WSL 2016 Fever: Azores Gates European Leg to Elite Spots

WSL Photo | Marcio Canavarro — en Lower Trestles.

Four days after the WSL Lower Trestles Stop ended with Mick Fanning taking the win at the Hurley Pro the World Surf League QS Qualification Series brought new fever at Azores. The next months and the coming WSL events -QS and Elite will define the rankings and positions for the 2016 WSL Elite World Surf Tour. Riders at Elite ride to re-qualify while QS riders maximize it to escalate and qualify. Waves will get hot, fast, risky and blood will get pumping. The 2016 WSL Fever is on!

"As the 2015 surf season begins wind down, the race to qualify for the 2016 Championship Tour -or, for some, to requalify -is at a fever pitch. The SATA Azores Pro, the next Qualifying Series QS event, features 10,000 points on the line -a massive boost for the winner's overall QS ranking," WSL flagged it.

On September 22 Stop 6 of the European Qualifying Series Azores Pro was kickstarted in wind-affected, three-to-five foot surf. Location Santa Barbara São Miguel island part of the Azores archipelago off the the coast of Portugal.

“Riders Pushed the Limits!” WSL described the Azores first days and heats. Delivering impressive performances, inspired by the win-or-win spirit of 2016 Spots young Qualification Riders took high points ranging from Judges. Scoring from 9 to perfect 10s riders surfed in impeccable conditions, long waves and smooth tube breaking. Air tricks, tube riding, reverse and inverse tricks dominated.

Just 4 days before Azores started WSL announced the end days at California's Lower Trestles where on September 18 Mick Fanning won the Hurley Pro. Final day saw battled heats between Filipe Toledo and Joel Parkinson, Nat Young against Gabriel Medina, Toledo against Adriano de Souza and the De Souza and Fanning face off. Carissa Moore won the Swatch Women's Pro.

"Australian Fanning duelled with Brazil’s Adriano de Souza in the final heat, prevailing with a combined score of 17.44 to de Souza’s 16.44 out of a possible 20. The win puts Fanning at the top of the 2015 leaderboard and on course for a fourth overall world surfing title, "The Guardian Sport Section reported.

"From day one, nobody looked quite as switched on as Mr. Michael Eugene at the cobblestone point. The speed, the precision, everything so sharp, and simply in tune as each wave fell to shards after every one of his careful dissections. Mick was the epitome of a well-oiled machine – and sure enough, that machine chugged itself all the way to victory," Surfing Magazine reported.

WSL explained that Trestles became the arena which put at stake rankings and coming slots and spots.

WSL reported from QS Azores where in the end Jack Freestone took the SATA Azores. “The young and talented Australian surfer defeated fellow countryman Dion Atkinson in an exciting final held in highly competitive four-to-five-foot waves," Surfer Today reported

Azores Day 2 was evidence of what was at stake and how surfers will push the limits. The surf "three to four foot" allowed some of the best top surfers to "drop huge scores in Round 2 of competition".

McGonagle's scored a 9.17 in the opening round of SATA Azores Pro, rider Brent Dorrington took home a near perfect 9.93 backhand barrel, Adam Melling rode out a flat 10 while rider Tudela "Flew Above Azores for 9 point ride” and Geiselman scored 9.67 in Round Two.

Surf analysts began to “math-up” and break down rides and riders of 2015 to figure out who will be in and who will be out the 2016 World Elite Tour. Some say it is still too early to known, others say no spot is absolutely secured and that anything can happen and nothing is certain.

Only one thing is secured Riders will drive it out in QS Events and continue to step up their game. At the time the Elite Best World Surfers look into the October 6-17 Quicksilver PRO France Stop and the rest of the tour for the year. The 2016 WSL Fever will only continue to rise...and rise...and rise....and break.

Ocean Life News in Brief

Ocean Level Increase Dropping Oceans Floor: International Press reported on December 5 on the findings of new research which assures that due to ocean level increase the ocean floor is sinking. The study published online in Geophysical Research Levels used mathematical equations to accurately measure the Ocean's floor impact driven by the increased of water volume weight. Using data from 1993 to 2014 researchers found that ocean level increase is causing the Ocean floor to drop globally by the milimeters. Ocean Dead Zones Up By Four: On January 8 New York Daily reported that Ocean Dead Zones have quadrupled.Researchers warned in a new study that oxygen-starved ocean dead zones, where animals and plants are struggling to survive, have increased fourfold and it may not be reversible. The new study was published in the Journal Science. The increase of Dead Zones was linked to climate change. La Niña´s Polar Wave Hitting Hard the US -Freezing Oceans: International Press reported on the Polar Wave hitting hard the US. The event is linked by experts to the influence of La Niña. “For the past couple of weeks, parts of North America have been chilling down to record temperatures, with massive snowfall and icy cold conditions putting life at a standstill for many,” media reported. The US East Coast has been particularly badly hit with the likes of Boston down to Philadelphia reaching bone-chilling lows of near 0°F , with icy winds making it feel closer to around -10°F to -20°F. Officially 18 were dead and 100 million affected. Government of Bali Declares a Garbage Emergency: On January 5 Ocean Conservancy reported on a New Waste Management Emergency in Bali. Massive amounts of ocean debri are affecting the island. The situation has reached its peak as the Government of Bali declared a “Garbage Emergency”. Clean up works have began. “Ivory Coast Village Swallowed by Ocean Increase,” Aljazeera Reports: On January 8 Al Jazeera reported that ocean increase levels are affecting infrastructure in the Ivory Coast. “Rising tides and more frequent, devastating storms are slowly destroying what is left of Lahou-Kpanda, the offshoot of what was once a major colonial town near the mouth of the Bandama River, the longest river in Ivory Coast,” Al Jazeera reported. Arctic Ocean Radioactive Levels on the Rise: IFL Science reported on January 3 on the findings of new report which assures that radioactive levels in the Arctic Ocean are on the rise. “Concentrations of radioactive radium-228 in the Arctic Ocean increased between 2007 and 2015,” the report reads. While levels have not yet reached a mark of concern the trend is worries experts. Lauren Kipp of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution addressed the issue. New World Wide Ocean Turtle Study Says 90% of Plastic Pollution Cases Result in Death: Earth Sky Org reported on January 7 that hundreds of marine turtles die every year after getting tangled in trash in oceans and on beaches. A research published in the journal Endangered Species Research took on a World-Wide Survey covering the major oceans where turtles live. They discovered that 91 % of the entangled turtles were found dead. They also suffered serious wounds from entanglement, leading to maiming, amputation or choking. Double Whirlpools Discovered for First Time: December 4 Press reported that Double Eddies have been registered for the first time in History. Tangled up Double Eddies can travel great distances affecting ecology significantly. Eddies are a natural part of the ocean environment but double whirlpools had only been theorized by mathematicians.