Pacific Whipped Into An Ocean of Froth

Posted by JTPednaud in Everything Else on August 28, 2007 at 8:02 am


Foam

Yesterday, the shoreline north of Sydney was transformed into what reporters are calling ‘The Cappuccino Coast’.

From Daily Mail:

Foam swallowed an entire beach and half the nearby buildings, including the local lifeguards’ centre, in a freak display of nature at Yamba in New South Wales. One minute a group of teenage surfers were waiting to catch a wave, the next they were swallowed up in a giant bubble bath. The foam was so light that they could puff it out of their hands and watch it float away.

Scientists explain that the foam is created by impurities in the ocean, such as salts, chemicals, dead plants, decomposed fish and excretions from seaweed. These elements are churned together by powerful currents which cause the water to form bubbles. These bubbles stick to each other as they are carried below the surface by the current towards the shore and as a wave starts to form on the surface, the motion of the water causes the bubbles to swirl upwards, mass together and form foam.

The foam wall stretched for 30 miles out into the Pacific in a phenomenon not seen at the beach for more than three decades.


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COMMENT

12 comments to "Pacific Whipped Into An Ocean of Froth"

  1. Alex
    August 28th, 2007 at 1:17 pm

    Alternative explanation: a giant tanker ship carrying tons of liquid soap capsized and lost its cargo. It’s the “Tide-tanic”. Ohohoho, I crack myself up!

  2. Ali S.
    August 28th, 2007 at 3:29 pm

    Oh my God Alex…that was so…so…bad. @_@

  3. William
    August 28th, 2007 at 10:24 pm

    That must smell so bad…that guy covered in it….it’s so disgusting…

  4. Chad
    August 29th, 2007 at 12:07 am

    if I understand the scientists description right then thats the ocean’s form of crappin all over the beaches!

  5. Tinderbox
    August 29th, 2007 at 12:41 am

    In other words, pollution.

  6. Sid Morrison
    August 29th, 2007 at 7:46 am

    Well, tinderbox, it sounded like it was natural in origin. “Pollution” generally implies man’s evil hand at work, usually through some big uncaring corporation.

    I’ve little doubt somebody will “study” the phenomenon and ascribe blame on “global climate change”, though. Stay tuned… it’s coming!

  7. Stacey
    August 30th, 2007 at 3:14 pm

    Actually it’s the ocean “skimming” the water. All that foam is fish waste, salt, and all the impurities of the ocean. You can buy a skimmer for a saltwater fish tank as well and it creates that foam. It’s done by the movement of the water and the air.

  8. Dave
    September 1st, 2007 at 7:24 pm

    Yeah, like Stacey said it’s the same as the crap that comes out of a protein skimmer. The thing I can’t get over is how bad that must have smelled. Even the cupful that comes out of a protein skimmer is disgusting.

  9. John
    September 3rd, 2007 at 8:18 am

    The kid in the picture looks as though he’s not wearing any clothes, just like how he might if he were 2 step out of a giant bathtub full of “Mr. Bubble” without rinsing himself off first…LOL

  10. mike
    September 17th, 2007 at 7:46 pm

    impurities? i’ve seen foam at some beaches but only because it was so polluted shut guy is swamped in Shit(pun excluded)

  11. asdf
    November 7th, 2007 at 4:37 pm

    yeah, you should’ve tasted it. It tasted aweful! But then again, the ocean always tastes aweful.

  12. berg125
    November 30th, 2007 at 8:03 pm

    I think that would be cool to play in. I bet Al Gore would blame global worming for it.


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