Only Surfing....
Phil Duke
Hi everyone,
Glad to here C.A getting some good waves, sounds pretty damn
good. Anyone in North C.A tell me what its been like,
I have a friend who is up there at the moment.
The conditions are still perfect another high pressure over us, replacing
the old one, winds still offshore and swells regularly hitting.
Well last weekend saw more good waves, the Friday saw a huge 8-10
foot ground swell hit. Nowhere really holds surf that big but
the more sheltered spots were unreal, a brilliant reef up the
coast was going off at 5 foot and one local was thre only one to
catch it. Saturday morning saw a really powerfull 5-6 foot, after
a extremely sketchy jump off the rocks, we got some good heavy
fast waves, only a few guys out. Afternooon a front hit onshore
winds, rain and coldness.
Sunday morning, woke to a slight offshore and 2-3 foot swell,
we were in the water by 9.00am. Waves were good fun, after
about an hour a rare sight arrived, a group of 15 or so dulphins came past
about 100 yards from the line up. Later on, just three of us were out,
they returned we paddled out to get closer. As we approached them two
of them came towards us and went right under us, we got off our boards
and swam around, all the dulphins then joined us jumping out of the water
really close and swimming all around us sometimes within touching
distance, saw three of them take off on a peak and surf down the face,
after hearing a splash behind us we turned to see three dulphins jumping
about 6 foot away. We could also hear there crys under the water,
it seemed like they were having great fun checking us out. This went on
for about 5-10 minutes, then they moved up the coast.
Has anybody else ever had anything similar happen, its quite rare but
becoming more common to see dulphins here but I have never seen them
come in and get so close before. All I can say is what other activity
do you get so close with nature but Surfing, it was a great experience.
Phil Duke
(Bristol, England)
Leif Eric Johnson
>Families (pods?) of dolphins often swim just off the surf line here in the
>south bay of LA. It seems to me that they only show up on the days when the
>water is clean, which is more often than you'd think. I haven't tried
>frolicking with them though. They are probably jaded city 'fins anyway.
>John Stevenson
I remember one time last year... There had been a family of seven or eight
dolpins cruising up and down the local beaches around Half Moon Bay. I saw
them out a couple of times, and once, several swam directly below me. They
had a couple of young ones, only about 2.5 to 3 feet long. Anyway, one time
they were swimming past me, out about 15 feet from me, and I decided to see
what would happen if I paddled towards them (nothing violent or sudden, just
an easy paddle out towards 'em). Anyway the Lead Dude (Bull?) stopped his
up and down swimming style, and slowed down a bit, spearing me with stink-eye,
and staying on the surface until the rest of the family went by. I wasn't too
surprised, as they did have young with them. Just remember, in the food chain,
killer whales are about the only guys with anything over the dolphins. Later...
-Leif
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Leif Johnson (415) 728-7771 | Disclaimer: My views..."My Waves!" -Surf Punks
le...@unixhub.slac.stanford.edu | Innovation is a controlled form of insanity.
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John Stevenson
> Has anybody else ever had anything similar happen, its quite rare but
> becoming more common to see dulphins here but I have never seen them
> come in and get so close before. All I can say is what other activity
> do you get so close with nature but Surfing, it was a great experience.
>
> Phil Duke
> (Bristol, England)
Families (pods?) of dolphins often swim just off the surf line here in the
south bay of LA. It seems to me that they only show up on the days when the
water is clean, which is more often than you'd think. I haven't tried
frolicking with them though. They are probably jaded city 'fins anyway.
A couple of weeks ago we had a sea lion in the line-up acting very territorial.
He'd pick out a surfer ( it was quite crowded) from ten to fifteen yards away,
look at him with one eye, then the other, then swim right at him at the surface
to about a yard or two, then swim under the surfer. The surfer being charged
sometimes got quite excited, splashing and yelling, which seem to encourage the
sea lion. All the other surfers thought this was hysterical till the sea lion
singled one of them out. He started that one eye then the other stuff with me
but I just sat still and stared right back. He then forgot about me and went
looking for more excitedable surfers.
I also had a whale (type unknown) surface about five yards away while I was
surfing Malibu. Not a big splash, just a little bit of the whale above the
surface at a time. But more and more kept going by and I had to keep increasing
my estimate of how big this sucker really was. It was BIG. I remember all the
barnacles on his body. It was scarry to be that close to something that big. No
problems though.
John Stevenson
hang...@spf.trw.com
Jeff Jonas
>south bay of LA.
A co-worker was telling surfing stories and here's one I like.
He was Boogieboarding and heard a fellow surfer in the lineup barking.
Okay, he thought, surfers do strange things.
Then he saw why the surfer was barking. A seal was checking him out.
The seal then decided to check out my co-worker, probably because
his swim fins make him appear more seal-like.
He wasn't inclined to get friendly with such a large critter,
so he stayed still and let the seal's curiousity run its course.
>I also had a whale (type unknown) surface about five yards away while I was
>surfing Malibu. Not a big splash, just a little bit of the whale above the
There are several stories of Hobie cats getting real close to whales,
and one was even lifted out of the water on a whale's back.
I read in some book that a whale will let you get close enough
to smell it's breath, and it's simply awful smelling!
- jeffj
Dan Hinojosa (Guest)
>In a previous article hangfore@backinblack (John Stevenson) writes:
>>Families (pods?) of dolphins often swim just off the surf line here in the
>I remember one time last year... [...]
I was surfing at Redondo beach one spring. A pod of 'fins cruised by.
Quite a large pod too. It took them all about 15 minutes to pass out of
direct view. The fun of this was to hop off my board and listen to them as
they passed. I could hear their clicking and whines very clearly. It was a
moment with nature that I will never forget.
Of course there was the time in La Jolla when I saw a seal romping in the
surf. I decided to grab the water camera and try to get a snap or two.
Once out, I got to playing in the waves too. Underwater at one point we
saw each other face to face. I think I shit my pants. I think we spooked
each other that time... We both left shortly there after.
--
daniel hinojosa. email -=> hino...@hpwrc.mayfield.hp.com | Mountain View, CA
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jesus Saves!... But Gretzky gets the rebound. He Shoots. He SCOOORES!!!
Andy Michael USGS Guest
>There are several stories of Hobie cats getting real close to whales,
>and one was even lifted out of the water on a whale's back.
>I read in some book that a whale will let you get close enough
>to smell it's breath, and it's simply awful smelling!
whale spouted close enough to get them fairly wet and was absolutely
disgusting. All involved took immediate showers and she could taste it
on her toothbrush for the rest of the cruise.
I think I remember the same pod of dolphins that Leif saw off Half Moon
Bay. Although I agree with Leif that dolphins with young should be
avoided I do know people that have snorkeled with wild dolphins in the
Channel islands (off Santa Barbara) with no problems despite close
contact. I've swum with trained ones and there is no chance you could
chase one anyway. If you go underwater they are generally more
interested in getting close to you but generally won't allow you to
touch them. In general divers have noticed that if you imitate an
animal it is more likely to allow you to stay close to it. The trained
ones will only let you touch when they are told to instructed to. When
we did it they towed us around which really impresses on you how
powerful they are. If you do get to touch one be careful of the tail
and their mouths because they can hurt you too easily. And only pet
them on the back because they like it too much if you do it on their
belly. (half a smiley, we really were told not to for that reason).
I would guess that I see sea lions off Half Moon Bay in Northern CA
about half the time I go out, but have never had one get closer than
about 10 feet. They just seem curious.
Andy