Artic Swell Rising: Surfing the Ends of the Earth

Chrisk Burkard of Senior Staff Photographer of Surfer Magazine and SONY Global Imaging Ambassador.

While experts of the University of Washington keep busy registering extreme waves in the Artic and link them to global climate change professional athletes take to surfing the new swells of the Arctic Ocean.

International Press reported first days of August on extreme waves recorded in the Arctic Ocean. Five-meter-high waves were detected in the middle of the Arctic Ocean by Dr. Jim Thomson of the University of Washington and Dr. Erick Rogers of the Stennis Space Center’s Naval Research Laboratory.

“As the Arctic is melting, it’s a pretty simple prediction that the additional open water should make waves,” Dr. Thomson leading author of the paper published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters told the press. Dr. Thomson using 600 kHz Nortek Acoustic Wave and Current sensor anchored to the seafloor 50 meters below the surface measured wave height in the ice-free Artic Ocean revealing to the world that new 5 meter waves are peaking the basin.

Nobody knows waves like surf athletes. Surf media reported on August 4^th on professional surfers Pat Millin, Brett Barley, and Chadd Konig and Photographer Chris Burkard who just returned from an Arctic Ocean surf expedition.

The images of the documentary “Surfing at the Ends of the Earth” shot somewhere along parallel 68 ° was the result of the expedition of the cold water surf fanatics. Chrisk Burkard of Senior Staff Photographer of Surfer Magazine and SONY Global Imaging Ambassador took seriously to the task of documenting the Artic environment and surfers in action below zero.

Photographer Chris Burkard captured moments of raw beauty in conditions that rank among the harshest in the natural world. The bitterly cold seas and wind exact a large price on their minds and bodies, but the reward - adventure, amazement, and self-knowledge - drew them closer together and pushed them to tackle the next frontier in surfing, the group assures.

Working in a completely different field but riding the same Artic swells Washington expert Dr. Thomson signals to more waves to come for the Artic. “Warming temperatures and bigger waves could act together on summer ice floes. At this point, we don’t really know relative importance of these processes in future scenarios,” Dr. Thomson.

The investigations revealed that global climate change driven melting has been going on for decades, affecting wave heights, could affect coast lines, carries new stored oceanic raw energy, affects the permafrost and impacts distance of wave length in open ocean waters.

Dr. Thomson research is part of a bigger project which uses sensor anchored to the seafloor about 350 miles off Alaska's north-slope which has been measuring Artic wave heights since mid-August until late October 2012.

Burkard feels driven to document the Artic and document the work of surfers who use nothing but 5 to 7 millimeter suits, regulating body temperatures in waters ranging from 35, 45, 46 degrees F, "Doesn’t get much better!" the group of surfers who take on humbly the roughest sea of the world to reach perfection stated. They describe the North Atlantic Sea as home to a sub-real, epic, beautiful and mystical experience.

"When people think of surfing the last things people consider is surfing in the Artic...” Burkard concludes.

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.