Craig is temporarily a post-doctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who is looking for a permanent position. He spends most of his time balancing his overwhelming geekdom with normalcy so he can function in the real world. Luckily his wife likes his geekiness.
Peter Etnoyer is a Graduate Research Associate at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He studies deep corals and ocean fronts, and he loves to be on the water.
Kevin Zelnio is a Graduate Student Researcher at Penn State studying the ecology of hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities. He raises awareness of the plight of the spineless through folk music.
Image from surfersvillage.com. Surfer catching wave at Mavericks
The Mavericks competition was this past Saturday bringing in the best dozen or so big waver surfers (invitation only!). The best word to describe someone who spanks waves reaching 20-30 feet, historically they have reached near 50? Cajones. Let us not forget the freezing water and jagged rocks. You can see all the pictures here (note picture 27!).
I mentioned in the past if if you want to know where the good surf spots are sure you could ask your local bro', or you could gather some geologist and map the seafloor at high resolution. Sure the first might cost you at most a cigarette and beer while the latter requires a multiyear grant that rivals the budget of a third world country. I still vote for the mapping. We should get Ron Jon to fund geology research!
So what causes these incredible waves? Surfing gods? Nope, it is a long gradual continental slope that provides a ramp allowing waves to hold before breaking. This combines with deeper and calmer water on both sides of the ramp that cause a wave convergence.
Physical Science
Comments
"The best word to describe someone who spanks waves reaching 20-30 feet, historically they have reached near 50? Cajones."
Cajón (with an 'A') is a Spanish word which translates as "box" or "crate." Cojón (with an 'O') is the word that means "ball" or "testicle."
Posted by: Todd Martin | March 30, 2008 10:29 AM
wow thanks for that
Posted by: CR McClain | March 30, 2008 11:00 AM
Mavericks is one of the best surfs spots in the world, next to jaws (peahi), i am 17 and i have surfed here a couple of times and its amazing catching 20 to 25 foot waves, i want to become a professional big wave surfer someday!!
Posted by: Zack | May 19, 2008 9:19 AM