Nearly 20% of surfers polled in Oregon claim to be putting down a shot glass worth of sea water every time they paddle out. On top of that, about 50% of the 520 surfers polled by Oregon State University and the state Department of Environmental Quality claim to swallow one to three teaspoons of the ocean throughout each session. The poll, as well as gathering and testing water quality at six popular surfing beaches was done as part of study done to calculate the risk of infection Oregonian surfers face each time they take to the waves.

I would probably fit (I hope anyway) in the one to three teaspoons group. At first thought, that doesn’t really sound like that much. But taking that amount an multiplying by the number of surfing days logged throughout the course of a week, month, and even year leaves us facing a gruesome reality….We’re drinking a lot of shit.

The study determined that surfers swallow 10 times the amount of water as that take in by swimmers or divers. Obviously this leaves us that much more susceptible to ending up in what can be the very unenjoyable, and even life threatening situation of catching a bug or parasite.

So how much water are you taking in per session? A couple of teaspoons? A shot’s worth? Even more than that? What about the surfer’s who call the brutal waters of certain So. Cal. and South-side Oahu breaks home? That’s a heavy statistic to chew on and extra motivation toward working to keep the ocean clean. You definitely don’t want to making a habit of throwing down shots of the Newport special

Posted by Shaun on Sunday, December 28th, 2008 in Surfing.

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