On January 28, 1998, a monster weather system slammed into Oahu’s north shore. The Coast Guard called a Condition Black — all access to the water denied. It was every surfer’s dream and nightmare combined, playing and replaying on a seemingly endless loop, as colossal waves up to 40 feet high surged over the beaches of Oahu in a monstrous, unstoppable procession. The stunning footage, some recorded on IMAX film, the stories of the surfers, and the storm itself form the breathtaking core of Condition Black.

The surfers had a few days’ notice because a fierce storm forming off the coast of Japan was forecast to move eastward and toss huge waves ahead of it toward the Hawaiian Islands. Quickly, a buzz electrified the worldwide surfing network. It seemed like a perfect opportunity for the Eddie Aikau Memorial big-wave surfing competition, an event held on an ad hoc basis, when conditions warrant it, in honor of a local lifeguard who lost his life trying to rescue an endangered canoeing team in rough waters. But instead of the ideal, the surfers were confronted with the extreme. A combination of natural forces had intensified the effects of the storm, producing conditions that even the most experienced surfers had never seen before.

To order a copy of Condition Black, please visit the NATURE Shop.

Online content for Condition Black was originally posted January 2002.

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Ken Bradshaw started surfing at the age of 13 at Surfside Beach, Texas. Searching for better waves than those found in the Lone Star state, Ken moved to California in 1969 and by 1972 was ready to attempt the big waves of Hawaii’s Sunset Beach. Ken mastered big-wave surfing on Oahu’s North Shore, not only at Sunset, but also at the legendary Waimea Bay. Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, he gained nicknames like Ken Kong, The Shaw of Sunset, and Planet Crusher. His first of many big victories in professional surfing was the ABC’s Wide World of Sports Duke Kahanamoku Surfing Classic in December, 1982.

On January 28, 1998, Ken rode the biggest wave ever surfed — a colossal 85-footer — on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, at an outer reef known as Outside Log Cabins. He also rode another 20 waves between 40 and 65 feet to solidify this date as a historic one in surfing. In December 2001, NATURE Online spoke to Ken about big-wave surfing, including his record-breaking ride.

Most people would see a 25-foot wave and run in the other direction. What is it about surfers that make them want to ride big waves?

Well, not all surfers are big-wave surfers. Those who are have a certain passion and a deep desire to challenge themselves by surfing waves of that magnitude.

January 28th, 1998 was an important day in the history of surfing. Can you share with us what that was like?

That day represents the culmination of 25 years of desire and observation. For three years prior to 1998, we had been experiencing increasingly large swells. So over a period of time, we kept learning how to surf better on bigger waves and by 1998, we were ready for the challenge of a 40-foot wave. On Super Bowl Sunday — the Sunday before Wednesday, January 28 — we got really big 35-foot waves. We still had not seen a 40-footer, but knew that the swell would come. Then something happened that’s only happened 10 times or so since I’ve been in Hawaii, and that is that Waimea Beach closed out — that is to say, waves spanning the half-mile wide beach started breaking all at once, which means that they’re just massive.

Ken Bradshaw

In the show you talk a little about your relationship with the ocean. What is it about the water that’s so gratifying?

The ocean represents balance in my life. I get frustrated with the daily struggle of my “real life” out of the water, and being in the water in the surfer world is the antidote to that.

Why are larger waves so much harder to surf? Is it because it’s difficult to catch up to the speed of the wave?

Before the advent of tow-in surfing, in which surfers have the benefit of the aid of a personal watercraft helping them catch waves, we couldn’t match the speed of these big waves. This “unridden realm,” as we called it, was unsurfable — we didn’t even talk about the possibility of riding these enormous waves in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s, we began to talk about it and figure out how it might be done, and in the 1990s we actually began to do it. What made it even possible to talk about was the development of stand-up personal watercraft in the mid-’80s. These weren’t very powerful, but when the true personal watercraft came — the sit-down kind — this was really the event that allowed us to surf the kind of waves we had only dreamed and talked about before.

You began tow-in surfing in 1995. Was there initial resistance to this new kind of surfing?

Yes, there was. But once photos were published for the first time in a surfing magazine showing tow-in surfing, it became more valid. Personally, when I first started doing a few tow-ins, I discovered that the boards we were using — 10 and a half and 11 feet long — were really slow and big and clumsy. So we started to use shorter boards — first 9 feet, then, the next year, 1993, some used a 7-foot, 2-inch-long board. It changed our whole perception of how to surf big waves; instead of merely riding the waves, we could turn and go much faster.

