On January 22, surfer Jacob Trette was caught by an unexpected "army" of 30-foot waves that almost ended his life. Trette, an Orange County native, was knocked down by the waves, and every time he reached the surface, another crashing wave would keep him from getting any air. Thankfully, Matt Krizan was by and saw Trette's unconscious body and waves for someone to come rescue them. Russell Ord, who was on the beach, quickly borrowed a WaveRunner (think jet ski) and pulled Krizan to safety. Krizan had to spend two days in an induced coma, but "walked out of Stanford Medical Center on [January 26th]."
This beach in Half Moon Bay is home to a surfing competition where waves have known to reach 80 feet high, but when the competition or a "high alert" isn't going on, personal water crafts (PWCs) are banned from the beach. This has been enacted for environmentalist reasons, protecting the vulnerable wildlife living beneath the water's surface, but this event shows how detrimental the ban can be. While no serious discussion over the overturning of this ban has been begun, the debate that began when the ban was introduced in 2009 has been brought to the surface. When the ban was first introduced, many surfers were strongly opposed to it, but many also understand and approve the ban. PWCs, as shown here, can save lives, but photographers eager to capture stunning pictures can put surfers at risk and PWCs that tow surfers into bigger waves can also hurt both surfers and wildlife.
Do the pros of having PWCs outweigh the cons? Is there a better way to implement a ban on PWCs? How should this be regulated?
*UPDATE: To clarify, Trette has said to have been surfing since the age of four and has surfed other big waves before the one in Half Moon Bay.
2 comments:
First of all, if this guy cant surf very well, why is he out there is the first place? But anyway... I believe that jetskis and other PWCs should be restricted to the deeper areas, so as not to hurt the wildlife that resides in the shallows. Even if the man was rescued on a jetski, people have to be aware of their surroundings prior to putting their own life in danger riding "80ft" monsters. One can not just expect a "banned watercraft" to come to his/her aid in case of an emergency.
However, as far as the picture taking goes, the use of pwcs is actually quite ridiculous. Why not just take a picture off of a motorized jetski? It seems quite easy to have a buddy take a picture from the same distance while they wait for the next wave. Sea-doos and jetskis are fun, but not in areas where wildlife may be harmed.
To clarify, according to the article, Trette "said he had been surfing since he was 4" and had "surfed a lot of big waves around the world, but I’ve never surfed that big gnarly wave; it’s always been [his] goal."
Sorry I wasn't so clear about that in the article.
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