I’ll make the ask up front, sign this petition to help us establish legal protection of waves in the UK. It will take you 30 seconds to be part of this effort.

The Surfrider Foundation, as part of the global coalition of wave protecting organizations, is joining our friends Surfers Against Sewage in England to call for 100,000 signatures to protect the waves we love.

Organizations from all over the globe came together on what we’re calling “Global Wave Wednesday”, May 15th, to pool our efforts and ask people to connect to this push.

Waves are under threat from many different forces including sewage, litter, beach access, development.

The aim of the Protect Our Waves petition is to generate at least 100,000 signatures to highlight the value of surfing waves and locations to government and encourage debate of legislation in order to recognize the importance of waves as a cultural, social, economic and environmental asset to coastal communities.

We, all of us, believe that waves and surf spots deserve to be seen as part of our heritage and should be afforded greater recognition and protection through debate and legislation.

By signing the Protect Our Waves petition, “I am calling on the government to debate the economic and intrinsic value of surfing waves and beaches, and produce specific legislation to protect these unique, finite assets for this and future generations.”

Thanks so much and we’ll see you in the water.

Read more from Jim on his Surfrider blog.

The board approved the conceptual design of the 241 Tesoro Extension with the understanding that the board will consider several other actions on the project in the future. This is not the final decision on the project. The plan remains that in the coming months, there will be a public forum meeting in which the public will be encouraged to participate and provide comments. Additionally, the Environmental Assessment for the project will be circulated by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, which will also include a public comment period. All comments received during this period will receive a response.

The SR 241 Tesoro Extension extends the 241 Toll Road by five and a half miles from its current terminus at Oso Parkway near Tesoro High School to Cow Camp Road within the approved Rancho Mission Viejo development, which is currently under construction. The 241 Tesoro Extension will serve as an important independent regional transportation facility for this development as well as provide an alternative to the congested Interstate 5 (I-5) and local arterial roads that are already at capacity in the San Juan Capistrano area. The extension will also offer drivers who travel the Ortega Highway from the Inland Empire another option to access job centers in the north. Construction of the 241 Tesoro Extension Project creates more than 2,400 jobs.

The 241 Tesoro Extension does not connect to I-5 near San Clemente. Some of the emails TCA has received since the April 18 meeting mention concerns of the project’s potential impacts on the San Onofre State Beach park leasehold within Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and coastal areas adjacent to I-5. The 241 Tesoro Extension is approximately 9.64 miles from the state park leasehold. It is not in the San Mateo Watershed.

In 2008, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce upheld the California Coastal Commission’s objection to connect the SR 241 with I-5 at Cristianitos Road. The Commerce Secretary stated that the decision did not preclude modification of the SR 241 completion project.

Public participation is always an important part of the process. Since the Coastal Commission and Commerce decisions in 2008, TCA has conducted an extensive community outreach campaign and held over 300 meetings with both project supporters and opponents — including two years of meetings with a coalition of environmental organizations — to see if common ground could be found on a viable alternative to complete SR 241. Nearly all agreed that traffic was a problem and a solution was needed. The 241 Tesoro Extension is a result of this effort. TCA also participates in several community events throughout the year and has booths where the public can ask questions and see maps of the project.

A poll conducted in June 2012 showed that 61% of South Orange County voters support the 241 Tesoro Extension and 27% opposed. The percentage of support increased to 67% in San Juan Capistrano, the city closest to the end of the alignment, with 25% opposed.

Thank you for your interest and comments.

Lollapalooza has gone global. For the past few years, we thought of the festival as an epic long weekend in Chicago. But as of 2012, Lollapalooza founder and Janes’ Addiction weirdo Perry Farrell has ported his vision to South America (Brazil and Chile, to be exact). From March 29-31st, the festival returned to the infield of the Jockey Club of Sao Paulo with headliners The Killers, The Black Keys, Pearl Jam, and a host of other great bands and DJs. Can Lollapalooza thrive in the Southern Hemisphere? We had to find out. Here, we bring you our Top 11 most interesting vignettes from the weekend:

11. [Roaming keg man.]