Can you describe what happens to your body and mind when you wipe out?

To get beat up by a wave, survive it, and get up to do it again in the space of 15 minutes is as much about physical conditioning as it is about mental toughness. There’s no way a lay person could ever understand what it feels like, but if I were to describe it I would say that it feels like getting hit by a car, a soft car, and then spun around in a washing machine. This all happens in complete darkness, so that once you stop spinning you’re presented with the challenge of finding your equilibrium and figuring out which way is up. Not to mention the pressure change: You can be pushed from the water’s surface 50 feet down in less than a second, which is a pressure change of two atmospheres. If you survive the pounding of one wave, you can be hit by a second one in less than 20 seconds, and then a third can pull you down into what we call a “triple hold.” Getting held underneath the water by three waves is probably the maximum that a person can take and still survive. I’ve only known two people who successfully negotiated a triple hold. After that, you’re out of luck.

Is surfing a sport that the “Average Joe” can do? How many years does it take until one can surf the North Shore?

Not really. It takes about 10 to 15 years for a regular surfer to become proficient enough for true big-wave surfing. It doesn’t just happen overnight, but it is a gradual process of starting with small waves, then trying to surf in Hawaii, first at Sunset Beach and then moving up the ladder to Waimea, and then, finally, the outer reefs. You’ll find that most big-wave surfers are in their late 20s or early 30s; younger surfers just aren’t experienced enough to ride the big waves.

United States Geological Survey
The USGS provides scientific information to help describe and understand the Earth, minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters, and manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources.

NOAA (National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration)
The goal of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is to predict changes in the Earth’s environment, and to conserve and wisely manage the nation’s coastal and marine resources.

Savage Seas
PBS Web companion to a series detailing the immense power and inner workings of the Earth’s oceans.

Weather Patterns
This section of the Crystalinks Web site provides straightforward definitions of meteorology, jet streams, tidal waves, and other weather conditions.

Weather by the Moon
Read about how the weather is controlled by the moon, and how long-range weather predictions are made using mathematics.

Oceans Alive!
A comprehensive site about the Earth’s oceans. The “Oceans in Motion” section includes information on how waves are created by wind and explores the role of the moon in creating ocean tides.

Tsunami Research Program
Comprehensive Web site from the Pacific Marine Environment Laboratory dedicated to researching tsunamis. The site features information on tsunami warning systems, forecasting, modeling, and tsunami mapping efforts.

Tsunami!
An interactive online resource providing general information about tsunami generation. Also included are topics on some of the greatest tsunamis, various warning systems, and how those who live in coastal regions can protect themselves from this natural disaster.

Pacific Tsunami Museum
Incorporated in 1994, Hawaii’s Pacific Tsunami Museum’s Web site provides readers with current scientific information and testimonials from survivors of tsunami disasters. There are also photographs, informational programs, and a section on frequently asked questions about tsunamis.

Weather and Wave Books

Bryant, Edward A. TSUNAMI: THE UNDERRATED HAZARD. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Berger, Melvin and Gilda Berger. WHAT MAKES AN OCEAN WAVE?: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT OCEANS AND OCEAN LIFE. New York: Scholastic, 2001.

Daschew, Dave and Linda Daschew. SURVIVING THE STORM: COASTAL AND OFFSHORE TACTICS. Oakview: Beowulf, Inc., 1999.

Glantz, Michael H. CURRENTS OF CHANGE: EL NINO’S IMPACT ON CLIMATE AND SOCIETY. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Godschalk, David R., Timothy Beatley, and David Brower. CATASTROPHIC COASTAL STORMS: HAZARD MITGATION AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT. Durham: Duke University Press, 1988.

Reiter, Elmar E. JET STREAMS: HOW DO THEY AFFECT OUR WEATHER?. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1967.

Streiber, Whitley and Art Bell. THE COMING GLOBAL SUPERSTORM. New York: Pocket Books, 2000.

Turner, Thomas P. WEATHER PATTERNS AND PHENOMENA. Columbus: McGraw, Hill Professional, 1999.

Upgren, Arthur and Jurgen Stock. WEATHER: HOW IT WORKS AND WHY IT MATTERS. Boulder: Perseus Books Group, 2000.

