The beach at Sayulita--the surf is similar to Cardiff Reef. Mellow reef and rivermouth cobble semi-point.

I arrived at the Puerto Vallarta airport after a short flight from San Diego and was immediately whisked away by Darrin Polischuk, a filmmaker who I had first met when he lived in northern Baja.

“The surf should be fun,” said Darrin.

I traveled to the Riviera Nayarit, the name for the coast north of Puerto Vallarta, to give a talk in Sayulita, a coastal village known for its artsy surf vibe and boutique and gallery lined streets.

“When we first arrived here a few years ago we knew it was the place for us,” said Darrin, who lives in Sayulita with his wife Paulina and two children. “And we’ve been here ever since.”

Half an hour after my arrival Darrin and I were surfing 2-4’ rights and lefts with a few friendly locals somewhere on the way out to Punta de Mita, a theme green headland that forms the northern terminus of Bahia de Banderas.

The waves were similar to Church’s at San Onofre.

The tropical foliage and white sand beach reminded me of Kauai and southeastern coast of Australia.

After about an hour and half, we returned to the truck and headed north to Sayulita on a small highway that meandered through the rainforest.

Upon our arrival, Darrin dropped me off at the brightly colored Petit Hotel Hafa, owned by Christophe and Marina Mignot.

Just a couple of blocks from the beach, the Hafa has free Wi-Fi and simple but clean and tastefully decorated rooms.

“Marina, the kids and I came to Sayulita after traveling many years on a sailboat and living in Portugal,” said Christophe, who is French. “We were looking for an easy living place with surf sun and culture. The family loves it!”

Marina, who is from Mallorca, has installed a little boutique on the ground floor of the hotel with surf and nature inspired art and jewelry.

The following morning, I walked around the corner from the hotel to the Café El Espresso Sayulita.

After sipping a double espresso with just the right amount of foam, I strolled down to the beach to check the surf.

Nearby, local fishermen were readying their pangas for a day of fishing.

Down the beach, the operators of surfboard rental companies were setting up their boards and umbrellas.

With a mellow cobblestone reef point in town, Sayulita is the perfect destination for beginning surfers or surfing families.

I first visited Sayulita a decade ago with my wife Emily and our two budding surfer sons.

Israel my oldest son had just learned to surf. “I got my first barrel in Sayulita,” he remembered. We spent the entire weekend surfing and playing in the waves.

The town really hasn’t changed that much since then. There are just more boutiques, galleries, hotels and great places to eat.

It was too windy to surf, so I walked over to meet Kevin Roberts of Punta Sayulita who grew up in Coronado and is developing an Indonesian/Hawaiian style residential village just south of town.

Kevin was the host for my lecture that evening and is one of the organizers of the 3rd Annual Punta Sayulita Longboard & Stand- Up Paddle Classic that will be held on March 9 – 11.

“Over the past two years, the Punta Sayulita Classic has developed into one of the premier surfing and stand-up paddle events in North America,” said Kevin.

“The event has one of the deepest international fields competing head-to-head in longboard and stand-up paddle (“SUP”) surfing contests as well as in an array of exciting offshore SUP distance races.”

Later that day Darrin picked me up to search for surf.

Once again the wind didn’t cooperate.

Just a few miles north of Sayulita, we turned into San Francisco (the locals call it San Pancho), an earthy coastal village that has become a new-age destination.

Huichol women in brightly colored dresses sold jewelry on the tiny malecon. Beautiful murals depicting the town’s agricultural and indigenous legacy surrounded them.

We visited the Entre Amigos Community Center, a brightly painted brick building in the middle of town.

Photo by Globalista

Local children were reading in the public library and working on art projects.

“We focus on classes, lectures, art, community projects and education,” said Nicole Swedlow, Executive Director of Entre Amigos. “The center was community designed, is community driven and has become a gathering space and a place of tremendous positive energy.”

Photo by Globalista

After my evening talk on conserving Baja’s coastline and showing the documentary, The Baja Wave Document, at Punta Sayulita, I sat down to dinner at a restaurant on the town’s colorful plaza with Paul Van Fleck, a photographer.

Paul is a longtime friend from Coronado who had previously lived in Imperial Beach and Todos Santos in Baja.

He keeps a small studio in Sayulita and as well as a place in Puerto Vallarta. “I love surfing here,” said Paul.

Prior to catching my flight the following day, Darrin drove me to another surf spot on the road out to Punta de Mita.

After a short walk through a tropical forest, we emerged on to the beach to find  waist-high surf and glassy conditions.