Fatal last words: “I’ll be right back.” For a simple snack or drink from the concession stand, you usually have to fight your way through gyrating hordes of crowds to reach your destination and find the way back. Without any clear sense of reference points (we found that even “right side of the stage” gets muddled when you wonder whether the intent was from the audience’s or the band’s perspective), a quick detour can lead to hours languished in trying to reconnect with lost members of your party. Hiring a mobile team of concessions vendors just made an impossible amount of sense. All hail the festival planners who thought of this, and all hail the roaming keg men whose glorious oversized Camelbaks supplied endless adult sodas (read: Heineken) for the thirsty masses.

10. [The post-festival Sao Paulo club scene.]

As we all poured out from the Jockey Club festival grounds at 11pm each night, the never-ending nightlife of Sao Paulo was waiting there, ready to take us in. Unlike in the city hosting your favorite American music festival, clubs and bars just don’t close here. On Saturday night, Diplo crushed his set at the Clash Club, dropping a 4:30am “Harlem Shake” which almost (harlem-)shook the walls of the venue to the ground. Our Friday night escapade to Funhouse found us boxing out locals from the jukebox so we could put Toto’s “Africa” on repeat in the queue as the sun slowly rose overhead (we thought it was funny – no other real reason!). Thank goodness for Red Bull!

9. [Evil Wayne Coyne.]

The Flaming Lips’ new live set is horrifying, but probably not the sort of horrifying that the band might hope to leverage in promoting its latest album, The Terror. Void of all of the color, confetti, costumes, and general fanfare of the band’s fabled shows of yore, frontman Wayne Coyne was left immobile on a pedestal, nurturing and kissing a wiry-haired toy baby. He describes, on multiple occasions, a wish for a plane descending towards a nearby airport to crash, cause a large fire, and invariably kill or injure hundreds of people. The confusion and tension in the crowd was palpable. A jarring and puzzling experience, at best.

8. [Brazilian bands standing their ground.]

Even though most of the prime festival timeslots were given to foreign bands, homegrown Brazilian talent refused to be sidelined. Playing with the fervor and charisma of late-night headliners, groups like Tokyo Savannah, Vivendo Do Ocio, and Wannabe Jalva showed us that Brazilian rockers can hold their own. Our personal favorite was dance-punkers Copacabana Club, who laid down bass grooves like they were LCD Soundsystem at a favela party.

7. [The Hives’ unlikely performance.]

Remember The Hives? They sang “Hate To Say I Told You So,” which was all over the airwaves just over a decade ago. Apparently, they have still been producing albums since then, and they captured an evening spot on the final day of the festival. But as the North American public eye has shifted from these Swedish garage rockers, fans in Brazil have fallen in love with them. And after their set, we rekindled our admiration too. The Hives managed to rock the entire distance from the main Cicade Jardim stage to the crew setting up Hot Chip’s synthesizers on the Alternativo Stage. Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist, the band’s spastic frontman, lived up to his moniker, leading the band with an eccentric, punk rock energy.

6. [Pearl Jam’s Sunday night headlining set.]

“Oi, São Paulo,” bellowed Eddie Vedder as he entered under the lights of the festival’s main stage. In just three words—the band hadn’t even started its Sunday night headlining set—it was already apparent that we would be in for something truly special. The band spiced up favorites “Even Flow” and “Alive” with improvisational interludes and extended solos, while also surprising the crowd with tremendous covers of The Ramones’ “I Believe in Miracles” and The Who’s “Baba O’Riley.”

If that wasn’t enough, Vedder—in crisp Portuguese—paused partway through the show to congratulate São Paulo for respecting and supporting gay marriage. The effort to speak in the country’s native language was met with fervent cheer, swoon, and admiration from the crowd, which lit up at the opportunity to welcome Vedder as one of their own. – written by Roberta, our Brazilian correspondent.

5. [American bands showing their hometown pride.]

Norman, Oklahoma. Akron, Ohio. Athens, Alabama. Queensbridge. North Carolina. The list goes on, but the audience response never rose above a murmer. Most people didn’t know where these places were, and why would they? Except for us – and we cheered obnoxiously loud and proudly American.

4. [Muddy festival grounds.]

