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Archive for the 'Weird stuff on the water' Category

Thank you Mutt Lynch’s…

June 22nd, 2009, 10:42 am by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

… for cracking me up this morning.

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If you’re ever in Newport Beach, check out this joint on the north side of the Newport Beach Pier. It’s not only a great spot for an afternoon beer, but every time I go for a surf down there they are showing off these crazy messages that make my morning that much better - and I especially love them on Monday mornings. I’ll try to shoot as many of these as I can in the next few weeks when I see a good one, and post up a slideshow.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, hope you got to surf with your kids!

Dodgeball madness on the beach

June 6th, 2009, 8:21 pm by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

dodgeball_slideJudy Allen stopped in her tracks as she passed the dodgeball players.

“Oh my God, this is insanity,” she said, checking out the dudes battling it out wearing barely anything. “Speedos are sexy!”

For player Paul Lent, it was just painful.

“It is terrible. It’s really uncomfortable,” he said.

One of the funnest events on Orange County’s coast came back to the beach today on the blacktop of Newport Elementary School, where 24 teams battled it out during the “Shorevival of the Fittest” dodgeball tournament.

Now in its fifth year, the event is getting bigger and better. They go after more than just the trophies for who beats out the other players - but also get props for who has the best creative costume.

“We’re trying to top it each year,” said one of the organizers, Stan Divranos.

There were the dudes in Speedos, of course, but also a lot of other wacky things to laugh at - like the “Magnum P.I.” team, wearing Hawaiian shirts and fake mustaches, and team “Black Out,” sporting tight cut off jean shorts and rockin’ mullets.

But the winners of the Best Costume contest were the Newport Cougars. It was a tough decision, but because they got a guy to dress in a school girl outfit, they took home the win.

For others, it was all about the game. Team Newport Legend came ready with strategy this year: keep calm, and don’t hesitate, said team member Eric Mendeza.

Lauren Machanis, of Newport Beach, gave love to organizer Khari Johnson for pulling together the event.

“He created something amazing for the community,” she said. “He put his heart and soul into the event.”

Spectators lined three chain-linked fences that created the battlegrounds, where the six players from each team hurled blue balls at each other and jumped and weaved to miss being tagged out.

Each year, the teams get more into the competition, challenging the refs’ calls and letting emotions flow during each match.

“It’s competitive, there’s so much invested in this tournament,” Machanis said.

One girl took the game a little too serious, coming after one of her opponents with a closed fist after getting nailed by the ball. Mind you, there’s an Ultimate Fighting team that has been competing for five years - and no one saw them throwing blows!

It didn’t take long for the refs to break up the cat fight, and spectators went nuts. When the game was resumed, the girl got boo’d when she got back on the court.

“I don’t know what came over here,”  said Jackie, the players who was attacked.

“You get the girl’s teams out here, and they start swinging,” said Mike Ryan, of team Green Room. “I think we could market this.”

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Brightcove video.

Congrats to the winners of this year’s Dodgeball on the Beach tournament:

First place: Magnum P.I.

Second place: Young and Hung

Third Place: Woody’s Wharf

Fourth Place: Loose Cannons

Best Outfit: Newport Cougars

Surfer saves kangaroo stuck in rip

May 14th, 2009, 12:23 pm by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

kagarooOk, this is a bit out of our area - but too good not to share.

A surfer on the Gold Coast in Australia saved a kangaroo that was stuck in a rip current recently, according to a site called Anything Australia.

Apparently the dude was worried about hammerhead sharks spotted in the area munching on young ‘roo, so he jumped in to save it.

So many weird things about this story. Gotta love it. Read more here.

And check out the video posted on BBC here.

Got the story from @surf_news on Twitter, thanks!

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Would you jump into shark-infested waters to save an animal?
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Are grunion to blame for recent increased shark sightings?

March 17th, 2009, 2:01 pm by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

In the past few days, there has been an increase in reports of sharks along the coast - with several coming in from Orange County.

Last year about this time, we also saw a spike in sightings - with one surfer even claiming his board was chomped on. The Shark Research Commitee posts these sightings, so I thought I’d ask founder Ralph Collier if it has anything to do with the grunion runs, which kicked off last week.