Williams, Jack. THE WEATHER BOOK. New York: Random House, Inc., 1997.

Surfing Web Sites

Waimea.com
From Waimea Bay, home of the largest and most spectacular surf in the world, this site by surfers offers a glimpse into the world of adventure that awaits those who venture to this popular surfing mecca.

Ken Bradshaw
Official Web site of Ken Bradshaw, the man who rode the biggest wave in history, estimated to be in excess of 85 feet.

Maverickssurf.com
Located in Half Moon Bay, California, this Web site spotlights the sport of big-wave surfing, and features great photos of surfers in action. It also provides history and information about the fourth annual Quiksilver/Mavericks big-wave surf contest.

Big Wave Surfing Hitches a Ride
Article detailing the controversial practice of “tow-in surfing,” from OUTSIDE MAGAZINE.

Extreme: Surfing
Site features information about and clips from the IMAX movie filmed in Ohahu during the Condition Black of January 28, 1998.

Surfermag.com
An all-inclusive Web site featuring forecasts, spectacular still photos, video clips, and a news section on the world of surfing.

Stormsurf
For the die-hard surfer and novices alike, the Stormsurf Web site specializes in information on big-wave surf forecasts and links to global marine weather sources.

Women Surfers
Article on the oft-overlooked presence and accomplishments of women in the sport of surfing, from Coast News.

Surfing Books

Cariou, Patrick and Matt Warshaw. SURFERS CITY: PowerHouse Cultural Entertainment, Inc., 1997.

Cralle, Tervor. THE SURFIN’ARY: A DICTIONARY OF SURFING TERMS AND SURFSPEAK. Berkley: Ten Speed Press, 2000.

George, Sam (editor). THE PERFECT DAY: 40 YEARS OF SURFER MAGAZINE. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, LLC, 2001.

Long, John and Hai Van Sponholz (editors). THE BIG DROP!: CLASSIC BIG WAVE SURFING STORIES. Guilford: Falcon Publishing, Inc., 1999.

Thornlely, Mark and Charles Tuttle, Inc. SURFING AUSTRALIA: A GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S TOP SURFING DESTINATION. Boston: Charles E. Tuttle, Inc., 1999.

Warshaw, Matt. MAVERICKS: THE STORY OF BIG-WAVE SURFING. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, LLC, 2000.

Werner, Doug. LONGBOARDER’S START-UP: A GUIDE TO LONGBOARD SURFING. Chula Vista: Tracks Publishing, 1996.

Werner, Doug. SURFER’S START UP: A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO SURFING. Chula Vista: Tracks Publishing, 1999.

Herring eggs laid during the mass spawning.

Herring eggs laid during the mass spawning. To make LIFE AT THE EDGE OF THE SEA, veteran British filmmaker Rodger Jackman had to figure out how to work amid the pounding waves, howling winds, and harsh weather that are the hallmark of British Columbia’s Bamfield Marine Station, headquarters of the production. “I knew it was going to be tough,” Jackman says. “You simply can’t take delicate cameras out into 20-foot waves that can deliver the force of a car driving into a brick wall at 90 miles per hour.”

In addition, Jackman notes, divers carrying cameras are often unable to approach many animals without scaring them off or dramatically changing their behavior — a major problem for a filmmaker interested in capturing a creature’s natural habits. So, to put his starring actors in a comfortable situation where they could be easily filmed, Jackman constructed an elaborate set of aquaria in a makeshift studio: the marine station’s boat shed. The largest, which was 10 feet deep and four feet wide, required more than a ton of sand and rocks and took about three days to build and stock with animals. “If you set up and maintain the tanks properly,” he says, “many animals will go about their business quite naturally.”

Most importantly, Jackman believes that working in a studio situation allows filmmakers to capture scenes that would be virtually impossible to record in the wild. For instance, a dramatic sequence in LIFE AT THE EDGE OF THE SEA shows immense schools of herring spawning in coastal waters, which become milky from the billions of eggs and sperm. “Once the spawning started, the water was so milky you literally couldn’t see the fish unless they swam up against the lens,” he remembers.

Nudibranchs live among the kelp forests.

