In the Sky
Seemingly unusual winds and weather this high season have affected the dive industry and the maritime enthusiasts, such as the recent events of damages during the King?s Cup Regatta from unanticipated high and westerly winds.
Khumar et al. (2008, 2010) studied weather patterns in the Bay of Bengal occurring over the previous century, and have been monitoring weather events of the past several decades. Their research findings are amazingly clear: less cyclonic weather activity (less cyclones annually); yet they are increasing in size, intensity, and destruction to life and property when the make landfall.
On the Water
Coral bleaching this high season is front-page news with reports on the drastic decline in the health of coral reefs in the Andaman Sea, followed by quick action to close and limit access to dive sites in coral reef areas in various national parks (search for news articles in the Phuket Gazette and Phuket Wan for a number of related stories). This is not good for surfers?surfers? like reefs. Shuman and Hodgson (2009) suggest ?Reef = Barrels? and that the health of coral reefs are highly relevant to surfing?naturally occurring reefs effectively cause high-quality waves to break.
Perhaps this past low season (May-Sept.) we saw a lessening in short-period Southwest Monsoon surf activity?but we were able to see (and surf) the long-period groundswell activity which is usually masked by the messy windswell of the monsoon. The sweet and sour of it was less consistent windswell activity offset by fewer disturbances to the clean and perfect long-travelling groundswell.
On a strangely positive note, if the surf season annualizes, we will have wider shoulder seasons, and more swell, including windswell in the high season (good for surfers–bad for divers) (comparatively, the dive industry is big business/big money and surf tourism is negligible).
Surf during the high season isn?t without consequences. For example, surf-related drownings in the high season are a new twist to long-standing discussion on Andaman coast water safety. This has already been the case during the 2011 high season. Further implications include an increased potential for near shore drowning, dive accidents, and boating mishaps.
High season surf at local beaches results in waves breaking very close to shore as the sandbars have shifted closer to shore. From a safety standpoint, this means plunging breakers unloading onto the dry sand of the beach. This type of shorebreak can result in neck and spinal injuries when unsuspecting tourists standing in shallow water get hit by the wave.