Rain is about the last thing you want on the first day of a jam-packed music festival, turning the infield of the Jockey Club into a festival mud pit. At sunset, perhaps, when it’s no longer bright enough to discern between wet and dry paths forward, we all gave up any hope of salvaging the cleanliness of our footwear and gave in. Leading the charge was Passion Pit’s high-energy 8:00PM set. With the beckon of choruses from “Carried Away,” “Take a Walk,” and set closer “Little Secrets,” any lingering inhibitions among the crowd were joyously cast aside as we tore into the Alternativo Stage’s muddy dance scene.

3. [Brazilians loving blues rock.]

One would think that Brazilian rhythmic taste edges towards samba and bossa nova instead of the howling guitar and bluesy vocals of the Mississippi Delta. For the crowd at Lollapalooza, this couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Good ‘ol American rock ‘n’ roll reigned supreme, with the likes of the Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, and Gary Clark Jr. bringing a soulful edge to a musically diverse line-up. The energy in the Shakes’ “Heavy Chevy” and the Keys’ “Lonely Boy” had us reeling and rocking as if we were all transported to a 50’s Memphis blues joint. The language of rock is universal, and nothing goes down better than a classic sound.

2. [Hot Chip’s Official Aftershow.]

“Let Me Be Him” is the 10th track on Hot Chip’s latest album, In Our Heads, and the 13th most popular track based on the artist’s Last.fm profile. It’s not the song anyone would expect to close a set after an encore—intuition might more generally suggest a band closing on a high note with its most popular track (in Hot Chip’s case, “Over and Over”). Intuition might also suggest that an aftershow in a forgotten cinema—once popular among Japanese filmmakers—wouldn’t house the best performance of the entire weekend. But through their last song, armed with Cine Joia’s intimate setting, crisp and bulbous sound, and a high stage with clear sight lines, Hot Chip rocked the hips and melted the hearts of anyone within earshot. Sometimes intuition gets turned on its head.

1. [The people.]

There’s something special in the water in Sao Paulo. Not in the bad way where a guidebook might urge you to only drink from bottles and to carry pills to help stave off an upset stomach. Instead, there’s something in the water that makes it perfectly acceptable and miraculously sustainable to stay up and party until 6:30 AM every night of the weekend or rock out in the crowd until you’re hoarse and can’t stand anymore. There’s something in the water that makes it sane to accept nearly complete strangers into your home as guests and dear friends, to offer a guided tour of the city or an invite to a secret VIP party at the fanciest hotel in town, to give a lift to a beach house three hours away—the list of offers of love and generosity goes on, and on, and on. Perhaps it’s got nothing to do with the water. Perhaps there’s just something special in the people.

Thank you to Samuel, Mark, Eduardo, Thiago, Bea, Richelle, Isabella, Augusto, Roberta, Kevin, Nelly, Felipe, and everyone else who made this a trip, a festival, a city, and a country to remember.

Meet the other half, Josh Petersel.

Editor’s Note: Jonathan Fritz co-wrote and co-photographed this piece with friend Josh Petersel. Josh is a full-time MBA student, part-time rock music enthusiast, and no-time world record holder in the mustache speed-shaving division. His current life goals include shooting a flamethrower, getting a million views on YouTube, building a treehouse, and owning a waterbed—though not necessarily in that order.

Many of Malibu’s finest beaches are deserted due to access issues. A new app aims to inform the public of access points. Photo: Shutterstock/Steve Heap

A new Smartphone app aims to provide public access to many of Malibu’s alleged private beaches. For years, Malibu residents have managed to restrict beach access, preventing the public from entering the area’s gorgeous beaches.

According to USA Today, “The California Coastal Commission, a powerful state environmental agency, says the law allows everyone to frolic in the waves and the damp sand below the point of the highest tide.”

Malibu has huge sections of coastline that are open to the public, yet most are deserted due to the fact that access has been obstructed by walls and private property gates from wealthy and celebrity landowners. The Our Malibu Beaches App will reveal access points in the area, which is information that has, at times, been difficult to find.

According to the Our Malibu Beaches App website:

“For years, we’ve had to put up with obstacles to finding and using these incredible beaches. And even with courts ruling over and over and over and over to mandate public access, finding and using these beaches is still really tough.

Until now.”

The app resurfaces broader beach access issues as well as the reach of the California Coastal Act, which maximizes beach access. In February, five surfers were charged with trespassing for surfing at Martin’s Beach, which at the time, had been obstructed with “No Trespassing Signs.” The charges were dropped in court and the group was able to walk away from the trial with nothing but a warning, which in some ways paved the road for such apps to exist.

