Recent Rants

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Joey Ray Hawkins, a 1990s world longboard champion and Huntington Beach surf legend, was recently arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of methamphetamine while sitting in his car with a loaded 9 mm handgun near the city's youth shelter, officials said.

A 70-foot female blue whale that officials believe was struck by a ship has washed ashore on the Northern California coast.

Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the whale was spotted on the shores near Fort Bragg in Mendocino County Monday night, hours after an ocean survey vessel reported hitting a whale a few miles away.

The massive creature had gashes on its body.

When it comes to big waves, choosing a good day to hold the Mavericks Surf Contest will be easier this year than any year in recent memory.

That's the good news greeting surfers and contest organizers as they look ahead to a wet and turbulent El Niño season that is predicted to bring dozens of heavy swells to San Mateo County's world-class surf spot north of Half Moon Bay.

Four Bay Area water agencies have teamed up to possibly build as many as three desalination plants, two on the bay, one along the ocean [...] the Bay Area water agencies are looking at the eastern end of the Bay Bridge near the EBMUD treatment plant, along San Francisco's Ocean Beach near the city's water plant and a location in Pittsburg.

Two major earthquakes struck 15 minutes apart Thursday morning near the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The first quake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck at 9:03 a.m. (6:03 p.m. ET) at a depth of 35 km (22 miles) and an epicenter 295 km (180 miles) north-northwest of Luganville, Espiritue Santo, Vanuatu. The second quake, with a magnitude of 7.3, struck at 9:15 a.m. (6:18 p.m. ET) at the same depth and an epicenter of 590 km (365 miles) northwest of Port-Vilia, Efate, Vanuatu.

Slater Trout was definitely the talk of the event at this year's Rainbow Sandal's Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle race. His name could be heard throughout the crowd both during and following his jaw dropping performance in the sport's most respected race. Announcers and spectators (especially the teenage girls) couldn't keep their eyes off the impressive 6'1" blonde teenager from Maui as he outperformed men of all ages.

Indonesian authorities were gearing up for a massive rescue operation after thousands of people were trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings and dozens were confirmed dead following a powerful earthquake in the Indonesian city of Padang. The magnitude 7.6 quake was centred 32 miles north-west of the city in western Sumatra, said the US geological survey.

A powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake generated a Pacific tsunami on Wednesday, killing an unknown number of people in American and Western Samoa and sending others fleeing for higher ground, officials said.

A windsurfer was found dead in the open ocean today about 2 1/2 miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge, authorities said.The unidentified man matched the description, given by a friend, of someone who had been windsurfing east of the bridge earlier in the day, said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Junior Grade Jeremy Pichette. His body was found about two hours after a pedestrian on the bridge reported about 4:30 p.m. seeing an unmanned surfboard in the water, Pichette said.

Average temperatures of waters at the oceans’ surface in July were the highest ever recorded, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The agency said the average sea surface temperature was 1.06 degrees higher than the 20th-century average of 61.5 degrees.

Despite a frantic rescue effort, a plucky young porpoise that got lost in San Francisco Bay today died on the way to a rehabilitation center run by the Marine Mammal Center.

The Natural Resources Defense Council's "Testing the Waters" study called coastal contamination a serious problem in California, in part because the source of a vast majority of the pollution is unknown. Of the known sources, the No. 1 culprit is storm-water runoff, which fills waterways with pesticides, heavy metals and pathogens. Sewage spills are the other primary source.

Ten percent of water samples at California beaches last year contained more human fecal bacteria than the state allows, according to a study released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Surfers and canoeists could face jail and fines up to £50,000 if they are caught causing accidents at sea under Department for Transport proposals in the United Kingdom.

A mother and her young daughter died after being pulled from the waters of Montara State Beach Monday afternoon, a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant said. According to the sheriff's office, emergency crews responded to the beach at about 4:20 p.m. on reports of adults and children in the water. A San Mateo County Fire spokesman said a five-year-old girl was swept a few hundred yards out in a rip current that runs along the south end of the beach.