“So to complement the wild footage,” Jackman continues, “we put a relatively small school of fish in the big tank and then, when they started to spawn at about four in the morning, filmed them until they made even that tank too milky to see.” Using the aquaria, Jackman’s team was also able to capture the gracefully arcing jets of sperm and eggs released by sea urchins and the equally captivating mating habits of barnacles. Over the course of two years, the film was assembled by quilting intimate scenes together with footage that could be captured only in the wild, such as a 9-foot-long giant octopus snagging a crab in its tentacles and ghostly, soft-bodied nudibranchs drifting from kelp stalks.

Producer: Ronnie Godeanu
Art Director: Sabina Daley
Writer: David Malakoff
Graphic Art: Lenny Drozner
Technical Director: Brian Lee
Scientific Consultant: Gianna Savoie

Thirteen Online is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York’s Kravis Multimedia Education Center in New York City. Anthony Chapman, Director of Interactive & Broadband. Carmen DiRienzo, Vice President and Managing Director, Corporate Affairs.

© 1998 Thirteen/WNET New York

All Rights Reserved

Television Credits

A Rodger Jackman Production for Thirteen/WNET New York and BBC-TV

Funder Credits

Funding for the TV series NATURE is made possible in part by Park Foundation. Major corporate support is provided by Canon U.S.A., Inc., Ford Motor Company, and TIAA-CREF. Additional support is provided by the nation’s public television stations.

We recommend these Web sites for those interested in the subjects shown on the program. All links are valid as of December 28, 2000.

By the Sea
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/canwaters-eauxcan/bbb-lgb/school-ecole/activities/index_e.asp#lessons
An introduction to 11 ecosystems within the coastal zone of Eastern Canada.

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
http://www.cabrilloaq.org/
A Los Angeles area aquarium has an event calendar and educational activities for kids.

Bamfield Marine Station
http://www.bms.bc.ca/
General information about the station where LIFE AT THE EDGE OF THE SEA was filmed.

British Columbia Creature Page
http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/kerryw/creature/creat.htm
A guide to aquatic animals.

Seaweb
http://www.seaweb.org/
Links to ocean advocacy and educational groups and a calendar for 1998, the Year of the Ocean.

Intertidal Life of Puget Sound: A Beach Walk
http://www.beachwatchers.wsu.edu/beaches/beachwalk/
A well-illustrated interactive beach walk.

Tides & Tide Prediction
http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/tide/
A site with terrific resources for predicting tides around the world.

The Intertidal Zone
http://www.needham.mec.edu/NPS_Web_docs/ High_School/cur/N/n4/title.html
A online class project by ninth-grade students.

Print Resources

For those interested in the subjects shown in LIFE AT THE EDGE OF THE SEA, we recommend the following books.

Chinery, Michael, Wayne Ford, Mick Loates, and Myke Taylor. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT SEASHORE ANIMALS. New York: Kingfisher Books, 1994.

Carwardine. Mark. SEE & EXPLORE: WHALES, DOLPHINS, AND PORPOISES. New York: DK Publishing, 1992.

Cooper, Ann, and Dorothy Emerling. WILD WONDERS: ALONG THE SEASHORE. Roberts Rinehart Publishing, 1997.

Ganeri, Anita. THE OCEANS ATLAS. New York: DK Publishing, 1994.

Gunzi, Christiane. LOOK CLOSER: TIDE POOL. New York: DK Publishing, 1998.

Little, Colin, and J. A. Kitching. THE BIOLOGY OF ROCKY SHORES. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Ricketts, Edward Flanders. BETWEEN PACIFIC TIDES. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1992.

Silver, Donald M., and Patricia J. Wynne. ONE SMALL SQUARE: SEASHORE. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.

Snively, Gloria. EXPLORING THE SEASHORE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON AND OREGON. Gordon Soules Book Publishing, 1983.

Steele, Philip. SEE & EXPLORE: SHARKS AND OTHER MONSTERS OF THE DEEP. New York: DK Publishing, 1998.

Wareham, Bill. BRITISH COLUMBIA WILDLIFE VIEWING GUIDES. Falcon Publishing Company, 1994.

Wertheim, Anne. THE INTERTIDAL WILDERNESS. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1984.

Where the sea meets the land, life is abundant.

