TransParentSea

An adult humpback breaches for the Transparentsea cameras off the NSW North Coast, as the environmental awareness groups heads south raising awareness for whales and coastal issues. CREDIT: Dawe/Transparentsea

(Tuesday, October 20th, Crescent Head, NSW, Australia): After 19 days of surfing, paddling and sailing their way down the NSW coast, the environmental awareness group led by pro surfer Dave Rastovich has successfully passed the halfway point of their intended 700km, 36 day voyage from Byron Bay to Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

Titled “Transparentsea” the initiative, which began on October 1st, aims to draw attention to the plight of the migrating humpback whales as the team follows their path south and to highlight issues of environmental concern to do with Australia’s East Coast.

Speaking from Point Plomer near Crescent Head on Day 20, Rastovich acknowledged the numerous, unforgettable whale and dolphin encounters his team had experienced. However, the alarming amount of debris that has been located and collected at the various locations the team has visited is a concern.

“At times, adult humpback whales and their calves have chosen to surface two feet away from our kayaks, which has just been amazing,” explained Rastovich.

“We’ve also camped in some of the most beautiful beachside campgrounds and surfed those beaches, but picked up hundreds and hundreds pieces of plastic and rubbish in places that look ‘Good from far, but are far from good’,” he added.

Rastovich, who says his team is on track to reach Bondi by the planned date of November 5th, also urged everyone who shared the vision of the Transparentsea environmental awareness initiative to support the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founded by anti-whaling activist Paul Watson.

Dave Rastovich (foreground) and Will Conner (background) – two members of the group of surfer-activists making their way by sea from Byron Bay to Bondi Beach over 36 days. CREDIT: Dawe/Transparentsea

Rastovich noted that the Sea Shepherd is the only organisation planning to send a vessel to help defend the whales in the Southern Ocean sanctuary from Japanese whalers in December. While Watson has been a focus of the media after Australian Immigration denied his entry based on issues to do with his visa.

“It has been very disappointing to learn that the Australian Government recently obstructed Paul Watson’s entry to Australia, rather than welcoming him as a great defender of the whales,” said Rastovich.

“Instead of upholding their pre election promise to challenge Japanese whaling in international court and to protect the Southern Ocean sanctuary, the Australian Government appears to have turned their back on the whales that are once again under threat.”

It’s anticipated that dozens of surfers and well wishers will welcome the Transparentsea voyagers, which includes Rastovich, fellow surfer, artist and activist Chris Del Moro (San Diego, CA, USA), musician Will Conner (Byron Bay, NSW), photographer Hilton Dawe (Byron Bay, NSW), a support team and special guests, when they negotiate the last few hundred metres from the sea to the shore at Bondi Beach on November 5th.

For more info, please see the links below, or contact:
Media contact: jj@premiummedia.com.au
Mobile: +61 (0) 421 384 431

Neighbouring sand dunes make for an incredible vista. Yes, this is East Coast Australia …

With time on our side as the Transparentsea team sits out the southerly conditions, a bit of a walk took us to a deserted beach that had solid four-to-five foot rights wedging in one corner.
Del Moro, a looong way from the shopping malls, concrete and traffic of his home-town, San Diego.

Chris Del Moro, playing in the sea.
credit Dawe/Transparentsea

There’s no shortage of wild life where we’re currently camped.

Dave Rastovich holding an edge on a modern-remake of the early Alaia boards

An adult humpback whale salutes the Transparentsea group on the way south.

We arrived safe and sound yesterday north of Crescent Head. Got to shore just as a big dust storm kicked in from the south-west. And while our progress at sea was halted, we scored solid four-foot wedging beach breaks with not another soul in sight!
It was a magic afternoon … everyone trading barrels and late take-offs as eagles soared overhead. We needed to surf, big-time.
The sun turned a deep-plumb colour as it neared the horizon, it’s rays veiled by dust … Now, we’re about to head back and spend the day on the same beach, doing what we do best.
Check some shots below from the past few days …

Dave soothing. It’s not all serious survival stuff at sea, when the wind is calmer it’s the perfect time to stretch the legs and have a look around. Rasta …

Will Conner. A humpback and its calf surfaced right near the group and swam along with us for a distance – it’s hard not to claim moments like these.

Finally scoring some epic waves.  The tricky thing is the kayaks don’t like waves, but we do. So we’re forced to be selective with where we come ashore to surf.

