine Conservation http://cmc-ocean.org
American Oceans Campaign http://www.americanoceans.org
National Ocean Service http://www.nos.noaa.gov
Smithsonian's Ocean Planet http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ocean_planet.html
Greenpeace Report on the World's Oceans http://www.greenpeace.org/~oceans/reports/exsum.html
Coastal Futures 2025 http://coast2025.nos.noaa.gov/index.html
SURFING LINKS:
Surfer Magazine http://www.surfermag.com
Surfer's Against Sewage http://www.sas.org.uk
Local Ocean Magazine http://www.pol.com.au/localocean/index.html
Surf - Global Oceanic Surf Links http://www.magna.com.au/~prfbrown/tubelink.html
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Babski, Mark. 1999. The Surfrider Foundation. <www.surfrider.org> Accessed 1999 Sept 29.
Barol, Rita. June 1995. Natural Resources Defense Council. <www.nrdc.org/nrdcpro/ttw/sumhaw.html> Accessed 1999 Dec 3.
Carrol, Nick. Surfing Magazine: Surf Guide. 1999.
Dixon, Chris. 1996. SURFER mag.com. <www.surfermag.com> Accessed 1999 Oct 9.
Galleguillos, Leo. 1999. Science: Biology: Ocean Pollution. <www.jiskha.com/science/biology/ocean_pollution.html> Accessed 1999 Dec 3.
Marcus, Ben. "Daddy is Kind of Proud." Surfer Magazine. Vol. 40 Num. 10 1999: 82.
Pozzo, Alyse. March 1997. The Kelly Slater On-Line Gallery. <ewangirl.simplenet.com/KellySlater> Accessed 1999 Oct 24.
Robertson, Lance. June 1997. Florence accused of repeated water violations. <www.efn.org/~surfride/news/sewage-news-6-24-97.html> Accessed Dec 3.
Tapp, Tom. "Junkie Surf." Surfer Magazine. Vol. 41 Num. 2 1999: 70.
Thank you.
Created by Shannon Jih.
Email: s_jih@yahoo.com.
For the Univeristy of Washingon course ESC110, Autumn Quarter 1999.