Darrin and I shared wave with a few tourists on longboards and sea turtles swimming around the reef.

It was a good omen and a great way to end my short time surfing and exploring in and around the magical coastline of Sayulita.

Sayulita is host to a major SUP and Longboard contest.

My hotel the Petit Hafa, was a nice simple "boutique" hotel. I love staying in places like this. Much more comfortable and easy to hang out in compared to a big resort hotel.

Surfing is a big business here with tons of locally owned surf schools.

The Punta Sayulita office and casita where I gave my talk. Couldn't think of a nicer place to give a talk.

Preparing for my talk.

Answering questions--a great group showed up.

Kevin Roberts at left of Punta Sayulita hosted me. He grew up in Coronado. That's Paul Van Fleck of Nado-IB-Baja-Sayulita just next to Kevin (heading poking out), Robert "Chuy" Madrigal a longtime tourism and surfing consultant in Mexico, and Darrin Polischuk is to the right of me. Darrin is a longtime friend from Baja who has helped out Wildcoast for years now.

The cafe around the corner from my hotel and on the main plaza--excellent espresso and good simple, healthy food. My kind of place.

Lots of galleries and boutiques in town.

This surf shop has what are arguably the coolest surf t-shirt designs of any shop in Mexico.

The coast south of Sayulita looking to Punta Mita. This is a beautiful coast and biogeographically the southern end of the Sea of Cortez. The surf is pretty gentle along here with reefs and white sand beaches in some locations.

The conference took place at SDSU.

It used to be that surfers didn’t worry about anything except catching the next wave.

For Glen Hening, founder of the Groundswell Society, the 10th Annual Surfing, Arts, Sciences and Issues Conference, was all about surfers moving beyond sefishness and embracing a new spirit of aloha.

Co-hosted and organized by SDSU’s new Center for Surf Research, the event brought together more than 120 surf industry stalwarts, social entrepreneurs and everyday surfers to examine the myriad of ways in which surfers can give back.

“The conference confirmed a whole new trend in surfing that’s not about commerce or competition, but about community,” Hening said. “A university setting, great presentations, honest answers, and a real surf-stoke vibe made SASIC 10 a bit of a milestone.”

For Jess Ponting, director of the Center for Surf Research, the conference marked the beginning of a new era in surfer philanthropy and giving back.

Originally from Australia, Ponting has carried out research on the economic, ecological, and cultural impacts of surfing tourism in the surfing “nirvanas” such as Indonesia.

During his research, he found that the multi-million dollar surf tour industry was a complete contrast to the abject poverty and environmental degradation of the rural communities that populate many third-world surfing destinations.

But in some places that situation is changing. Over the past decade, with the development of organizations such as SurfAid, and the emergence of a more strategic form of surf industry philanthropy, a new culture of giving back has emerged among surfers and the surf industry.

Dave Aabo is the founder of Waves for Development, an organization that works to link surfing and community development in the wave-rich coastal desert of northern Peru.

At the conference, he provided an overview on how to make a strategic request from a surf company to carry out community work.

Aabo, an ex-Peace Corps volunteer who departed for Peru the day after the conference, is slowly bringing a more business-like approach to the complex field of community development.

Other presentations were given by staff from Surfing the Nations, SurfAid, Surfing Magazine, and Surfers for Cetaceans. Pierce Kavanaugh screened his film, Manufacturing Stoke.

In the panel on corporate philanthropy, Jeff Wilson of Quiksilver, PJ Connell of Reef and Derek Sabori of Volcom, all provided an overview of how these companies make an impact in their giving (in full disclosure, WiLDCOAST, the organization that I am Executive Director of, receives support from Quiksilver, Reef and SIMA).

For all three companies it is critical for their staff and surfers to get more involved in the projects they are funding and support.

Giving back has now become another important element for professional surfers as well. Kelly Slater for example launched the Kelly Stater Foundation to facilitate his philanthropy.

Rob Machado, who was interviewed by Ponting in a video presentation, carries out his philanthropic work in San Diego County through the Rob Machado Foundation.

The iconic Cardiff surfer also worked with Reef to create a more sustainable sandal made from recycled tires.

One of the more well-received presentations of the day came from Kevin Whilden, co-founder of Sustainable Surf, who identifies and implements environmental solutions for the surf industry.

In one of its key programs, the start-up organization has helped to collect thousands of pounds of used styrofoam that is then collected, compressed and reused in recycled EPS surfboard blanks.

These blanks produced by Marko foam only cost $5 more than those that are non-recycled, and according to Whelden, “are 10 percent stronger.”