Five surfer-sailors, high on endorphins and completely exhausted after 10+hours at sea
Credit: Kane Skennar

Hitting shore after a 1100km + day. The wind whipped the seas to a choppy mess and coming in was much more difficult than it might look – negotiating rocks and waves in crafts that don’t like either.
Credit: Kane Skennar

TODAY  Show crew, interviewing near Coffs Harbour
Credit: Dawe.

We did it … A 110 km day. Woolgoolga to South West Rocks. from Billabong on Vimeo.

We were met with perfect northerly winds from the beginning of the day, right up until the end. Upwards of 30knots. There was a high wind advisory and once it got really strong, we were the only crafts at sea – any other other boats we saw out there went straight back into harbour.
If we’d met winds like that when we started, it would have been pretty tough going. But everyone was feeling confident. There was some sketchy moments, but we were prepared enough to deal with it.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the day was the whale activity.

We had whales going underneath the boats, juveniles breaching all around us all day, tail slaps and we finished riding swells into Horseshoe Bay (near South West Rocks) with the humpbacks riding beneath us.

Hilton got some amazing photos, and we have some video footage of the encounters.
We’ll post some when we get a chance, but for now we’re straight back out there and aiming to reach Hat Head which we estimate is 25 kilometres south. So about three-to-four hours at sea.

Hopefully we’ll score some surf … Stay tuned,
Chris Del Moro

After four days at Woolgoolga, hiding from the wind and rain that has been belting in from the south, the weather finally looks like taking a favourable turn.
Windguru.com suggests northerly winds will be blowing from sunrise and peaking at around 12knots throughout the day.
So all the kayaks are packed, ready to go at first light.
Besides dragging the crafts down to the water’s edge, the only thing left to do is put on our wetsuits and add hot water to our thermos’s. There’s nothing like chugging down a laksa or hot noodles two k’s out to sea …

With an average of 20km’s a day needed to reach Bondi by November 5th, a big day is required to keep us on target.

The longest leg brought us ashore at Woolgoolga on Day 8 – 78km, nine hours at sea (including a surf!),
If we can reach South West Rocks by Monday evening it will be the most distance covered in one day since leaving Byron on October 1st. 100km!

Del Moro: “These past few days have been a bit like a clip from Groundhog Day. We’ve been stuck, held back by the southerly buster. I’m so excited to move, we’re ready to fly down the coast. We’ll be pushing the envelope, trying to do a 100 kilometre day. That’s a big challenge. It’s exciting.”

So blow, kind northerly, blow …

PS: Channel 9’s TODAY Show aired a cool story on their Sunday morning edition.

Transparentsea highlights thus far…

Whale, pectoral fin vertical in the air: Rasta: “The great thing about this is it happened about an hour-and-a-half into the trip, we were given this salute, like the whales were saying: ‘Hey, have a good trip!’
Straight away we were having this interaction. It was amazing.”

Connecting with whales, Lennox Head, Rasta: Rasta waving at a humpback whale and the whale waving right back.

As expected, our journey to date has been a whirlwind of lessons from the sea, vagabond camping and sharing space with some the sea’s most amazing creatures. The Transparentsea crew and I are continually tightening ship in order to make this journey as safe and successful as possible. It feels like we’ve crammed a month of living into a single week. I could go on about the amazing gifts we have received daily, but instead I will tap into to a few of the highlights thus far.

Enjoy, Chris 111

The Tiger Shark …

One would be a fool not to recognize Australia’s reputation for sharks. From the dozen or so encounters I’ve had, eight of them have been on Australia’s East Coast. But after some talks with Dave and Hilts about the likelihood of more encounters on this journey, I decided it was a much better mindset to embrace their presence rather than fear it. In hindsight that was a great mentality to have because midway through day 2, as we rode waves far out at sea, I felt someone, or something, staring at me from behind. I thought it was Will, looked back and saw a large object following me. First I thought it was a dolphin, then maybe a juvenile whale then I finally accepted the fact that it was a 10-12 foot tiger shark trailing my boat. It stayed with me for about a minute than lost interest and moved on. It was an amazing creature, so graceful and powerful. 
Considering that thousands of sharks are killed every year for just their fins, I was really happy to have put aside my fears and to be able to appreciate that amazing creature. I let out a huge hoot and kept on sailing.

