Outdoors, action and adventure

Hurricane Hilary could affect parts of Baja California

It's looking increasingly like Hurricane Hilary, which on Friday was a powerful Category 4 storm, will bring more than just large waves to Baja California Sur.

The major hurricane, which on Friday boasted sustained winds of 145 mph, is off the Pacific coast of Mexico tracking toward the west-northwest, away from land. But Hilary is expected to gradually veer more to the north beginning late Monday.

It's not clear yet what areas might be most affected by rain and swells, but if it stays on its projected path significant rainfall is likely along parts of Baja California's southwestern coast.

As for waves, Surfline is reporting that large swells generated by Hilary should begin to arrive in the Cabo San Lucas area as early as Saturday, with areas farther north along the Pacific side of the peninsula receiving an increase in surf Monday and Tuesday.

The National Hurricane Center predicts that Hilary will remain a major hurricane at least until Monday morning. On Friday there were no warnings in place, but that could change over the next few days.

-- Image shows a satellite view of Hilary early Friday morning. Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project

Huge surf to slam Southern California during holiday weekend

A mammoth  swell generated by an Antarctic storm will slam Southern California beginning Thursday and last through Labor Day weekend. This is great news for surfers but alarming for lifeguards who will have their hands full dealing with large holiday crowds.

Surfline forecasters are calling for waves in the five- to eight-foot range on Thursday afternoon, with the swell building into Saturday, featuring waves in excess of 10 feet on south-facing beaches and perhaps up to 20-plus feet at the famous Wedge in Newport Beach. 

As with all large Southern Hemisphere swells, there will be long lulls between giant sets. Swimmers are cautioned that monstrous waves may seem to spring up suddenly, and because of this they're advised not to venture too far from shore.

This is the same swell that greeted ASP World Tour surfers in Tahiti during a contest that was won by Kelly Slater on Monday. Surfline is predicting this will be the largest wave event of the summer and may feature some beach erosion and coastal flooding.

Angler under investigation after illegal catch of great white shark on Huntington Beach Pier (video)

 

Huntington Beach Pier has been crowded recently with shark fishermen and on Tuesday a YouTube user by the name of Ograza 13 uploaded a video showing the illegal capture of a juvenile great white shark that was stuck with a rope gaff, hauled onto the Orange County, Calif., pier and dragged around as it bled and gasped for breath.

Thanks to a tip from a witness and the incriminating footage, the angler who reeled in the five-foot shark has been identified and is under investigation for the take and possession of a protected species.

"We have the shark and we've identified who caught the shark," said Capt. Dan Sforza of the state Department of Fish and Game. "We are investigating and nobody is going to get away with anything."

Sforza declined to identify the angler. White sharks have been protected in California waters since 1994. Unlawful take and possession is a misdemeanor and those in violation face possible jail time and large fines.

Southern California waters are utilized by juvenile white sharks as a feeding ground. They prey mostly on small fishes, rays and other small sharks until they get large enough to migrate offshore and to the north to prey on seals and sea lions.

In the video, one person on the pier repeatedly calls out the word "mako," perhaps believing the quarry was a mako shark. Makos are not protected, but it's an angler's responsibility to understand the law and what he has on the line.

Florida anglers' catch of 25-foot giant squid is a gift to science

Catch of the week honors belong to three fishermen who recovered a barely-living 25-foot giant squid off Florida on Monday, and to University of Florida researchers who have collected the remarkable specimen for study and possible display.

Giant squid, long depicted as sea monsters and legendary for their epic battles against predatory sperm whales, reside largely in the ocean's light-less depths. Whole specimens are incredibly rare.

"It's so rare to get these specimens and they're such deep-water animals that we don't know much about how they live," said John Slapcinsky, collection manager at the university-run Florida Museum of Natural History. "This specimen provides an excellent opportunity to learn things about these creatures we couldn't find out any other way."

The squid was discovered floating at the surface by Robert Benz, Joey Asaro and Paul Peroulakis at about 11 a.m. Monday. They had been fishing aboard a 23-foot boat and teamed to carefully haul the colossal cephalopod aboard.

"I thought we definitely need to bring it in, because no one's going to believe us if we don't," Benz said in a news release issued by the university. "I didn't want to leave it out there and just let the sharks eat it." (Benz also appears in the WPTV News video posted below.)

Giant squid, or Architeuthis dux, can measure 60 feet long and weigh 1,000-plus pounds. They reproduce only once, after which they can become lethargic and slowly perish. That might have been the case with this particular squid.

Tioga Road in Yosemite National Park to open Saturday

The long-anticipated opening of Tioga Road, which traverses Yosemite National Park, will occur Saturday at 8 a.m.,  according to park superintendent Don Neubacher.

The Tioga Road (State Highway 120) represents the popular east-west crossing of the Sierra Nevada. News of its opening will be well-received by fans of the majestic Sierra wilderness park.

