Santa Barbara Area Surf Reports

Location:	Rincon
Weather:	In the 40's and in between squalls
Conditions:	Cleanest Day in Weeks
Swell:	14.5ft @ 17s @ 320°
Surf:	Waist to Chest High
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	55 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments:

One of my most eventfull sessions at Rincon which involved Seals and Dolphins, and tales of Sharks. I did a no look paddle out at the Rivermouth, there were only 3 or 4 other guys out up there, and waves were breaking from the Indicator down into the Rivermouth. It looked glorious, waist high+ waves with super clean blue/green faces peeling off. Once out 2 guys were talking about a shark attack on some seals. I didn't hear the details but figured it must of occured in Northern California. I didn't find out untill the coffee shop after my session that 2 seals were eaten by a Great White on Thursday just 2 miles North of Rincon. That might have attributed to the uncrowded lineup. Would I have surfed there had I known a Great White was trolling nearby? Unknown.

Thanks to reader Henry for grabbing the Newspress story on it before it went away:

Carpinteria city officials warned residents on Friday about an attack by at least one great white shark on seals in the Harbor Seal Sanctuary. Two separate attacks on Thursday left two seals dead, according to a news release from the city. No people were nearby in the water when the attacks occurred. The killings were witnessed by visitors to the Seal Watch viewing area on the bluff above. Portions of the beaches in Carpinteria have been posted with warnings about the possibility of sharks being present in the water. The sanctuary, on a secluded stretch of beach next to an oil and gas plant pier, is where seals give birth to their pups. The beach and waters adjacent to the sanctuary are already closed to the public during the birthing season.

However during my session we saw no sharks and instead we saw dolphins, which is always a good site in the lineup. The other creature we saw in the lineup today was a baby seal. I saw this in the last 10 minutes of my session. It was floating around in the lineup, only about 2 feet long and looking like a piece of driftwood. It had a really loud cry, not a bark like a full grown sea lion, but a very loud cry. It kept swimming around us making this erie cry for a little while. Then a few minutes later I looked at the guy next me, a bearded hooded fellow in his 40's on a CI who I've seen out there a lot, and the seal's chin was on the back of his board and he was chewing on his leash. The surfer, however, wasn't surprised or scared, he just commented that the poor seal was looking for his mother. One can only wonder now the fate of this baby seals mom in light of the recent shark attack at the breeding grounds.

After that Little Bear ran by in her bright orange shorts and was waiting for me in the freezing pre-rain skies. I caught one in, and almost trashed my board on the rocks on the inside. When we left the house this morning the outdoor thermometer said 44 and it was partly cloudy. When we got home around noon it said 43 and it was pouring rain. It was certainly snowing on the Pass. It was cold. Not only was the air cold, the water was cold. The coldest session of the winter. Felt about as cold as surfing North of Point Conception, comparing equally to my winter sessions in Morro Bay last year. Was warm in a 4/3 and booties but hands and forehead were taking a beating.