Joe Surf: It’s better to stay out of the water after the rain
We needed the rain. It seems to wash everything out, makes everything green and look and smell so fresh.
The problem, though, is that “everything” just doesn’t disappear. So much of it gets flushed — pun intended — into the ocean, right along the shoreline, where surfers have been itching to return.
The storms that bring the rain also bring some serious waves, and surfers who have been jonesing to get back in the water can’t help themselves. They get back in the water despite knowing the “rule” of waiting at least 72 hours following a rainstorm.
But the waves were so good, particularly on the south side of the Seal Beach pier on Tuesday. There were barrels to be had, so Huntington’s own World Championship Tour (WCT) surfer Kanoa Igarashi as well as South Africa’s Jordy Smith, who finished the 2016 season ranked No. 2 in the world, were in the murky water.
“It was worth the sinus infection this morning!” Igarashi posted on Instagram along with a photo of him getting barreled.
Problem is, there are things worse than a sinus infection that can come as a result of entering the filthy water. Just ask Timmy Turner, a Huntington Beach surfing legend who nearly died about 10 years ago after a staph infection began eating his brain.
Turner was rehabbing an injured ankle by swimming around the Huntington Beach Pier on a regular basis, and did so after it rained. Water went up his nose during a swim and he wound up with sinusitis and an ear infection.
A staph infection spread to his brain and he eventually had to have three-quarters of his skull removed and replaced by a skull made of polymethyl methacrylate, and connected to what was left of his existing skull by titanium plates and screws.
So it’s no joke.
Rick Wilson of the Surfrider Foundation was quoted in a story on theinertia.com saying, “Certainly if the water is brown from sediment it isn’t a good idea to go out. If it’s brown, turn around.”
Wilson was part of a study called “The Surfer Health Study,” which said its intention was to examine illness rates associated with surfing in wet weather.
Along with the Surfrider Foundation, the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP), UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, Soller Environmental and the Orange County Sanitation District conducted the study at popular San Diego area surfing spots during the winters of 2013-14 and 2014-15.
And what they found should surprise nobody. From the study’s Executive Summary:
“The study surveyed 654 surfers about their ocean exposure and illness symptoms through internet and smartphone apps; 10,081 surfing sessions were logged, making it one of the largest beach epidemiology studies of the past three decades. Results indicated an increased rate of gastrointestinal (GI) illness following ocean exposure, and this illness rate increased even further following wet weather.”
GI-related ailments were not the only issues that affected surfers who entered the water after the rain. There also was in increase in skin rashes, open-wound infections, ear infections, sinus infections, fever, and upper-respiratory infections.
So is there a solution other than simply staying out of the water? The study noted that Southern California does not have the infrastructure to store and treat large volumes of stormwater runoff prior to its discharge at the beach, and to build such infrastructure potentially would cost billions of dollars.
So the short answer is no. If it’s brown, turn around.
To read the complete report, go here:
https://ftp.sccwrp.org/pub/download/DOCUMENTS/TechnicalReports/943_SurferHealthStudy.pdf
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JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.