TIME FOR BOOTIES:
Alaskan Swell Destroys Antarctic Iceberg

“From a surfing perspective nothing presented in the paper was ground breaking. The basic mechanics of the storm driven winds generating high seas which radiate away from their source to form swells which eventually impact some far off shore is pretty commonplace nowadays.” Sponsler is right. Ever checked a wavecam? How about a buoy or NOAA chart? You probably never expected to predict the demise of an iceberg based on what you saw – but maybe you could have. Doug McAyeal, a member of the team researching the cause of the iceberg breakup and head author of its findings, offers an interesting analogy to ponder, “I'm delighted that surfers are interested in this...in reality, B15 is nothing but a giant, riderless surfboard that is busy "surfing" the circum-Antarctic Kelvin waves.” A giant-sized surfboard, bobbing in solitude atop frigid, steel waters; McAyeal paints a pretty picture, albeit a bone-chilling one. While McAyeal’s abstraction seems poetic for a scientist, there’s not much time for artistic ruminations with winter on the way…booties and hoods anyone?