An Afternoon to Remember …

There’s something about sailing that brings with it clarity of thought. I did my best to not speak at sea today and was rewarded with rich creative thoughts, visions of family and love for our planet. After a full-on day of sailing with perfect winds we floated to shore and the lee of a quaint headland. Once the kayaks were packed away, we were told a massive hailstorm was heading our way. Within an hour a black cloud engulfed us, it pissed down rain, dissipated and threw a full double rainbow. 
The crew danced in the sand like kids on Christmas morning. 
That night, as Will channelled the spirit of Neil Young, we watched an epic harvest moon rise over the sea. All in all, we all went to bed with smiles on our faces.

Biggest Day Yet

After consulting the week’s weather maps, admiral Rastovich made the call that we would leave shore via moonlight so at 5am we slipped into the water effortlessly and began our pedal south. 
In the glassy sea, we welcomed our first visit by a large pod of dolphins. Such a great morning treat …

Later, we came across a series of baited traps and checked their content. Dave discovered a leopard shark tightly wedged in the trap and set it free. Although legal, these traps are indiscriminate killers, taking down just about any creature looking for an easy feed. 
The forecasted NW wind finally hit around 9:30 and sent us flying down the coast. With the great winds at our backs we decided to push on as far as the wind would take us. 
Become complacent and the elements will serve you a wake up call. Today, Will snapped his rotor pin and I almost capsized at high speeds. 
As we rolled into Woolgoolga, we were met by pods of Humpbacks. 
One had three adults and two children showing off for spectators on the headland. 
As we watched them tail slap and breach, a strong N wind started to howl causing us to frantically sail to safety. As I tried to keep my vessel away from the headland a juvenile crossed my path and breached in front of my boat about 15 times. An act of pure play.

Whale tails off Woolgoolga “We’ve seen heaps of whales. There are mothers teaching their young to jump – it’s amazing,” says Rasta.  Sadly, none of the scientific data the Japanese claim necessitates the killing of whales amounts to anything that could not be found by simply analysing skin samples from the mammals; skin samples that can be collected as they float on the surface of the water.

Whale tail, North Coast: Ironically, the whale watching industry is worth $350 million, but the animals are still in danger.

We made it to shore and lucked out on a small right hand rip bank. We all surfed and body surfed as we waited for the wind to switch south, so we could make it to the protected side to camp. On our crossing back with the south winds, Hilton and Justin were almost driven into the rocks and did well to make it to shore. Considering it was Justin’s first day on the guest boat he did well as we clocked 11 hours in the saddle and 78 km sailed in the most diverse conditions yet. 
What an adventure!

Chris Del Moro – forehand roundhouse cutback “After a super hectic morning of south winds, and tacking and not making much forward progress, it was really nice to get in the water at a scenic right-hand sandbar and get loose…”

Rasta mini Tube

Rasta – cutback in front of Moro “This was taken after nine hours of sailing. We were frothing. I think I body surfed about 60 waves in a row after that, frothing on the corner wedge of that beach. There are so many beaches on the East Coast; I hadn’t surfed at this spot before.
I’ve got the ‘Something about Mary’ hair-do going on too …” Rasta.

Just some of the rubbish, most of it plastic and discarded fishing net and lines, found in a 200m stretch along the frontal dune of a beach in Northern NSW (Sandon River, south of Yamba).

A photo of the same beach where the rubbish was collected – an absolutely pristine location, unless you’re a bird or marine animal choking to death on a plastic fragment.

Photos by: Billabong/Dawe

Kristy, Will, Chris – and the results of just 20 minutes near Iluka

The reason this particular group of people are sharing the Transparentsea adventure is because we all enjoy similar creative pastimes such as, surfing, music, sailing, art, writing etc. Obviously our natural surroundings play a huge part in our ability to enjoy these pleasures.
It seems a lot of my good and bad habits came from what I learnt as a kid. I remember my parents being super addiment that I never litter, especially a beach. That’s the reason why I feel kind of guilty if I don’t take at least a few pieces of rubbish with me after every surf.
Our first sailing guest was Kristy Theissling (General Manager of Surfrider Foundation Australia) She took this concept one step further and really taught our whole crew about the actual affects of all of the rubbish we are collecting along the way. Kristy’s enthusiasm and energy at the end of each full day of sailing really got us off our arses. We all took notice real quick! Not only did she sail circles around us, she was ready to load up bags of rubbish, sort and log it all then teach us the graphic details of what all this rubbish does to our marine life.
For example: A small piece of Styrofoam breaks down and looks like fish eggs. This gets lodged in the stomach and slowly starves the poor creature who ingests it. A floating plastic bag looks like a jellyfish which turtles love and that’s another death trap. The list goes on and on, but finding a plastic bag on the beach now really hits home and I feel like I just saved a turtle.
Right now the sun is setting on a perfect afternoon, we’re at a small beach campsite on the north coast. Some kids just walked by me and threw empty beer bottles in the sand dunes …

Will Conner.