Jenny Price, beach access and LA River expert, made the Our Malibu Beaches App, which even shows you where to park. According to Price,  all California beaches are in some part public and it is her goal to make this information readily available. While there are currently 17 known public access points, this app will open it up to roughly 105.

Share on your Instagram to save our break: #SaveTrestles @Surfrider @TheSurfChannel. Graphic by Dilara Karabas/Surf Channel

Constant pressure, endlessly applied. “Without it, we’re going to lose, and we’re going to lose in a lot of different ways,” says Jim Moriarty of the Surfrider Foundation in an ESPN video. In short, over 80 years of surfing history is at stake of being lost if Trestles does not get placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) builds Toll Road through the land.

Trestles, part of San Onofre State Beach, is a mecca for surfers. “The entire set up at San Onofre was so perfect, encompassing a half dozen different reefs that produced shapely relaxed waves, and so seemingly isolated from all else, that it became California’s Waikiki,” said Steve Pezman of The Surfer’s Journal on the Surfrider Foundation blog. Trestles lies within the 125,000 acres of Camp Pendleton, which serves as base camp for the U.S. Marine Corps. Surfers were first attracted to the area in the 1930s and have since made the area a rite of passage. Even during World War II, Trestles was closed for a short period of time, but surfers risked it all to catch the perfect wave. In addition to the local surfers who visit every day and have made a living of the sport through board-making and magazine production, Trestles attracts over one million visitors each year according to Time.

Historic View of Surfers Collaborating at Trestles. Photo: Surfrider Foundation

The campaign to save Trestles originated from the Surfrider Foundation’s petition to stop the building of Toll Road in 2008. According to Surfrider, the road design would infringe on Trestles, so Surfrider enlisted the support of the state to negate the TCA’s mission. The state historical staff felt that there was an opportunity to get Trestles listed on the National Register of Historic Places and encouraged Surfrider to pursue this specification. The naming would also create one more obstacle for the TCA’s pursuit of Toll Road, which has recently resurfaced. Over several years, Surfrider and the California Historical Staff worked together to build an application to protect and earn recognition for Trestles. Mark Rauscher, campaign leader for Surfrider, said that the aim is to get Trestles registered on the national level because it has had a huge part in the development of the cultural phenomenon of surfing.

In addition to working with the state to advance the application, Surfrider also kept in close contact with the owners of Trestles, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

“During all of the years when we worked on the application, we talked to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corp to bring them on board. Things were added to the application to appease them, the application went up the chain of command and was signed off, so we thought everything was cool right up until two days before the commission hearing,” said Rauscher.

He explained that at the last minute, a high-ranking official changed their opinion, creating the opposing argument that the designation will inhibit the training of the military. This put Surfrider in a difficult position, considering they had already added the ability for the military to remove Trestles from the list if it interfered with training or operations.

“We don’t want to make life difficult for them, they are an important part of the national defense and need to be able to train. They are on the front lines. We thought we did everything we could to help them get on board,” continued Rauscher.

On February 10th, Surfrider succeeded in getting the California Historical Commission’s recommendation to place Trestles on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now a waiting game, as the decision lies in the hands of the Keeper of National Registry.

Trestles still needs constant pressure, endlessly applied. Support can be shown by signing the online petition and adding comments and stories about historical perspectives of Trestles, which Rauscher believes is a great view and insight into how people feel about the surfing haven. Supporters can also get involved with the parallel issue of the building of Toll Road. Followers can visit savetrestles.org to receive updates.

If you have been on any major surf website lately you’ve probably heard about how Teahupoo has been firing on all cylinders. While the world’s top surfers gather in Brazil to duke it out, the big wave elite headed over to Tahiti to chase massive swell. All the heavyweights were there; Mark Healey, Peter Mel, Mark Matthews, Ryan Hipwood, and even Laird Hamilton.

The day started out with a heavy paddle session, and as the swell rose into the afternoon the crew was towing in. By all accounts Koa Rothman caught the wave of the day, getting shacked in a giant roar of whitewater. Nathan Fletcher was back in the line-up after winning an XXL award for his tow in ride during the Code Red swell. Keala Kennelly made it too, helmet and all. All in all, it was a massive session. Alex Gray and Mark Healey both say they got the ride of their lives. And day one of this madness is all summarized up above in a beautiful little edit. Day two below.