Additionally, Sustainable Surf partnered with the Rip Curl and Waste Busters at the San Francisco Rip Curl Pro to reduce waste by 90%.

It is solutions like these and green and social entrepreneurs such as Whilden, Aabo and the new plethora of the members of surfing’s new “aloha” generation who are changing what has typically been a group of inward-looking athletes, into a community that understands the need to give back.

Jake Stutz, a High Tech High sophomore, who attended the SDSU event, exemplifies this new generation.

Recently returned from a school trip to Nicaragua, Jake and his classmates volunteered for community development projects and caught some great waves.

“It was cool,” he said.

Israel Dedina at the WiLDCOAST table. Thanks to Daniel and Jake Stutz for helping out!

Jeff Knox, Megan from San Diego Coastkeeper and Marco Gonzalez from Coast Law Group.

Zach Plopper and AJ Schneller of WiLDCOAST

Jess Ponting, Director of SDSU's Center for Surf Research and Dave Aabo of Waves for Development.

Panel on Corporate Philanthropy with PJ Connel of Reef, Derek Sabori of Volcom, Jeff Wilson of Quiksilver, and Michael Steward of Sustainable Surf.

Panel on Surfer Driven Non-Profits: Andrea Yoder Clarke of SurfAid, Zach Plopper of WiLDCOAST, Tom Bauer of Surfing the Nations, and Kevin Whilden of Sustainable Surf

Pierce Kavanaugh Director of Manufacturing Stoke.

Surfing Magazine editor and SDSU alum, Taylor Paul talking about engaging pro surfers in giving back.

Related articles

• Global Wave Conference 2011 Spain (sergededina.com)

I had first learned of the interesting history of black surfers while on a surf trip to Michoacan, Mexico. I met members of the Black Surfing Association, who were in the process of making White Wash.

Members of the Black Surfing Association after a long session surfing a secret left point in Michoacan.

After the trip I returned home and wrote this post for my occasional column in the Voice of San Diego:

On a recent surfing trip to the wild Pacific coastline of southern Mexico, I met a group of surfers who are so committed to their vision of community that it made me reevaluate my own notion of surfing as sport. For members of the Black Surfing Association, in whose company I was lucky enough to spend two mornings surfing a remote left point break, surfing is, in the words of BSA’s Rick Blocker, about, “teaching, mentoring.”

In between multiple surf sessions (it stayed offshore until 1p.m.) and watching BSA member Rusty White rip the head high perfect lefts, I chatted with Rick and Will Lamar about their passion and the history of black surfing in Southern California.

Rick and Will are some of the most interesting and perceptive surfers I’ve met. Rick is the BSA historian and according to Wetsand.com:

In the early ’60s, Blocker and friends Max McMullin and Marc Thompson began skating streets and banks all over west Los Angeles. Rick’s childhood “play cousin”, Marty Grimes, close friend of the Dogtown crew and perhaps the first black professional skateboarder, credits Rick with introducing him to the surf/skate lifestyle. A few years later, a friend of Rick’s mother took him surfing for the first time, at Malibu. Rick was instantly “stoked just being in the water, seeing the sights, seeing the perspective.” Rick began commuting by bus from inner city LA to Santa Monica, where he kept an old board in a “board locker” at the pier. In 1968, when he was 13, Rick saved up enough money ($150) to buy his first new stick, a Dewey Weber longboard.

Will was shooting video for a documentary and discussed how African Americans were a key part of the Southern California beach scene in the early part of the 20th century — but were physically barred from using the beach after the first black surfing resort, Bruce’s Beach, was destroyed. This history of Bruce’s Beach in Manhattan Beach is an ugly chapter in the often sordid history of Southern California, in which racism is a neglected theme in the often Disneyfied accounts of our past — especially as it relates to what some geographers call “Surfurbia.”

According to the City Project, from whose executive director, Robert Garcia, I had first heard about Bruce’s Beach:

When Manhattan Beach was incorporated in 1912, a two-block area on the ocean was set aside for African-Americans. Charles and Willa Bruce built a black beach resort there, the only resort in Southern California that allowed Blacks. Bruces’ Beach offered ocean breezes, bathhouses, outdoor sports, dining, and dancing to African-Americans who craved their fair share of Southern California’s good life. As coastal land became more valuable and the black population in Los Angeles increased — bringing more African-Americans to Bruces’ Beach — so did white opposition to the black beach. The black beach was roped off. The KKK harassed black beachgoers. The City of Manhattan Beach pressured black property owners to sell at prices below fair market value and prevailed in the 1920s through condemnation proceedings. Bruce’s Beach and the surrounding black neighborhood were destroyed. Black beachgoers were then relegated to the blacks-only section of Santa Monica beach known as “the Inkwell.” Manhattan Beach tried to lease the Bruce’s Beach land to a private individual as a whites-only beach, but relented in the face of civil disobedience organized by the NAACP. Bernard Bruce has spent his life telling people about Bruce’s Beach, the beach resort that his family owned. No one believed him because they did not believe black people owned beach resorts. This is why it is important to tell the story of Bruce’s Beach.

On March 31, 2007, the city of Manhattan Beach renamed its ocean front park Bruce’s Beach Park in memory of the pioneering African American community there. At least in Los Angeles, there is an awareness of how to redress the racist wrongs of the past. In San Diego, when it comes to the racist heritage of coastal exclusion (in such enclaves as La Jolla), we are in total denial.

The spirit of Bruce’s Beach lives on in the BSA and in surfers like Will and Rick, who are attempting to build a inclusive surfing community in Southern California rather than one that includes a select few.

One of the subjects I mentioned last night during my talk was the need for the surfing community to reach out to everyone to share our love and passion with the ocean. That is also especially important for the mostly white environmental movement.

Related articles

• Why Surfing Localism Violates our Civil Liberties (sergededina.com)

The weather and surf were great over the Superbowl Weekend in Southern California. In Imperial Beach, the groms were having a great time.

Bob Simmons at Malibu.

“It was the winter of ’49 after a big epic perfect swell. I went to the IB (Imperial Beach) County Life Guard Station early waiting for the others to head for the Sloughs,” recounted Coronado surfing historian John Elwell. “This figure strode by who had clothes of a laborer.

His wool plaid jacket was full of fiberglass fibers that sparkled, his long pants were well worn and stained with resin. He was going up on the boardwalk in front of the station to talk to the Master of the Sloughs, Dempsey Holder.”

Elwell was talking about Bob Simmons, the eccentric genius who helped influence modern surfboard design.

The Surfer’s Journal published this description in Elwell’s article, “The Enigma of Simmons” in 1994.

Simmons died during a big swell in La Jolla at Windansea in 1954. His use of aerodynamic principles and incorporation of Naval architect Lindsey Lord’s research on planing hulls to build short foam-based twin-keeled surfboards back in the early 1950s, influenced the work of groundbreaking surboard craftsmen such as George Greenough and Simon Anderson.

I talked with Elwell at the opening of Richard Kenvin’s exhibit on Simmons, “Hydrodynamica: Remember the Future” at the Loft 9 Gallery and Space 4 Art last Saturday.

Kenvin, the legendary San Diego surfer, has spent the past decade documenting the influence of Simmons. He collaborates with shapers such as Daniel Thomson and Carl Eckstrom, using Simmons’ foundation to reinvent the modern surfboard.

Kenvin wrote on this website that,  “Accounts of Bob Simmons riding short foam and balsa boards at Windansea in the early ’50s inspired us to build a series of short Simmons planing hulls for Hydrodynamica in 2006.

Another stimulus was a 5’6” Simmons-inspired planing hull that Al Nelson built and rode at Windansea in 1956. Simmons was employed by Douglas Aircraft in 1952, as were famed California modern designers Ray and Charles Eames. Simmons’ planing hulls are functional examples of aerodynamic form being used as a central element of mid century modern design.”

“Bob Simmons played ping pong and researched waves at Scripps, and made surfboards in the station (IB Lifeguard) when the surf was down. Bob and Demps (Dempsey Holder) talked for hours on end on wave and surfboard theory,” Elwell said.

According to Elwell, Simmons often said, “My surfboards are hydrodynamic planing hulls. You don’t need much fin as they are for directional stabilization.”

Pioneering La Jolla surfer John Blankenship once told me that, “Simmons used to show up at Windansea and tell everyone, ‘If you guys had any guts you’d be out with us at the Sloughs.’”

Simmons used the Sloughs, a winter big-wave spot down in Imperial Beach at the mouth of the Tijuana River, as a testing ground for his twin-keel design.

“He lived in the parking lot of the IB Lifeguard station in his car and made boards at the station,” Elwell said.

Carl Eckstrom is a surfboard shaper and designer who helped pioneer asymmetrical surfboards. He was also there Saturday night. His unique boards were on display along with those of Aussie shaper Daniel Thomson of Tomo Surfboards.

Carl Eckstrom

To Eckstrom, Simmons’ boards were, “Designed for speed and not high performance. These things,” he said, pointing to the Simmons boards on-display, “are beautiful pieces of sculpture.”

Former world surfing champ and shaper Peter “PT” Townend was on-hand at the exhibit. He was studying Kenvin’s collection of twin-keeled surfboards including many by San Diego’s own Steve Lis.

“I got beat by these back in the 1972 World Championship in OB,” PT said. “Jimmy Blears and David Nuuhiwa won the event. I rode a traditional single fin along with Larry Bertlemann, but on the day the of the finals, the waves were tiny and Blears and Nuuhiwa had their fishes which worked perfectly in the lefts coming off the pier.”

PT examines the collection.

Thomson is originally from Lennox Head, Australia. He used Simmons’ and Lord’s ideas about planing hulls to make modern high performance surfboards. A couple of his boards were on-display including an ultra-modern thruster, he calls the “Fractal Design.”

“The Simmons Planing hull has always made sense to me because of it’s scientific applications of low drag control and dynamic lift,” wrote Thomson. “I have been gravitating more and more toward the parallel rail lines because it naturally allows the design to be ridden smaller without compromising stability and paddling ability, not to mention the performance potential is greatly increased.

The ‘Fractal Design’ is an architectural or functional art piece, based on Simmons’ platform with Fibonacci and Phi mathematics designed into eight unique measurements of the board. The relationships with ‘Phi’ proportions is not only very pleasing in theory, but is very close to my ideals of the perfect high performance surfboard.”

The past is the future. Eckstrom and Thomson

Kenvin worked on the exhibition with Mark Weiner. Both deserve to be commended for turning an interest about Simmons’ historical legacy into an opportunity to provide greater understanding about the cultural and design influences of modern surfing.

Thomson's interpretation of Simmons. One of the most interesting boards I've ever seen.

Related articles

• Hydrodynamica Exhibit Opening (sergededina.com)
• Art and Soul at the Sacred Craft (sergededina.com)

An eclectic crew of surfing legends, shapers, and historians from Coronado and around Southern California attended the opening Saturday evening of Hydrodynamica: Remember the Future at the Space 4 Art in the East Village (325 15th Street, San Diego)

The exhibition on the surfing legacy and influence of Bob Simmons, was curated by Richard Kenvin and Mark Weiner, includes pieces from the collection of Coronado resident John Elwell, and is on display through March 9th.

Surf historian John Elwell witih pieces from his Simmons collection.

Curator and San Diego surfing legend Richard Kenvin.From left to right, Kevin Stuckey, Jeff Knox, John Elwell and Israel Dedina.

Surf designer and innovator Carl Eckstrom with legendary surf photographer Tom Keck.

Kevin Stuckey, Jeff Knox, John Elwell and Israel Dedina

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• Hydrodynamica in Pacific Standard Time (surfysurfy.net)

Dovi Kacev at work. Courtesy: Dovi Kacev.

Dovi Kacev grew up in South Africa and San Diego. A longtime La Jolla surfer, Dovi is finishing up a joint SDSU-UC-Davis Ph.D. in Ecology. For the past 11 years he has carried out research on shark ecology and conservation which has allowed him to study sharks in the wild in San Diego, Baja California, and the Caribbean.

Serge Dedina: As a surfer who grew up in South Africa where there are a lot of sharks, why did you choose to make your life’s work the study of the ocean’s apex predators?

Dovi Kacev: From as early as I can remember I have been interested in sharks, but I did not think of becoming a shark biologist until I was in college. Learning about how important their roles are to maintaining balanced ecosystems, how little we know about their biology, and how much trouble they face due to human pressures, led me to realize that there is a lot that we need to understand better about sharks.  This led me to a career in shark biology.

Dedina: On Tuesday, surfers and a photographer spotted what appears to be shark in Imperial Beach. What is the typical migratory pattern of these animals and what is their conservation status?

Kacev: We have many different species of shark in Southern Californian waters and each species has different migratory behavior and habitat preferences. The shark in the photograph in question looks like it is either a white shark or a basking shark, both of which are known to use local waters and both are protected species due to conservation concerns. Recent tagging studies have shown that adult white sharks tend to come to California in the fall but migrate offshore to an area in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for much of the year. Juvenile white sharks are known to spend more time in the the Southern California Bight. Much less is known about the behavior of basking sharks, but scientists are trying to learn more about them with a new tagging study. Much like it is difficult to identify the species from the photo, it is not possible to estimate the size without some sort of reference.

Dedina: Is it likely the shark is still hanging out in Imperial Beach? Is there enough food locally to sustain them? And what are they typically feeding on?

Kacev: This all depends on the size and species. Last year basking sharks were sighted spending time off of Imperial Beach. They primarily filter feed on small copepods in the water column. Juvenile white sharks seem to take up residency in Southern Californian waters. As juveniles, they are fish feeders, and pose little risk to people. Adult white sharks are known to be seasonal residents in certain locations in central California and Mexico, but to the best of our knowledge tend to be just transient in our waters. If that was an adult white shark, there is no reason to expect that it is still in the area.

Dedina: How many white sharks are out there along our coast?

Kacev: This is a difficult question to answer as sightings are so rare and therefore data on white shark abundance is hard to come by. The most recent study of adult white shark abundance in Northern Californian waters estimated that there are between 200 and 300 adult individuals, which is a pretty small population. Another recent study suggests that the population size may be growing, but growth of shark populations happens at such a slow rate because they take a long time to mature and reproduce at a slow rate. The simplest answer to this question is that the population is likely quite small and that they are more threatened by people than they are a threat to us.

Dedina: Are there any locations in Southern California and especially in San Diego County that you have identified as having larger numbers of sharks?

Kacev: There are areas of seasonal aggregations of leopard sharks and smoothhounds, but none for the larger, more pelagic sharks.

Photo courtesy Dovi Kacev.

Dedina: You have been carrying out research outside of Black’s Beach. What are you and your colleagues observing there?

Kacev: The area off of Black’s Beach is interesting because of a large submarine canyon. We see a lot of leopard sharks, guitarfish, and bat rays. We occasionally catch juvenile thresher sharks in the area, which we tag and track.  In all of my time surfing, diving and fishing in that area, I have yet to see any large, potentially dangerous sharks.  This is not to say they do not exist there, but not in particularly high densities.

Dedina: What is the role of sharks in maintaining the balance of the ocean? Do we really need sharks?

Kacev: Sharks often act as apex predators and as such they are important for controlling the population sizes and behaviors of the species they feed upon.  Research on the East Coast has shown that in certain areas where sharks have been over fished, populations of rays have blossomed leading to the collapse of shell fish fisheries, because the rays feed on the shell fish. Healthy ecosystems need to be in balance and this requires maintenance of all the levels of the food web.

Shark carcasses in Mexico. Courtesy Dovi Kacev

Dedina: You have been traveling down the coast of Baja California to carry out shark research. What have you found there?

Kacev: We have found that in Baja there are a lot of fishing camps that catch a lot of sharks and rays, particularly juveniles. These fisheries are likely to have a large impact in the shark populations in the region. We have also found that in general the fishermen in Baja understand the importance of sustainable fisheries because their livelihoods depend on there being healthy populations of these fish. As a result, most of the fishing camps have been very accommodating to our research.

Dedina: There seems to be a lot of documentation and reporting now about shark sightings along the California coast. Is the population of sharks increasing?

Photo courtesy of Dovi Kacev.

Kacev: It is difficult to say whether shark populations are increasing, the population of ocean users is increasing, or the likelihood of people reporting sightings is increasing. It may also be a combination of all three factors. It is important to note that most shark populations are low relative to historical abundances, so even if their populations are increasing they are still of conservation concern. Even if shark populations are increasing, they do so at a very slow rate. Also, since sharks play such an important role in our coastal ecosystems and many species are of conservation concern, we should be celebrating if their population are indeed increasing. I hope that with continued increase in public curiosity and education, people will realize that sharks are a welcome part of our ocean system.  Instead of fearing them, we should respect them.

Dedina: California just passed a ban on the sale of shark fins. Why should we care about the plight of these animals?

Kacev: We should care about the plight of sharks because they are magnificent animals and our ocean ecosystems rely on them. Beyond just the value of sharks for their ecosystem services, it is important to remember that many people’s livelihoods revolve around the oceans and fisheries. Any disturbance that effects the balance of the ecosystem could eventually lead to the collapse of various fisheries.

Photo courtesy of Dovi Kacev.

Related articles

• Great white sighting puts Calif. beach on alert (cbsnews.com)
• Great white shark spotted off Southern California beach (mercurynews.com)
• The Mexico Shark Fishing Moratorium Fiasco (sergededina.com)
• Shark Fin Banned in California (neatorama.com)

In the middle of the night of August 26, 1942, a group of French police under the orders of the Nazis rounded up a group of Jewish families in Nice.

My father’s family including his Aunt Anna and cousins Bernard and Lisette were among those taken to military barracks. There, according to Bernard’s widow, Dorothy Fall in her book Bernard Fall: Memoirs or a Soldier-Scholar, “They all mingled in the filth and heat for a week.”