However, there remains several feet of snow in the Tuolumne Meadows area. Hiking opportunities are limited and visitors are urged to use extreme caution. Additionally, ice is prevalent and stream crossings are treacherous.

Campgrounds along the Tioga Road are closed.  All commercial services, including the gas station, store, and village grill, also are closed until further notice. There are several no-stopping zones along the road, but vault toilets will be available in several locations.

Death of pro surfer Andy Irons caused by heart attack, drugs

Andy Irons, a three-time world surfing champion whose unexpected death last November made headlines around the world, perished as a result of a heart attack and drug use, according an autopsy report.

Heart attack is listed as the primary cause of death. However, the autopsy report, a portion of which was released Wednesday by a publicist for the Irons family, lists as a secondary cause "acute mixed drug ingestion."

It cites Alprazolam (Xanax), methadone, methamphetamine and benzoylecgonine. The latter drug is a product sometimes associated with cocaine.

Irons was said to have been suffering from a flu-like illness during a competition in Puerto Rico and had been trying to travel to his home in Kauai, Hawaii. He died on Nov. 2 in a Texas hotel room during a layover, at the age of 32.

The surfer, who won consecutive world titles from 2002-04, was survived by his wife, Lyndie, who was pregnant with the couple's first child, and younger brother and fellow pro surfer, Bruce.

An unsigned version of the autopsy report was released to the family's attorney this week by the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office in Fort Worth, Texas. Delays in releasing the report have fueled suspicions that Irons, who has had previous troubles with drugs, might have overdosed.

The Irons family consulted experts to help review and explain the findings. Among them was Vincent Di Maio, a prominent forensic pathologist in San Antonio. He's quoted in the family statement as saying:

"This is a very straightforward case. Mr. Irons died of a heart attack due to focal severe coronary atherosclerosis, i.e., 'hardening of the arteries.' He had an atherosclerotic plaque producing 70%-80% narrowing of his anterior descending coronary artery. This is very severe narrowing. A plaque of this severity, located in the anterior descending coronary artery, is commonly associated with sudden death."

The doctor continued: "The only unusual aspect of the case is Mr. Irons’ age, 32 years old. Deaths due to coronary atherosclerosis usually begin to appear in the late 40’s."

Di Maio added, "There were no other factors contributing to the death."

A signed version of the autopsy report, prepared by Tarrant County chief medical examiner Nizam Peerwani, will be released on June 20.

Regarding the listing of a secondary cause of death in the official report, and the gifted but oft-troubled surfer, the Irons family statement included this entry:

"As we are not doctors, we have no choice but to accept that two respected pathologists have come to different conclusions about a secondary contributing cause of death. However, the family would like to address the findings of prescription and non-prescription drugs in Andy’s system.

"Andy was prescribed Xanax and Zolpidem (Ambien) to treat anxiety and occasional insomnia – a result of a bipolar disorder diagnosed by his family doctor at age 18. This is when Andy first began experiencing episodes of manic highs and depressive lows.

"The family believes Andy was in some denial about the severity of his chemical imbalance and tended to blame his mood swings on himself and his own weaknesses, choosing to self-medicate with recreational drugs. Members of his family, close friends, and an industry sponsor intervened over the years to help Andy get clean, but the effort to find balance in his life was certainly complicated by his chemical makeup."

Whatever his chemical makeup, he was one of the best competitive surfers ever to strap on a leash.

The family is asking that those who wish to honor Irons' memory do so by making a donation to the Surfrider Foundation.

--Image of Andy Irons is courtesy of © ASP / SCHOLTZ

Sean Kingston seriously injured in Florida boating accident

Hip-hop singer Sean Kingston reportedly is in critical condition in a Florida hospital after crashing a personal watercraft into Palm Island Bridge in Miami Beach, with a female passenger on board.

Both were rescued by a nearby boater after the incident, which occurred Sunday at about 6 p.m. local time.

Few details were available in the hours after the incident. The Miami Herald reported that Miami Beach Fire Rescue delivered Kingston, 21, to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. (Note: Kingston's publicist on Monday morning said the singer's condition had been stabilized and that he had been moved to the hospital's intensive care unit.)

A representative for Kingston told TMZ: "Sean Kingston was in an accident today. No further details are available at the moment. He and his family thank everyone for the well-wishes."

Kingston, who was born in Miami, became famous in 2007 with the single "Beautiful Girls."

Details about the condition of the female passenger were not immediately available.

In wake of Joplin tornado, a monstrous double rainbow

Thanks to social media platforms, just about everyone has seen the killer tornado that claimed more than 100 lives and caused widespread destruction on Sunday in Joplin, Missouri.

If you haven't seen it, click the blue link above. Meanwhile, in the aftermath of severe storm activity, an enormous and rare double rainbow appeared over nearby Springfield.

It, too, was captured on video and, while some may fancy rainbows as beautiful post-storm events, this one, like the storm, looks freaky and ominous.

