Lost Boys & Co.

Lost Boys & Co... O kay, We're walking out of the surf this morning at Sapphire and we almost stepped on this humongous sand crab.  But of course we immediately contacted our marine biologist professionals to see if this was somehow an irradiated sand crab that was getting big enough to take over the world (or at least wrestle with Godzilla), Jose Bacallao responded:   Blepharipoda occidentalis , the spiny sand crab [ 1 ] or spiny mole crab , [ 2 ] is a species of sand crab or mole crab which lives in the eastern Pacific Ocean , [ 3 ] from Central California to Baja California . It is oval in shape, growing up to 3 inches (76 mm) long and 1.75 in (44 mm) wide. [ 4 ] It lives on sandy beaches up to 30 metres (98 ft) under water, and feeds on the remains of other sand crabs that live in the area. [ 4 ] G ood!  This means that we can rest assured that they won't be coming after us any time soon as for other sand crabs that live in the ar...

Lost Boys & Co... W e were justifiably chastised for referring to the pictured pinniped as a "seal".  It is of course a "sea lion" and you can be sure we shall refer to them as such in the future.  Of course we didn't get yelled at by the lifeguards like the guy in photo #1 who was trying to coax the beast back into the water.  He didn't look well (the sea lion not the guy, well maybe the guy wasn't perfectly okay) and appeared to be confused and was writhing about (also the sea lion.)  We were amazed at how quickly the Ocean Mammal Rescue folks were there and the speed at which they swept up the sea lion and hauled him away. C lear this morning with 10 miles visibility all the way out to the fog bank that was lurking outside.  Winds started out offshore and turned south then on in short order.  The air was 49.0 and the water was 54.1, spiking to 58 at noon.  Anupa suggested that the fog bank may very well suggest a warming trend in the water....

Lost Boys & Co... M en's March Madness head to head surf comp was all that it was advertised to be.  Went down to Jake Kislinger vs Dylan Morrisroe in a final that had just about everything.  Jake lead for 19 minutes of the 20 minute heat.  But just like in the movies, in the last minute Dylan (#1) found a wave that allowed him to slide past Jake and take home the gold.  Exciting and great surfing.  Week after next will be the girls March Madness! C lear skies, offshores at 1 to 3kts and smooth conditions.  The air was a chilly 46.4 and the water is 1.8 at the buoy.  Low tide at 10:21am -0.2' and high tide follows at 6:19pm +3.3'.  We're having a west swell out of 263 at 3.3' and it was a fun 3' despite the cold water.  Could it be that this is the nadir of the ocean temp and things will be getting warmer by degrees?  This is our hope... I n Studio "A" in the Wiggly Bus (#2), the Professor interviews Nup's and learns about the projec...

Lost Boys & Co... O ne of our Marine Biologist buddies, the inimitable Anupa Asokan, has recently mounted an effort to save the Barred Sandbass and protect it's fishery.  We interviewed her regarding this effort and we're convinced it's a first step in a significant conservation effort.  We're thinking you'd want to take part, so head to this address and add your name.  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSewAxRqKq9r7Fd0DikcjbCmRA5G8 You can also go to http://www.fishon.us and keep abreast of her most recent projects. R ecovering from yesterday's wind event, but the tide was low, 8:46am -0.3' and the waves were thumping.  Maybe better at high tide 4:23pm +2.9'b but the wind is scheduled to build up after 10am.  It was off at checkout 2 to 4kts and the sea surface still had a bit of left over roll.  It's a west swell out of 263 at 4.6' and it's a hard breaking 4' to 5' and the water is a frigid 51.8. T rader Joe's Hermosa...