Beach Cities Are a Bit Rattled by the Nature of Things

Whoa.

First there were the sharks off San Onofre. Then the torrential rains that muddied the surf zone. Then the rattlesnakes in Newport.

Rockin Fig and I thought nature was going to ease up on us. But NO! As the Ocean Pacific WinterSurf Pro contest was about to begin recently, a mean thunderstorm swirling above Huntington Beach zapped a judging stand with lightning on Feb. 19 and forced cancellation of the surf meet.

Score it nature, 4 to 0.

Fig: The stand didn’t look like it was really torn up, but I think they were afraid of the liability if they got hit twice. Seems like the elements are coming down big.

Nature’s four whammies began Nov. 29, when skin diver John Mark Regan, 31, of Newport Beach was bitten on the leg by a six-foot mako shark just 100 feet off the surf line near San Onofre.

Regan, who wore an all-black wet suit, believes that he was mistaken for a seal. The diver was snorkeling in 15 feet of water while two friends fished from the trio’s 17-foot aluminum skiff.

Suddenly, Regan said, he felt a pair of jaws clamp onto his right calf. The shark then released its grip and swam away. Although Regan refused medical treatment, the attack left 10 tiny puncture wounds.

Figgy says that when surfers enter the water, they just look like brunch to sharks.

As for the snakes, on Jan. 27, Newport Beach resident Joseph Cleary was picking up trash on the beach when he was startled by the sight of a rattler sunning itself on some debris just south of Newport Pier.

The poisonous reptile was one of many snakes, including king and gopher snakes, that were probably washed down the Santa Ana River into the ocean and were dumped on the beaches after the recent storms.

Most die from their wet journey. But an animal-control officer also captured a king snake a week before that was found near the Balboa Pier.

Figgy, you think beach cities oughtta start charging admission to the new Snake Display? They can call it the Pacific Zoo.

RIGHT! I’ve heard of a few rattlesnakes getting swept down rivers. After the rattler incident I was supposed to surf in a contest at Church’s (near Trestles) and it was canceled because of the possibility of water contamination, and rattlesnakes causing problems too.

Nature didn’t stop with rattlesnakes and sharks. Judy Horton, Ocean Pacific’s event coordinator, said that the lightning struck about 6:15 p.m. while security guard David Nuuhiwa of Anaheim, the father of noted surfer David Jr., was walking on a metal scaffold.

“Lightning struck one of the metal poles and just severed it. Luckily, (Nuuhiwa) was at the other end of the scaffolding. David, who is a karate expert, used his karate experience and kind of rolled onto the sand,” avoiding any injury, Horton said.

The WinterSurf contest mixes surfing and snowboarding, two sports with similar maneuvers. The unique contest normally pits 16 top snowboarders against 16 top surfers in two days of competition that includes surfing one day and snowboarding the next.

The snowboard winner was Craig Kelly of Glacier, Wash. Larry Beard of Laguna Hills, who was the top finisher among surfers in the snowboarding event, was awarded best surfer. The event will be televised March 10 at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Contests: Action gets underway this weekend near Cardiff when Taylor Knox of Carlsbad tries to make it three in a row at the U.S. Bud Surf Tour contest at Seaside Reef. Figgy says Knox broke out of the box fast this year with victories at Santa Cruz and Pismo Beach. Other watchables include Richie Collins of Newport Beach, Jeff Deffenbaugh of Huntington Beach, and two Hawaiians, Shane Dorian and Ross Williams.

Also: The Doheny Longboard Surfing Assn. held its first pro surfing contest run in conjunction with Dana Point’s whale festival last weekend. About 1,500 spectators saw the finals at Salt Creek, where there were two- to three-foot waves, said club president Gene Eudaly. Israel Paskowitz of San Clemente won the event. Jesse Fernandez of Kitty Hawk, N.C., was second, Joel Tudor of La Jolla was third, and Joey Hawkins of Huntington Beach was fourth. Doheny club members donated $1,000 to the Surfrider Foundation.