Sea shepherd and transparentsea crew

Day One: 60 km Cape Byron : Evans Head
NE winds 20 knots
Four whale pods
One daggerboard lost

A new perception of a familiar coast immediately sets in as we sail past Lennox Head with a clapping humpback alongside our group. Funny how something so familiar can appear foreign when your physical and mental position shifts. Quantum physicists are currently proving how our universe can be perceived as a movement of cells or a movement of waves all depending on the observer’s point of view. I feel like our little fleet is an embodiment of that discovery as we glide down this coast as five little cells sailing amongst waves, but also mimicking the seascapes wave like motions.
The first progression has begun within this voyage and we all fall into our tents at days end still feeling like we are surfing down wind. Chris has a shower and says that instead of feeling seasick in the confined space he feels like he is being lifted up and forward, propelled by imaginary wind and wave. As I go unconscious I watch my mind settle into a slower rhythm of thought and feel the months of preparation and busyness dissolve.

Day Two: 45km Evans Head : Yamba
NE winds 20 knots
One whale pod
One tiger shark
Fishing Trawler
One pedal fin lost

A gentle north wind carried us around Evans Head and past a military bombing range that looks like Heaven until the practising fighter jets unleash their violent disregard for flora and fauna. We each sail quietly in the lazy boy position – laying flat on your back, feet up on the forward cross bars, steering lightly with the left hand. No words for an hour or so until the wind lifts and we each begin surfing again amidst swells two kilometres offshore.
My assumed distance of 20 km to Woody Head turns out to be more like 35, though thankfully the wind really lifts and we all light up from surfing in the open ocean swell.
Upon arrival into Iluka area we encountered a fishing boat dragging nets in no more than 60 feet of water. A close look at the boat and a remembrance of how much by-catch is caught using these methods reminds us why we DO NOT support current methods employed by the commercial fishing industry. United Nations backed studies of global fisheries industry states “complete collapse of global fisheries by 2040 if we continue using current practices”. Visit www.seashepherd.org for more on fishing issues.

Day Three: No travel
W winds turned 30 knot SE front
Dolphin Pod
Sea Shepherd Ship Arrives

A slow day as we recover from a lot of travel and preparation. Surfing some little offshore waves until the Steve Irwin SSCS mother ship comes over the horizon and drops their pick two miles out to sea. Morat and I jump in our boats and leave the shore straight into a howling southerly change that sees me snap a rudder pin and perform an at-sea repair job. Seated out on the wings of our boats, we fly out to the ship and meet the crew, some of whom I hadn’t seen since being on a short campaign with them in the Galapagos Islands three years earlier chasing pirate shark-fin poachers. Skipper Alex Corneliuson welcomed us onboard with a warm cup of tea and we met the crew. They are all on their way south as the only defenders of the whales in Antarctica this coming season. After giving them some goggles and sunglasses donated by our surf-industry friends, we jumped over board and began the wild sail back to shore amidst a beautifully chaotic sea. I rat was wide-eyed and sailing with a smile and I felt like Lieutenant Dan from the movie Forest Gump who yells to the sea from atop their prawn fishing boat when caught in a storm “Is this all you got? Come on, give me more!”
I felt like we were really being tested and schooled on how to sail the little crafts in a sea that could swallow us within a second. Feeling wild and alive, we made it to shore with some moments of travel speed registering over 30 kms per hour!
Back through the entrance to the mighty Clarence River we regrouped with our crew and reflected on how much has already happened within just three days of a 36-day journey. Sandy, salty, sunburnt, cuts and rope burns everywhere we blissfully collapse onto our hiking mats thankful for another day of oceanic adventure.

Rasta.

Day 3 – Beach Clean Ups Yamba Part 2 from Billabong on Vimeo.