tips

Rocky asked Amber Johnson, Kalea's mom to give us a quick run down on the question of surfing and Red Tide's on the San Mateo Coast. Amber is atrained Biologist and the Undergraduate Laboratory Manager at San Francisco State University...

I am so glad that Rocky asked me to address the phenomena of “red tides” with you.  Red tide is a general term given when a group of protista reproduce so much that they actually change the color of the ocean (follow the link for more images of last years red tide).  These protista are generally in one of the following groups; the dinoflagellates or the diatoms.  A general term for these organisms is phytoplankton which refers to single celled organisms that make their own food (like a plant) and float around in the ocean.  The ocean actually changes color because these organisms are colored so they can photosynthesize (the same reason that trees are green).  Why am I so eager to cover this topic with you?  Well during the course of my graduate studies in marine biology I had the pleasure of working in a Phytoplakton Ecology lab at the Romberg Tiburon Center for the Environmental Sciences.  I spent three years working with relatives of the organisms that are coloring our water red and in general, phytoplankton never ceases to amaze me. 

Phytoplankton are single celled microorganisms that live in the ocean (there are freshwater species as well).  They are not animals or plants, yet they have characteristics of both.  Many photosynthesize, meaning they make their own food, like plants.  Many also are motile, meaning they move around like animals.  Most are incredibly beautiful and have inspired many artists to try to recreate their intricate shapes and patterns.  Phytoplankton are ALWAYS found along our coastline and in fact they are considered to be at the base of our food chain.  Without these microorganisms to fuel the critters that live in the sea, the entire food chain in the ocean would collapse. 

You might be wondering, if these microorganisms always exist, why is our coastline blood red right now?  In your garden, if you add water, sunlight, and nutrients (often in the form of fertilizer) you get increased growth.  The same is true in the ocean.  Right now we have the perfect conditions to grow phytoplankton.  We have warm sunny conditions and we have freshwater runoff which happens to carry lots of nutrients from the local farm lands (in other parts of the year we have upwelling, which provides fresh nutrient rich water – but that is a story for another day).  In periods like these, the phytoplankton bloom and reach such densities that they color the water. 

Here is a question that many of you have:  is my child in any danger?  The simple answer in NO:  in my opinion, right now it is fine to surf in phytoplankton.  There may be hundreds of different types of microorganisms that form these phytoplankton blooms or “red tides”.  Of these only a few dozen create toxins that can kill fish, birds and even people.  These are called Harmful Algal Blooms or HAB’s.  Along the coast of California, the only way for you to ingest enough of these toxins to have a lethal outcome, is though bioaccumulation.  Bioaccumulation is when an animal ingests the toxin and stores the toxin in their tissues (often not hurting the animal) then the human ingests many of the animals that previously consumed the toxin, thereby accumulated lots of the toxin into the human tissues.  This is why we don’t eat shellfish caught during a HAB.  This is VERY general explanation of a HAB.  HAB’s actually refer to any bloom that causes harm.  The harm can be caused by a toxin or can cause harm in a number of other ways which I can tell you about at another time.  Some of you may have heard of blooms in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Mid Atlantic which release toxic aerosols into the air and caused mild irritation to the eyes and throat of people swimming in the water.  While this is true, at the time of this writing we do not have these species of HAB along our coastline.      

Now you know, just because you see a phytoplankton bloom, you are NOT necessarily seeing a HAB.  A majority of what blooms along our coast is the normal phytoplankton that is necessary to fuel our food chain and keep our ocean’s ecosystem healthy and thriving.

Happy Surfing! 

Maybe these tips will help you too? Here's what I like to do when I look at a used surfboard.

• It's hard to tell how big a board is in a picture. Make sure you get dimensions and those dimensions fit your body & style of surfing.
• Look at the fins, leash plug, and rails. Look for cracks that might be open.
• If you find a crack or a repaired ding, squeeze it a bit to see if there are soft spots nearby (to tell if it's waterlogged).
• If the board is a single-fin or a 2+1, look at the part of the big fin that would touch the ground. If the ground-facing tip is chewed up, one of the last owners may have been a little careless with where they put the board down.
• If the board is a 2+1, make sure those little sidebite fins are solid. If they're removable (usually with a hex wrench), see if the bolts are rusty. If they're glassed-on, just do the crack check.
• Make sure that the water-side of the board is smooth. This is the side you'll be sliding on. Dings, dents, bumps won't help you too much.
• Pick it up to see if it's reasonably balanced (some patches can be really heavy and throw off the board balance).
• Look from the tail toward the nose (and vice-versa). Sometimes you'll see a twist in a board. If you see something, ask about it.
• See if there's a serial number on the board (handy for tracking history).
• Of course, ask where the seller got it. Get the whole story of the board. This will come in handy at some point.
• Ask the seller where he/she surfed it. What worked, what didn't? Why are they unloading it? What will they be surfing next?
• Look for known shapers and brands. Bonus points are always awarded for investing in local shapers. These will all help with resale.

Sometimes a board will have some problems and it's just worth picking it up anyway. Sometimes the board looks great, but it's just a dud once it gets into the water. If you get stuck with a dud, you'll learn something.

What do you like to do when shopping for new gear?