A portrait of the artist: Robert Siliato

I am a photographer and a surfer. I have been surfing for over ten years, but prior to that I was a bodyboarder. I’ve never lived further than two miles from the beach, and I honestly feel I’m addicted to the ocean. I’ve always tried to take a photojournalistic approach to documenting the surfing culture at the Jersey Shore. I feel that each photo should tell a story, that some surfing shots aren’t meant to be shot at 10 frames a second. I apply that feeling to my other photographic works as well. My ultimate goal would be to write a book about winter surfing at the New Jersey Shore and the perils surfers face in search of a decent wave.

To see more of Robert’s work or purchase a print, click here.

In celebration of this momentous trip, I have created a limited edition print of my “Surf Spot” art. It is my nod to the Japanese flag and surfing in Japan.

I am also offering original watercolor paintings from my new “Watercraft” series.

Of course you can also buy any of my open edition prints to help out as well.

If your wallet is a little light, I am selling Desktop Wallpaper downloads of the Japan Surf Spot print as well as a few other art pieces.

And lastly, if nothing else, please tell your friends, post on Facebook. Tweet. Yell from the highest hill. Do whatever feels right, but please let people know about my art and my trip.

You can purchase these art pieces via my Etsy store or contact me directly.

Thanks for your support,

Matt

This advancement could allow a surfer to stay under water for over twenty minutes. Photo: Shutterstock/Gunnar Pippel

Scientists at the Boston Children’s Hospital have made a medical breakthrough, which has the potential to reshape the surfing world. The team has invented a micro-particle that, if injected into the bloodstream, can quickly oxygenate blood and keep a person alive for up to thirty minutes after they stop breathing.

Dr. John Kheir was inspired to start the study after one of his patients had a severe case of pneumonia. She went into cardiac arrest and because there was so much blood in her lungs, she was unable to breath for twenty-five minutes, which led to severe brain damage.

These micro-particles are only about two to four micrometers in length but they carry four times the oxygen content of regular red blood cells.

This advancement could allow a surfer to stay under water for over twenty minutes. If these injections are made available in hospitals and ambulances, they could also save the lives of surfers who are held under too long. When doctors injected the particle into the veins of a patient, it restored oxygen levels almost back to normal. For doctors, this could allow them to prevent a heart attack or life threatening brain damage. The primary cause of cardiac arrest for most patients is attributed to breathing complications.

Although it may sound like a science fiction movie, years of investigation have made this “air in a bottle” possible. This breakthrough could present a boundary-pushing opportunity and safety mechanism for daring surfers. Only time will tell.

Read more at techwench.com

Me, the young, proud hunter. First fish. No idea what kind it is. Look how small it is! Photo: Amy Mattes

There are certain things in life that one must do. Fall in love. Sleep in the sand. Sit in silence. Create things. There are many more, but one prominently perched near the very top of this list is spearfishing. It seems trite in comparison to falling love, but I’m not kidding. It’s one of the most immensely satisfying activities in existence: kicking hard towards a sun-dappled surface, muscles aching and joints popping, gasping for an essential breath of air with a fish wriggling on the end of a stick with a poker on one side of it – this is exciting stuff!

Before I get started here, let me clarify something: I am the most amateur of amateurs when it comes to spearfishing. A few years ago, my older brother got me a Hawaiian sling as a gift for being the best man at his wedding. He had never tried it, and neither had I, but we both agreed that it seemed like something I would like. And so, the day after the wedding, with head still foggy from the evening before, we waded together in the warm ocean just off of Haleiwa. We swam around together for an hour or two, marveling as one does at the vast array of strangely, hideously beautiful creatures that make their home there. I came up to clear my leaking mask of water, and I heard a garbled, “ISSSH!” coming from my brother’s snorkel. Assuming he meant “FISSSH!”, I snuck back down again and looked where he was pointing. It was, indeed, a fish. I had no idea what kind it was, but it looked edible. After a brief chase, it lodged itself beneath a rocky outcrop and allowed me to shoot it. And oh, the feeling!