See for yourself:

 

Expansion of X Games a reflection of mainstream acceptance

The announcement Tuesday by ESPN that the X Games will expand from two major events in the United States to six global events staged annually underscores how deeply action sports have penetrated mainstream youth culture.

As part of the "Global X" initiative, expansion will occur in 2013, with Los Angeles and Aspen, Colo., remaining as venues for summer and winter competitions, respectively. Tignes, France, will be a second Winter X Games location, and the remaining venues will be determined through a competitive bidding process that began Tuesday. (Host cities will be announced sometime next year.)

Scott Guglielmino, ESPN's senior vice president in charge of programming, called this the biggest announcement regarding the X Games since ESPN announced the event's debut in 1995. He added that each of the six events will showcase local culture and "have its own kind of flare."

Travis Pastrana, an 11-time X Games gold medalist and arguably the world's most popular action sports athlete, said the expansion reflected the booming growth and mainstream acceptance of action sports.

"It used to be that schoolteachers and parents and other people with a big influence on kids were saying there's no future in it," said Pastrana, a freestyle motocross legend and rally racing star. "You found, really, that the true passion in action sports comes from that, but what's awesome is that it's now accepted more socially.

"It's giving kids the opportunity to really chase their dreams and parents the opportunity to see that these are legitimate sports with real money [involved]. And at the same time it's still core and fun. I'm super pumped about the expansion."

X Games competitions have been held abroad in recent years but as lower-profile events. Under the Global X plan all six events will be similar in size and scope, and a website will be created to devote year-round coverage to all things related to the events.

Unlike the U.S. Dew Tour, a summer and winter action sports series run by NBC, each Global X event will be stand-alone, with no points or standings determining a series winner. Each, Guglielmino said, will be regarded as a major, like the PGA Tour's four majors.

The bidding process will begin next year and the most likely scenario is that there will be four summer and two winter Global X events, but it's possible that there will be three summer and three winter competitions.

Core sports will remain the same at each venue. For example, the gargantuan mega-ramp, used for immensely popular big-air skateboarding and BMX competitions, will be featured at each summer venue.

But it's also possible, according to X Games creator Ron Semiao, that sports will be added at specific venues where certain sports are important to a specific area's culture. For example, if Australia were to land an X Games, surfing might be added as a discipline for that event.

Semiao does not believe the expansion, which will include 130 hours of live programming for the six events, is a gamble. Rather, he said, the timing is perfect because action sports have worked their way into the mainstream youth culture to the point where they're as accepted, if not more so, than traditional sports.

"You now have a situation where if you go into a teen's garage, you will see a football and a basketball and a baseball and a snowboard and a dirt bike, a BMX bike and a skateboard along with a soccer ball," Semiao said. "They are all part of sports and have worked their way into the generally accepted sports culture, particularly with youth."

The timing of the expansion comes shortly after it was announced that freeskiing halfpipe competitions -- staple X Games events for men and women -- will debut at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Freeskiing star Sarah Burke acknowledged that her already busy schedule will become more hectic, but said she'd work the X Games competitions into her itinerary. "The X Games has always been the main one; the dream that everyone strives to be part of," she said. "I know it's going to be the top event on everyone's schedule and they'll make room for it. And I think everyone's really excited to see how it goes."

-- Travis Pastrana image (top) courtesy of Dom Cooley/Shazamm/ESPN Images. Sarah Burke image courtesy of C. Van Hanja / ESPN Images

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Blue whales move in for the krill off Santa Barbara

Blue whales, the largest and among the most majestic creatures ever to inhabit the planet, continue to migrate into Southern California waters and may be settling into specific areas for the spring-summer feeding season.

By far the most impressive sighting of the young season was made Monday by passengers aboard the Condor Express out of Santa Barbara: 18 blue whales and 18 humpback whales, along with hundreds of dolphins, seals and sea lions.

"The above list is not a typo or an exaggeration," proclaimed vessel spokesman Bob Perry in an itemized report issued. "Today the blues showed up to join their lumpy-headed brothers and sisters."

The timing of this mass influx of truly massive creatures -- blue whales can measure 100 feet and weigh up to 150 tons -- could not be better for the American Cetacean Society's annual all-day "Humpback Adventure" on Saturday aboard the Condor Express (spots are still available at a cost of $103 for non-members, $98 for ACS members).

Humpback whales, by far the most gregarious and curious of the two species, have teemed in the Santa Barbara Channel for about three weeks.

Blue whale sightings also have been fairly steady off the Los Angeles-Long Beach area for the past week or so. Slightly more sporadic sightings are being made off Orange County. Dana Wharf Whale Watching, for example, reported six sightings on Saturday but none since.

Where the blue whales ultimately settle in will depend on the availability of shrimp-like krill, their main food source. A single blue whale can consume up to four tons of krill per day, so the great leviathans will hone in on areas that produce the most of these tiny crustaceans.

-- Blue whale image is courtesy of ©Pete Thomas

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