Here’s what he wrote:

“I asked Karen Martinat Pepperdine University if she had any reports of grunion spawns at any of the encounter locations. She did not receive any reports for the first run of the season.
 
Having said this, I will tell you that for more than 30 years I have studied the relationship between juvenile white sharks and grunion - and the additional prey species the grunion attract.

The birthing of white sharks in Southern California is not an accident of nature, but could be a requirement if the offspring are to survive. When born, young white sharks energy reserves are minimal at best. It is a necessity that they begin to feed very soon or they will drain their only reserves, which will ultimately result in death.

The sharks are born in early spring, which coincides with the commencement of the grunion spawns along the same beaches. With spawns separated by about two weeks, and continuing to September, they have an ample supply of readily avaible food (energy) to sustain life and build reserves.”

What do you make of the recent shark reports?
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Here are some of the recent possible shark activities in Orange County:

Read the rest of this entry »

Whale throws Newport boat into the air

February 26th, 2009, 4:57 pm by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

Register reporter Pat Brennan had an interesting story today about a big-game sportfishing boat from Newport Beach that was thrown into the air Wednesday when it was struck forcefully by a whale powering up from the depths off Cabo San Lucas.

None of the three crewmembers aboard were injured, but the boat, a 60-foot, 40-ton yacht called “Badger,” took extensive damage.

Click here to read the whole story.

Stingray injuries in Seal Beach near 500, highest in a decade

February 18th, 2009, 12:46 pm by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

Seal Beach lifeguards treated nearly 500 victims of stingray hits last year, the largest amount in a decade and making up about a third of the nation’s estimates of stingray treatments.
Seal Beach lifeguard captain Joe Bailey gave a report to the city this week, as inquiries of why the number has increased have come to his office.
The 2008 number is nearly double of that of 2006, when there were only 265 people hit by the ocean-dwelling creatures. In the report, Bailey said there were about 1,500 reported stingray injuries treated by lifeguards each year, based on numbers from a group at Long Beach State who study the animals.
Bailey said there’s a number of reasons stingrays like Seal Beach – which has in past years earned the name “Ray Bay” – especially near the San Gabriel river mouth. They like warm water, and a power plant in the area heats up the ocean there. They also like calm water– and last year’s surf conditions kept the waves small.

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Water funky brown after rain - but do surfers care?

February 11th, 2009, 10:13 am by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

I sat in my car for a few minutes, wondering if it was worth it.

I woke up to sunny skies and knew it was a small window of nice weather before the next storm rolls in. So I jumped in my car early this (freezing) morning to head down for a surf.

The water down in Newport is a funky, gunky brown color thanks to the recent rains, but I decided to head out anyhow. The waves were fun, but the water so murky I couldn’t even see my shins as I sat on my board.

We’ll see tomorrow if it was worth it.

The Orange County Heath Agency always warns swimmers and surfers to stay out of the water for at least three days after a heavy rain, but judging from the crowds today, it looked like no one was listening.

So I couldn’t help to wonder how many people don’t mind surfing after the rain. Poll time!

Do you still surf after it rains?
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More from the Beach Blog:

  • Getting Groms to Good Surf Spots
  • Surfing video from today- and tandem surfing dogs!
  • Surfline: Unstable conditions this week
  • USC Football Coach meeting with the USA Surf Team
  • Ask the expert: Did Laird Hamilton invent “tow in” surfing?
  • Paddleboarder reports shark at San Onofre

    February 4th, 2009, 11:50 am by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

    The Shark Research Committee just posted yet another sighting down in Orange County, the latest in a string of spottings near the San Clemente area.

    The paddleboarder, Keith Lee, was about a mile south of the power plant when he saw a shark do a drive by- an 8-footer dark gray or brown in color.

    “It never broke the water surface. After a moment it submerged and was gone,” he wrote in the report.

    Click here to read more.

    Register reporter Fred Swegles did a great write up about more and more surfers reporting sightings, along with the possible reasons for the seemingly increased number of reports. Click here to read.

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