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waitlist.surf.social
August 28, 2025 at 3:09 PM
urigso.bsky.social
🏄‍♂️ 🌊 Pro surfer and researcher Cliff Kapono recently referenced #URIGSO oceanographer @nickpizzooceans.bsky.social’s work when debating a key question: bottom turn or highline for maximum acceleration?

#SurfScience 🧪 #WavePhysics #Oceanography
A Scientific Inquiry on Bottom Turns, Highlines and Common Surf Injuries
Cliff Kapono explains the physics behind two of surfing’s most fundamental moves and where you're next lively to get hurt.
buff.ly
March 3, 2025 at 4:33 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
There are a lot of random events taking place between the birth and breaking of a wave, making a surfer's ride an even more unique and rare moment.

#swell #surfscience #surfforecast #waves #oceanography #surf #surfing
How ocean swells propagate, disperse, and group
After they're created by the wind and before they reach the coastline, waves go through several propagation processes, including merging and changes in travel speed.
www.surfertoday.com
April 4, 2025 at 10:01 AM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Can the magical Coriolis force bend swells?

#corioliseffect #coriolisforce #swell #waves #surfscience #surf #surfing
How the Coriolis effect influences ocean swells and waves
Swells and waves are energy, not mass. So, could they be impacted in any way by the Coriolis effect and bend like large masses of air currents?
www.surfertoday.com
March 10, 2025 at 4:54 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
We did an illustrative calculation for a 16-foot free fall off a wave. Check the results.

#wipeout #surfscience #physics #surf #surfing
How hard is water when you wipe out from a big wave?
Is falling from a 16-foot wave like hitting the ground? What happens when a surfer hits the water at 22 miles per hour?
www.surfertoday.com
September 8, 2026 at 2:45 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
The law of reflection applies to water, light, and sound. Here's how it works with ocean waves.

#wavereflection #surfscience #oceanography #waves #surf #surfing
What is wave reflection?
Natural or human-made barriers can reflect the direction and drain the energy of waves. Here's how wave reflection works and what distinguishes it from diffraction and refraction.
www.surfertoday.com
January 6, 2025 at 4:30 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Norwegian surfer and physical oceanographer Torunn Irene Seldal shares a detailed and rich account of how her passion fueled her career choices and vice versa.

#torunnseldal #oceanography #surfscience #journalism #surf #surfing
How surfing led me to a career in oceanography and journalism
Discover how a lifelong love of surfing evolved into a career in physical oceanography and journalism, leading to groundbreaking wave research in Nazaré.
www.surfertoday.com
July 22, 2026 at 3:16 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
The number of forces at stake in surfing is such that it is pretty surreal how humans can ride a wave.

#surfscience #hydrodynamics #fluiddynamics #physics #surf #surfing
The hydrodynamic forces at play when you surf
You could talk about surfing as a miracle of hydrodynamics. The variables at stake when a surfer rides a wave are so complex that they make it a unique experience of balance.
www.surfertoday.com
April 24, 2025 at 3:43 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Imagine a wave that moves potentially indefinitely but never quite breaks.

#solitarywaves #waves #surfscience #oceanography #surf #surfing
What is a solitary wave?
Solitary waves are fascinating because they resist the usual tendency of waves to spread out and dissipate. Here's how they form and behave and where they can be seen.
www.surfertoday.com
February 26, 2025 at 3:07 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
There is new research into why Nazaré gets such powerful, giant swells. And it has to do with two well-known oceanography variables.

#nazare #underwatercanyon #surfscience #oceanography #surf #surfing
The Nazaré Canyon doesn't channel waves. It focuses them
Scientists have uncovered how the Nazaré Canyon creates giant waves, challenging the long-held belief that swell simply travels through it.
www.surfertoday.com
July 15, 2026 at 2:30 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Doubling the wave-riding options is always welcome. Here's why A-frame waves are rare and precious.

#aframewave #wave #waves #surfscience #surf #surfing
Why A-frame waves are a surfer's dream
A split peak always doubles the chances of surfing. But what makes A-frame waves such a rare, fun, and challenging riding opportunity for surfers? Time to ride left or right.
www.surfertoday.com
June 11, 2025 at 2:14 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Waves are a product of the wind. But are wind speed and wave height under a linear equation? The answer is actually quite surprising.

#windspeed #waveheight #surfscience #oceanography #waves #wind #surf #surfing
The wind speed to wave height equation
The analysis outlined in William G. Van Dorn's 1974 book 'Oceanography and Seamanship' emphasizes that even with moderate wind speeds, the variability in swell formation can lead to occasional extreme...
www.surfertoday.com
March 20, 2025 at 5:59 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
A surfer does not think in terms of Reynolds numbers or pressure gradients while riding a wave. Yet every movement on the surfboard is shaped by these forces, especially at the fin level.

