The California coast has been catastrophically inundated by waves recently.
Fueled by a hyperactive El Niño weather pattern, then supercharged by king tides, surges of seawater are flooding coastal areas, causing damage to the land and local infrastructure, dangerous scenarios for civilians, and all-out chaos.
So much so, that some coastal California towns have taken drastic measures. Like Ventura, where a state of emergency was issued. But elsewhere, surfers are trying to tame the shorebreak beasts for weird, treacherous novelty wave sessions.
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The clip above shows San Diego’s aerial innovator, YouTube vlogger, and surf world sh*t-stirrer, Jacob “Zeke” Szekely, presumably at some nook or cranny in his hometown of La Jolla Shores.
And like he says in the video title, “I almost died trying to surf this crazy wave!”
Further explaining the hectic situation, copy on the clip reads:
“I was getting destroyed trying to paddle out.
“But this crazy backwash made for an epic novelty wave.”
There’s a side wave refracting off the rocks, then connecting with the second wave of the set. Like a dangerous and cheap knockoff of The Wedge in Orange County? Sorta.
Aside from sketchy novelty wave sessions, the king tides and massive swells have brought damage to beach towns like La Jolla. In a previous video clip, Zeke showed waves pummeling beachfront property. And before that, during the historic December 28th, 2023 swell, the iconic Children’s Pool was damaged from high surf.
The king tides – not a scientific term, by the way – will subside. The significant surf, courtesy of El Niño, on the other hand? That should stick around a while longer.
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