We emerged triumphant to his new bride and my then-girlfriend, as happy proud hunters. We had produced food! We were men! Men with a sharp stick and a fish and snot coming from our noses and those odd mask marks that make snorkelers and scuba divers look as though they’ve been beaten around the face with a wet rag. The fish, of course, was much smaller on land. Much smaller. Too small, in fact, to eat. The girls laughed at us. Imagine the outrage. Us, the hunters, the providers, the slayers of those denizens of the deep, being laughed at by our women. Luckily, we were too hung over to care, so we handed the fish off to some fishermen as bait. At least they were grateful.

This, of course, was years ago. I’ve now graduated into only shooting fish that I know are fish I can eat. I also wear a fanny pack full of rocks as a weight belt, but I imagine a real one will come with time.  And so, in typical Howler Brother’s fashion, I’ve compiled a list to would-be spearfisher-people. And, as always, please add your suggestions in the comments section. I need suggestions, because I’m really not very good at it. As per usual, the best suggestion wins $200 worth of Howler Gear. Heck yeah!

And congratulations to last month’s winner, Dave Henderson, on his suggestion for F* Instagram: How To Document a Surf Adventure. Yes, Dave, memorable souvenirs are key. Garden gnomes included. Check out the rest of the Call of the Wild Series. It’s good stuff.

1. Look into the regulations. As it turns out, you can’t just jump in with your pointed stick and shoot whatever you want. There are some legalities around it. And God forbid you end up shooting some poor swimmer in the butt, thinking he’s a North American Trunk-Wearing Bubble Fish. I’ve heard those are terrible eating, anyways.

2. Test your equipment. Before you jump off a pier with your flippers and mask and spear in hand, maybe try wading in first. The first time I ingeniously tested my (patent pending) fanny pack full of rocks, I put far too many rocks in. As you probably know, rocks tend to affect one’s buoyancy pretty severely. I sank like the stones in my fanny pack. Thinking this was great, I kicked for the bottom, only to run out of breath much deeper than I intended. Nothing kills the satisfaction of killing something like killing yourself in the attempt.

3. Start with the hardest method first. This may seem a little silly, but it worked for me. There are an array of different spears you can use, some with triggers and some without. The trigger-less ones are propelled by an elastic that’s wrapped around your elbow, and much more difficult to hit anything with. They’re also much more difficult to retrieve when you shoot at something 60 feet down that turns out to a large piece of bull kelp, waving at you from the bottom, as if to say “you idiot, you thought I was a fish. Good luck getting your pointy stick back!” But once you have that mastered (and I use that term very loosely), graduating to something with a trigger and a string attached to your spear seems so much easier. And as I’ve stated before, I am an inherently lazy person. Easier is better.

4. Cold water sucks. Seriously, it does. I live in Canada, where the water does not get warm. That means I’m pulling on a 5-mm wetsuit, which means I’m probably putting on an extra fanny pack full of rocks to get more than five feet down. Also, it’s murder on your head. Even with a hood, a full minute underwater with an exposed face – save for your bulging eyes behind your mask – creates a pretty murderous ice-cream headache. I don’t know how the fish do it.

5. Use natural surroundings. We are not meant to be underwater. Unless you’re a die-hard and go to those classes where they make you hold your breath and roll you around like a bowling ball under the water while punching you in the kidneys, you probably aren’t that well equipped for life beneath the sea. Unless you’re a die-hard. Or Aqua-man. But you’re not Aqua-man. Don’t try and fool me. Where I live, bull-kelp anchors itself firmly to rocks sitting on the ocean floor. They extend up towards the sun before reaching the surface in a bulbous, salty, leafy lump. And they make the perfect tow-rope. Using muscles uses oxygen, so anything you can do (fanny pack full of rocks!) to aid in your descent towards dinner is a good thing. Look around, enjoy the beauty, and see what there is down there to help you out.

And seriously, be careful. Air is pretty necessary. Spearfishing is dangerous. Don’t get stuck somewhere. Unless you really know what you’re doing, stay somewhere that you know. Don’t go underwater spelunking or shark chasing. Don’t shoot yourself or anyone else. Just go and shoot a fish that is delicious. Oh, the feeling!

Photo: Shutterstock/Beth Swanson