Researchers are beginning to conclude that there may be a link between bad weather and sharks behaviour. Sharks have a very acute sensory system, and now its been put forward that they can detect pressure changes in the atmosphere.
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Drift gets the low down on the creator's thinking
by Howard Swanwick
08/03/2008:// The great sea has set me in motion. Set me adrift, and I move as a weed in the river. The arch of the sky and the mightiness of storms encompasses me, and I am left trembling with joy.
Eskimo song
Surfers are restless spirits; always in anticipation of the next swell, often planning a new journey, never content to ‘hang up their booties’ happy they have done all the surfing they want to. Surfing Genie is a new website that has been created to promote fun, adventurous travel to natural areas in a way that conserves the environment and improves the well being of local people. Drift interviewed its creators to find out a bit more...
So who’s idea was this? (Chris) It was mine. When I left university I joined the Army and had 6 happy and thrilling years travelling the world and getting paid to do it. When I left two years ago the only job I could get was working for a photocopier company and the experience was hideous. I started the website in my spare time (on the flat days) to channel my energy into something positive that I really loved and then got Toby, Nick and Dave to help out.
How do you know each other? (Toby) I taught them everything I know! I was working on a Tall Ship as Bosun’s Mate and Chris, Nick and Dave joined as crew when they were 19. I had to whip them into shape from landlubbers to salty sea dogs. We have been mates since then. (Dave) It took him about 5 minutes and consisted mainly of how to play burp tennis. (laughing).
Are you all surfers? (Chris) Yep, I’m a shortboarder (Toby) Longboarder (Nick) Bodyboarder (Dave) Shortboarder
What’s your most interesting surfing experience? (Chris) Bodysurfing a beach in Sierra Leone with bemused Russian soldiers and locals looking on. It was so hot I burnt the soles of my feet walking across the sand. (Toby) Surfing Reef passes in Polynesia and the Points in Morocco (Nick) Hauling Toby out of the water in Tenerife when he had wiped out in 1ft of water, straight into a neck brace! (Dave) Surfing on Christmas Day in Costa Rica.
So what does Surfing Genie do? (Chris) It’s a website where surfers and local businesses can connect. I have always found it difficult finding out local information before going somewhere and on the web it’s normally just the big travel companies. Surfing Genie lets small local businesses create listings, linked to beaches so that surfers or anyone going to the beach can more easily find somewhere to stay, drink, eat, shop etc. (Toby) It is a useful place to find stuff for where you are going and helps you plan a surf trip. If you have a family (as I do) it is invaluable to make sure you keep the rest of the family occupied to maximise your time in the water.
What parts do each of you play? (Nick) I’m the web guru. I studied computing and marketing at Newcastle Uni (surfing Tynemouth) before working for Lastminute.com. I then went to Aussie to work at AboutAustralia.com (surfing around Sydney) and have recently helped set up ViaGoGo.com. (Dave) Tobes is a great photographer and most of the images on the website have been shot by him. Chris does the blue sky thinking / day dreaming and I generally make the tea! (laughing).
Is another surfing website going to make any difference? (Chris) Who knows. Surfing Genie is fairly unique in that it is a searchable beach database, with a lot of geographical information, with a community built in. It is genuinely a website by surfers for surfers. At the end of the day it’s free to use so if it doesn’t take off no one loses out.
Are you serious about the environment or is this just hopping on the green bandwagon? (Chris) I studied Environmental Science at University so of the four of us I am the resident evangelical. There is so much great surfing to be had around the UK and Ireland it nuts that so many people produce huge carbon footprints flying half way around the world for waves as good as at home. (Toby) Travel has been a part of surfing for so long, but we have to be more careful about how we use our resources, both carbon and waves. If we share wisely the waves we have in the British Isles, there are plenty to go around. We need to stop acting ‘cool’ in and around surfing and just surf waves and share. Hardcore is ultimately fairly pointless and leads to destructiveness of any things.
How do you see surfing in the UK and Ireland today? (Dave) Surfing is now so popular it’s just crazy. Last weekend it was so mild there were crowds in the water that 10 years ago you would only have seen in the summer. The world’s climate is definitely changing and its bound to increase year round surfing in the UK. I think the other big change in the next few years will be just how popular Kite Surfing will become, its going to be enormous. (Chris) I think surfing in the UK and Ireland is going to mature. We watched an awesome Irish surf movie the other day; Sea Fever and clearly there is a huge take up of surfing over there as well. It’s a great time to be a surfer in Britain and Ireland and I think the rest of the world will change their perception of surfing over here over the next few years.
Where are you going with Surfing Genie? (Chris) We’re going surfing! (laughing). There’s loads of thing we want to build into the site over time. It’s about making surfing easier, safer and more fun and it’s an online community so hopefully it will just keep growing.
[Arthurian legends back in Tintagel to campaign for proper sewage treatment]
[North East Surfing]
Cornishman Sam Bleakley has failed to join his British team-mate Ben Skinner in the third round of the Oxbow World Longboard Tour event in France
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) campaigners have today welcomed Hilary Benn, Secretary Of State for the Environment decision to refuse South West Water permission to carry on dumping raw sewage at Tintagel and Bossiney
SAS campaigners are today delighted that Northumbrian Water’s application to turn off Ultra-Violet disinfection sewage treatment from October to April at Marske-by-the-Sea has been rejected by the Environment Agency (EA)
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