#surfboardfins #hydrodynamics #surfscience #surf #surfing
The hydrodynamics of surfboard fins
A surfboard fin is small, but it sits at the intersection of speed and control. Water flows past it in fractions of a second, and in that brief moment, physics decides how the ride will feel.
www.surfertoday.com
April 15, 2026 at 4:30 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Have you ever wonder why exactly there are so many massive swells pounding the East Coast of USA and Europe during the cold season in the Northern Hemisphere? Here's the answer.

#northatlantic #hurricanes #storms #surfscience #meteorology #weather #surf #surfing
Why North Atlantic storms fire up every autumn and winter
Winter swells in the North Atlantic are as regular and powerful as clockwork, sending surf from one side of the ocean to the other. Here's why it happens.
www.surfertoday.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:22 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Resolving the 90-year question of whether smooth three-dimensional fluid motion can break down could lead to several surf-related advances.

#navierstokes #openai #oceanography #surfscience #waves #surf #surfing
How the Navier-Stokes equations could change our understanding of waves
A possible solution to one of the longest-standing mathematical problems could open the way to a wave pool revolution.
www.surfertoday.com
September 15, 2026 at 4:41 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Sneaker waves are unpredictable and take lives every year, all around the world.

#sneakerwave #sleeperwave #kingwave #waves #surfscience #surf #surfing

Cc: @noaa.gov
What is a sneaker wave?
While rogue waves occur in the ocean, sneaker waves are often near-coastline events. But how do these ripples come out of the blue on a calm day? And why are they potentially dangerous?
www.surfertoday.com
May 18, 2026 at 2:09 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Slurpee waves are rare, but Ben Gravy always makes it happen.

#slurpeewaves #waves #surfscience #montauk #surf #surfing

Cc: @bengravy.bsky.social
Surfers brave subzero temperatures to ride rare slushy waves in Montauk
In Montauk, on one of the coldest mornings of the year, the Atlantic delivered exactly that. A frozen, fleeting wave that felt less like the ocean and more like a half-melted dream.
www.surfertoday.com
February 4, 2026 at 7:42 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Tides can be predicted fairly well, but there are surprises here and there.

#tides #oceanography #metereology #weather #surfscience #surf #surfing
The forces that can rewrite a perfect tide chart
Tides feel super clockwork-precise, but a bunch of messy, not-so-predictable things can nudge them around. Here are the big ones.
www.surfertoday.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:59 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Thanks to WaveWatch, originally developed in the late 1980s in the Netherlands, surfers know when to go with greater accuracy.

#wavewatch #waveforecast #windforecast #weather #surfscience #surf #surfing @noaa.gov
WaveWatch: the global model that changed wind and wave forecasting
WaveWatch III is the world's most widely used wind and wave forecasting model. Here's how it began in the Netherlands and evolved in the United States.
www.surfertoday.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:13 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
A wind blowing at 34-40 knots for 36 hours will produce a 14-second swell period and waves of around 37 feet.

#windspeed #waveheight #surfforecast #surfscience #surf #surfing
The wind-to-wave height table
Check how long it takes the wind to blow over a fetch to generate a certain wave height and wave period.
www.surfertoday.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:03 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
Wave speed matters. Here are a few simple equations that can tell you a lot about a groundswell and when it will reach your favorite surf break.

#groundswell #waves #surfscience #surfforecast #oceanography #surf #surfing
How fast do ocean swells travel?
What is the speed of a swell as it travels across the ocean? How can you calculate when it will reach your surf break? Here's all the math you need to know.
www.surfertoday.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:41 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
We know surfers can ride wakes created by moving ships. But what are the interesting and curious facts behind these types of waves?

#wake #waves #surfscience #oceanography #physics #surf #surfing
The secret life and science of ship-generated waves
While engineers keep searching for quieter, cleaner hulls, surfers and scientists alike will always find something fascinating in the moving geometry of a ship's wake.
www.surfertoday.com
October 24, 2025 at 2:51 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
If a weather map shows a 30 kilometers per hour wind (that's 8.3 m/s) blowing across 200 kilometers of open ocean for several hours, you'll probably get around head-high surf.

#waveheight #windspeed #waveforecast #smbmethod #surfforecast #surfscience #surf #surfing
How surfers can predict wave height just by reading the wind
The SMB method is a semi-empirical system that estimates wave height and period from wind speed, fetch, or duration. It assumes deep water and steady wind blowing over an open water surface.
www.surfertoday.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:14 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
As they travel across open seas, ocean waves perform an orbital-like, synchronized, vertical, and horizontal dance.

#transversewaves #longitudinalwaves #waves #surfscience #oceanography #surf #surfing
How transverse and longitudinal waves make surfing possible
Learn why ocean waves are an orbital motion combination of transverse and longitudinal waves.
www.surfertoday.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:07 PM
surfertoday.bsky.social
The idea that a massive Nazaré wave is just pure energy in motion and not matter seems almost like an optical illusion.

#waves #matter #surfscience #physics #surf #surfing
Why waves are energy, not matter
Here's why a swell is scientifically more like a fluttering flag in the wind and not quite like an avalanche. Learn why waves are pure energy in motion.
www.surfertoday.com
September 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM