The penguins calmly sharing the beach with the sea lion is deceiving. The only reason why they aren’t afraid of being in such close proximity to him is because he is very well fed by his main food source, to the point where there is no temptation for him to want to eat them. If this sort of stuff is interesting to you, you can find out more at Shark Encounter, Sea World.

Have you ever wondered whether waves are related to one another? If there is some sort of family tree of barrels, or an ancestry of A-frames? While it is easy to compare two different surf spots based on similar wave forms, the crucial modifier always has to be included, such as ‘the Pipeline of California’, or ‘the Lower Trestles of Lake Superior’, so that it is clear which family it aaaactually belongs to. The point is, what if all of these super-good waves and world-class waves are actually just imitations of the real one? And what if that real one is in Antarctica?

This break right here only works on a very particular angular of swell, as it is recessed in a back corner of Patagonia and is partially blockaded by an island. But when it does work, well, you can see how perfect the sand bar is.

Local scenery includes wildlife and mountain ranges:

Looks like the swell came in today. A bit of texture on the water this morning, with prevailing winds lasting into the afternoon. Inc+ sets, 3-7ft, a few corners to be found, tide push should help fill in standout breaks.

The Kuril Islands: great geography, bathymetry, meteorology, topography, and sociology, but no airports. The only way to get here and surf the waves is by booking a russian surf charter vessel, just like how Leo Tolstoy did for the Rip Curl commercial while writing Ivan The Fool.

Nice keep sakes available:

These images are from a web cam up in the arctic aimed directly at a point break setup. Over the next few weeks we will see if this swell-rich region produces any tubular waves worth posting. Stay tuned…

Usually waves approach the coastline from a variety of angles. As a wave begins to approach shallow sea floors, it bends inward to face the shore head on. This is called wave refraction. Below you can see the stormy swell hitting the coast on the right. As it bends inward, moving left, the waves reach into the bay and are protected from the predominant winds. With a little bit more swell energy this headland might prove to be a nice point break.