Last Thursday’s swell provided the perfect opportunity to capture Mavericks going off for a new film based on the life of Jay Moriarity. Only when Hollywood comes to Half Moon Bay would you find a $250,000 camera dangling precariously from a helicopter. Photo: Seth Migdail

Punta Colorada, which is threatened by a marina project, is known for some of the best waves in Oaxaca, especially for bodyboarders. It is also home to a diverse marine and terrestrial ecosystem. This marina development is part of a larger series of projects planned for the northern part of the Oaxacan coast. The Oceanforce Foundation along with locals have started a petition requesting that Punta Colorada be made a Mexican National Reserve.

World Surfing Reserves announced that the dedication ceremony for the Santa Cruz, California, World Surfing Reserve will be on April 28th, 2012. The ceremony will officially establish the Santa Cruz coastline as a World Surfing Reserve, joining other iconic surfing locations that have been enshrined including Malibu, California and Ericeira, Portugal. Manly Beach, Australia has also been approved and will be dedicated in the first half of 2012.

Hundreds gathered around the world to honor the life of Sean Collins, the founder of Surfline, who passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack on December 26th. Sean was one of the most influential surfers of all time. Over the past 30 years, Sean’s work has revolutionized surf science and forecasting. He launched Surfline.com in 1995, a website featuring free surf reports from around the country, and today, nearly 1.5 million people globally visit the site every month. Sean, thank you for all your contributions to the sport of surfing. You will be missed.

Work has begun in San Francisco to place sandbags to protect sewage infrastructure, which was built too close to the coast, from winter storms and waves. While these sandbags are better than additional rock revetment in the short-term, Save The Waves continues to urge city officials to move towards relocation of infrastructure as the only cost effective, long term solution to coastal erosion and sea level rise in the south Sloat area of Ocean Beach.

Save The Waves Coalition’s “Fuerza Chile! Stand up for Clean Water” Campaign is in full effect. Help us to raise important funds for urgent, much-needed water quality testing in Chile’s central coast. This will provide independent, scientifically valid evidence of the impacts on the coastal and marine environment from pulp mill factories and will help to hold the industry accountable for their polluting habits.

Is donating more to protect the coast and ocean one of your New Year’s resolutions? Great! Well, we’ve made giving easy. Just a couple clicks of the mouse, and you will have checked off one of your resolutions. Your donation will support our work to protect our coastal heritage around the world. Also, if you are a Save The Waves member, don’t forget to renew your yearly membership if you haven’t already.