Where the sea meets the land, life is abundant. More than half of the world’s human population lives within a few dozen miles of a coastline, and many other land animals often find their way to the continental margins as well. In LIFE AT THE EDGE OF THE SEA, bears can be seen wandering the rocky coast, scooping up small crabs. The nipping crustaceans provide a nutritious addition to the bear’s diet, particularly early in the year when fruits and berries are not yet plentiful. Mink also poke around the tide pools looking for treats.

It is birds, however, that have developed the most acrobatic style of preying on seafood. In a kind of take-out dining, crows and gulls will pick up tough-shelled clams, mussels, or crabs in their beaks and carry them high into the air, then drop them, like bombs, to shatter onto the rocks below.

These bombardiers need to be careful, however: they must go high enough to ensure that the plummet breaks the shell, but not so high that another bird can steal their meal. Such thieves are everywhere along the coast: even the majestic bald eagle often bullies other fish-eating birds into dropping their catch in order to scoop it up for themselves. These encounters only add to the constant turmoil that makes life where the ocean meets the land so captivating. Like a wave that crests, sinks, and then builds again, the edge of the sea constantly replenishes itself, creating new and endlessly enthralling patterns.

Sea urchins and a sea star. Imagine waking up in the morning submerged in freezing water, spending your afternoon baking beneath a merciless sun, and ending the day battered by 10-foot waves that smash into you with the force of a hundred hammer blows — all the while fending off attacks from neighbors intent on making you their next meal. Such is the challenging everyday life of the remarkable creatures featured in the NATURE program LIFE AT THE EDGE OF THE SEA. This film, which took two years to create, is a vivid portrait of life — and death — in the tide pools and bays along Canada’s rugged Pacific coast.

Researchers have long marveled at the life that flourishes in the narrow band where the sea flings itself against the edge of the continent. Mussels, barnacles, and anemones carpet rocks and sand flats, crabs hide under every stone, and fish and sea stars lurk in forests of kelp and sea grass, eager for a meal. But amidst pounding waves and powerful tides, these plants and animals must find a way to hang on — or risk being tossed high onto the beach or swept out to sea. Those that find footholds are rewarded with a daily feast of food and oxygen, delivered by the rising tide.

When the tide recedes, however, the feast may be followed by famine and danger: without their protective blanket of water, residents of the tidal zone are exposed to extreme conditions, from summer’s broiling sun to winter’s freezing winds.

A barnacle in the midst of feeding. They also become vulnerable to land-based invaders: there is no way to predict when a bird, bear, or mink might emerge from its forest home looking for a convenient seafood snack.

Indeed, the tide, which comes in and goes out twice a day, is one of the few predictable events in an otherwise chaotic world, providing an underlying rhythm to life along the shore. However, unless we stare unwaveringly at the shore for hours, the tide creeps in and out too gradually for us to notice. But by using time-lapse photography, which compresses hours or days of action into just a few minutes, the filmmakers who created LIFE AT THE EDGE OF THE SEA were able to capture the subtle beauty of the flowing tide in several stunning sequences. Documenting the ocean’s slow ebb and flow was no easy task, says Rodger Jackman, the veteran British filmmaker who produced the film: it took more than a dozen tries to get the right combination of light and weather.

Despite their difficulty, however, time-lapse techniques also allowed Jackman and his team to capture sights usually visible only to the most patient observer. In two sequences, for example, events that take hours to occur in nature are compressed into the space of a few seconds: a mussel puts forth the strong, web-like threads that anchor it to the ocean floor, and a single flower-like sea anemone elegantly divides into two perfect clones. Other anemones — which, despite their plant-like appearance, are animals — are shown fighting a territorial battle.

Though slow, the fight is vicious, as the combatants stab at each other with tiny, venom-filled harpoons. In another segment, a predatory sea star pursues a fleeing hat-shaped mollusk called a limpet in a chase that moves at a glacially slow pace, yet manages to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Though the limpet does not escape its relentless predator, other seashore animals use ingenious ways of foiling their attackers. When pursued by a hungry rock crab, a hermit crab simply climbs out of its shell, trading its home for its life. A keyhole limpet rents out space on its shell to a helpful companion, a small worm that darts out to charge the feet of a threatening sea star to drive it away. A solitary deep-water anemone literally dances away from an approaching sea star, tearing itself from the ocean floor and launching itself off with a deep bow and a twist, soaring away from the luckless star.

To order a copy of Life at the Edge of the Sea, please visit the NATURE Shop.

Online content for Life at the Edge of the Sea was originally posted December 1998.