Hi all,
This was in todays Sydney Morning Herald, anyone got any more info about this loss, piccies…
A famous European surf break has mysteriously lost its waves to the consternation of locals and dismay of surfers, who fear that a “wonder of the world” has vanished forever.
Surfers flock in their thousands to Mundaka, on Spain’s north Atlantic coast, east of Bilbao, to master its left-hand river mouth tube - a giant often reaching more than six metres that can be ridden for hundreds of metres across.
Now anyone arriving to catch the “Basque wave” will find themselves riding no more than a ripple. The wave suddenly went missing in the spring, provoking bewilderment in the town, and fear that it will soon wave goodbye to its tourist industry.
The Basque Government has begun an investigation and ordered scientists to find a solution. The wave’s disappearance is a huge blow to surfing’s World Championship Tour, which must now find a way of bringing the wave back before Mundaka hosts its tour competition in October.
The town is divided over the cause of the conundrum. Some blame the local authorities for sanctioning dredging along the coast to make easier access for shipping, and shifting sand banks near the mouth of the river estuary.
Others believe the forces of nature are responsible.
Two decades ago an Australian surfer, Craig Sage, now 47, “discovered” Mundaka. He pioneered the trade that put Europe on the international surfing map, and runs a local surf shop. “Mundaka is the symbol of surfing in Europe,” he said. “If we lose it, it will be like losing part of our soul. Mundaka should be marked as a wonder of the world. There are only 12 or so surfing spots like it. That is why we cannot sit back and do nothing.”
The town’s bars have already noticed a slump, as surfers abandon the beauty of the Spanish Basque coast in favour of surk breaks around Biarritz in France. A government commission has promised to publish a report in September “recommending action to be taken to restore the natural system, and so the wave”.
“So far there has been a positive evolution in conditions that looks set to regenerate the wave,” it added.