My great-uncle Leo, husband to Anna and father of Bernard and Lisette, was later tortured and murdered by the Gestapo in November 1943 while he lay sick in a hospital bed.

The effort of the Nazis to exclude Jews and other groups of people from everyday life in Europe (and then exterminate them) was the ultimate form of localism.

Long-time residents and citizens of France including my own father, were delisted as “locals” or residents and all their rights and in many cases, their lives, were forfeited.

Those images of my father’s family came to mind when in 1980 at the age of 15, I witnessed a shooting in Imperial Beach during a community celebration of a cleanup of the Tijuana Estuary I helped organize and carry out.

While my friend Chris Patterson and I listened to a man and his friend sing and play the guitar outside the old Imperial Beach fire station, two men, members of the Aryan Brotherhood, confronted our group.

“Hey n…., get the hell out of here,” the taller of the two men yelled at the guitar player who was African-American.

“Why don’t you get the hell out of here,” responded the friend of the guitar player.

Without saying anything, the tall man took out a pistol and shot the guitar player’s friend in the mouth.

As someone who had grown up listening to the stories of what had happened to my father’s family at the hands of the Nazis (my mother survived the German Blitz as a child in London), witnessing a racist shooting was my worst nightmare come true.

But as a young surfer in the late 1970s and early 1980s in San Diego County, I witnessed similar behavior all the time.

Gangs of self-described surfing “locals” either used violence or intimidation to prevent “non-locals” from using public space. In wealthy enclaves such as Palos Verdes, this behavior was ignored and/or abetted by the local police.

Southern California has a long history of excluding “non-locals” from our beaches. Until recently some residents of Malibu contracted private guards to illegally keep the public from using public beaches. In the 1920s, there was only one beach, Bruce’s Beach in Manhattan Beach, in all Los Angeles County open to people of all races.

Unfortunately today, groups of thugs or self-described “locals” still populate the coastline and harass anyone they deem to be a “non-local” often using violence to prevent their fellow Americans from using public space.

According to Larry Herzog, Professor of Urban Planning at SDSU, localism reflects, “The increasing ecology of privatization and socio-economic segmentation in American cities.  We have become a nation of gated communities,and the ‘ecology of fear.’ Surfers – without realizing it… are channeling a preference for personal space, fenced yards or marked territory, and the unfamiliarity with being ‘public,’ or gracious about sharing a public space, like the ocean.”

“Aggressive localism..reflects more the weakening of class and racial boundaries..along with increasing density and diversity,”said Edward Sojoa, Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Studies at UCLA. “Nearly everyone feels their space is being invaded. In defense, they re-territorialize, buy guns and guard dogs, defend their turf, buy advanced security systems, move into gated and armed guarded communities, and hang out signs that tresspassers will be shot.”

I asked Kevin Keenan, the Director of the San Diego branch of the ACLU if the act of harassing or intimidating anyone from using public space, in this case the coast and ocean, violates fundamental American civil liberties?

“In U.S. v. Allen, the 9th Circuit,” wrote Kevin, “held that a band of racist thugs who patrolled a public park and kicked out some people through threats and intimidation based on their race were violating their federal civil rights (a federal crime). You could argue that civil rights law protects against chasing people off a beach or wave based on their race, color, religion, or national origin, but should also extend to other kinds of groups, like where a person resides. Not incidentally, given segregation in our society and other reasons, where a person resides often relates closely to race, color, religion, and national origin.”

The sad fact is that most surfers don’t practice localism, but most do little if anything to prevent the bullying, violence and thuggery they witness by “locals” on almost a daily basis.

Engaging in localism is different than regulating a lineup. That can be done quietly and requires the type of leadership skills that hothead angry “locals” just don’t have.

I only wish that the true definition of being a surfing local meant that a person was invested in the stewardship and conservation of a surf spot.

Instead of berating those of us who violate their “territory”, angry “locals” should instead take leadership to conserve the beaches, waves and coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife that grant us the good fortune of enjoying the blessings of surfing great waves and immersing ourselves in the ocean.

Imagine a world in which surfers worked together to save our surfing areas instead of screaming and fighting with each other over who has the right to enjoy the coast and ocean.

We would surf more, be happier, and have a greater number of spots to surf.

Related articles

• Surfrider CEO Jim Moriarty on Saving Waves (sergededina.com)

New South Wales coast. Photo: Zach Plopper

Former WQS surfer, WiLDCOAST employee and San Diego County standout Zach Plopper talked to me about his recent trip to Australia where he caught one of the best cyclone swells in recent history.

Serge: You recently spent a couple of weeks surfing Down Under. Out of all the surf destinations in the world, why did you choose Australia?

Zach Plopper: I had an opportunity to visit friends with my girlfriend Holli in Sydney and Crescent Head, New South Wales. The water in New South Wales is in the upper 70s this time of year and it is one of the, if not the, most wave rich coastlines in the world. I celebrated Christmas four days after the longest day of the year. Kookaburras birds woke me up every morning. I was surrounded by hilarious Australians and surfed a perfect right point with surfing legend Robbie Page. That’s why I went to Australia.

Serge: On your trip you managed to catch one of the best Christmas cyclone swells in recent history. What was that like and how did that swell differ from a major swell here in Southern California?

Plopper: The intensity of the swell was incomparable to a big swell in California. The waves jumped from three feet to double overhead in a matter of hours and stayed that way for seven days. As the cyclone moved south the swell came at a slightly different angle each day producing more wrap around the point. It’s like an East Pacific hurricane moving north along the California coast for a week, but with a hundreds point breaks to choose from. Apparently Parko and the Coolie crew were towing in at Kirra and all of the Sydney beaches were closed out.

Serge: The assumption for lots of California surfers is that Australia is a very crowded surf destination. Was that your experience?

Plopper: The prime spots are no more crowded than those in California. And overall the surfer density on the coast is much much lower than here because of the amount of “bush” between cities and towns. There are hundreds of miles of absolutely empty beach. On pumping Christmas Day I surfed an overhead, very popular point break with an average ten people. There were two people out for a period.

Zach Plopper in action in Australia. Photo courtesy of Zach Plopper

Serge: Where did you surf on your recent trip. And where are some of your favorite surf destinations in Australia?

Plopper: I got wet at Manly in Sydney before the swell filled in. And then surfed Crescent Head for five days with a session at Scotts Head just to the north. I wrapped up the trip surfing the beach breaks and points around Booti Booti National Park. I have always been fascinated about surfing those spots after seeing them in a bunch of movies growing up. I’ve been to Australia twice but only to New South Wales and Southern Queensland. I’d love to explore more. I’d say Bluey’s Beach (named for a cow named Bluey that fell of the cliff) is my favorite zone thus far.

Serge: What is it about the Australian people and surfers especially that makes the country such a welcoming place?

Plopper: The surfers in Australia are the friendliest I have ever encountered. It obviously gets a little more congested and anonymous around the cities but beyond that surfers seem super open and excited to chat and share waves, if you are respectful of course. I made a friend at just about every spot I surfed. Australian’s in general are very friendly. Their culture has many British undertones but is also a lot like California (50 years ago). It is a very easy place to adjust to coming from Southern California.

Serge: Are Australians surfers ahead of their counterparts in the U.S.?

New South Wales.

Plopper: I noticed a lot of very good surfers. I’d say the average surfer in Australia is better than the average surfer here. The fact that the sport is so much more mainstream in Australia, the quality of surf and the coastal centralized population probably have a lot to do with it. Something like five of the top 50 athletes in Australia are surfers, one of which is female. The sport is much more accepted there and a much bigger percentage of the population are surfers. Even the old ladies in the tourism offices know what the swell is doing and where you should go to “get a few kegs (barrels)” before looking for a place to stay.

Serge: One of the things American surfers seem to love when they visit is the quality of the beachbreaks there. What makes them so unique or special?

Plopper: The rainforest backdrops, crystal clear water and white sand has a lot to do with it. Add powerful, hollow peaks and a handful of people and you’ve got a sand bottom surfing dreamscape.

Serge: Your girlfriend Holli came along on this trip. What makes Australia a good destination for a couple?

Plopper: If you have people to stay with, your girlfriend doesn’t mind a camper van or you are rich, Australia is a great place to go as a couple. It is not a good place to go and expect nice, cheap accommodations. Australia is ridiculously expensive for an American right now. Nonetheless, there is a lot to do from Sydney nightlife, empty warm beautiful beaches, world-class wildlife, wine tasting, café hopping … you nor your significant other will ever get bored.

Serge:  In the past six months you’ve caught great waves in Spain, Baja and Australia. What location ranks best in terms of surf quality and quantity?

Plopper: They each provided such unique experiences that it is tough to compare. For me it is not just the waves that makes up the experience. The three places couldn’t be more different. I surfed tropical beaches and points in first world Australia. I surfed river mouth lefts in old world Spain. And I surfed sand bottom point breaks in the desert of third-world Mexico. I got really lucky with swell at all three so I’d have to say quality and quantity were equally matched but in their respectively unique ways.

Photo: Zach Plopper

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