atem122 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 My little brother told me about this video earlier tonight, and I have to admit, if this isn't faked, it's pretty damn impressive. They managed to build their own freaking endless wave...well, not really machine, but close enough! Environmentalists, be warned. This is probably your worst nightmare! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Same idea as a rapids ride. Speed bumps in water flow=waves. Still pretty cool though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPfreak519 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 That is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Also, some of the comments on that video are hilarious, there are some people really getting worked up about the whole "freshwater river into saltwater ocean" thing lol...party poopers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatle11 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Take that Waveloch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braztaz Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 That is just amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zingoman Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I cannot believe that was actually legal! Talk about tampering with nature! Very amazing stuff but can't help thinking it messed some things up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr P Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 This is brilliant! To be honest, I can't see a problem with it, the river would end up in the sea eventually anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atem122 Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 ^I mean, they probably lowered that river/lake level by quite a ton...not to mention any animals that may have been caught in it. So, cool? Yes. Environmentally friendly? ...ehhhhhhhh, no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr P Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Good point, never thought of that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamoure Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 That's INCREDIBLE !!! I just looooove that creative idea !! Hm.. just thinking.. you can only do this one time ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooterdoug Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I cannot believe that was actually legal! Talk about tampering with nature! Very amazing stuff but can't help thinking it messed some things up. Totally legal. There are no regulations regarding making such changes by hand. If they used a machine, that would be another story. In that case, the Army Corp of Engineers would regulate it. At that point, it would not only be illegal, it would be a criminal offense. As far as from an environmental standpoint, any impact is probably minimal. It would possibly drop the water elevation in that portion of the river by a foot or so. However, once rains come (which they do often in Kauai), the water level will rise, and sediment from upstream will likely fill up that channel, which was probably how that sand bar formed in the first place. -Doug "Not as environmentally reprehensible as it seems at first glance" Heim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFreak Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 (edited) ^After digging around a little (and it's mostly comments in videos or other articles about this, so nothing official) it happens a couple of times of year with or without human help with the constant flooding the river gets due to the rain. Here's a blog post from December 2009 with pictures from the event (scroll about halfway down). Seems like fun and potentially dangerous, but according to the blog most of the surfers on it are lifeguards anyway. Edited February 20, 2011 by RCFreak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechanic Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 That "fresh" water looked pretty foul. They could name their little shortcut to the ocean "Malaria River". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zingoman Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I was a little quick to judge watching the video from the thread but the description on Youtube should lay any environmental concerns to rest. Here is what they say "The lake at Waimea Bay fills up annually and floods the roads upstream due to the hard Winter weather's rains. A river eventually emerges and carries all this dirty water to the ocean. It's a natural process. The water from the river gets carried away overnight by the currents; no ocean fish get harmed. There are also no fresh water fish harmed because they stay in their natural habitats; all this water is from rains, not an occupied river or lake. Ma mua o ka ho'ähewa, maopopo 'oe ke 'olu'olu." Sounds good to me! I can see this becoming a big annual event if they can organize it and the water is sanitary enough. Sounds like it would be really dirty given that it's all runoff, but I think a lot of what looks brown in the video may be from all the sand that is getting swept out in it. I wonder if any of those guys got sick afterwards. If you watch some of the shots that stay focused on one wave for a little while you can actually watch the waves change shape as the sand is rapidly eroding away beneath it. It's really awesome! Plus I wouldn't think it would be very dangerous since it's shallow and sandy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chroniq Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 This opening of ponds is a pretty common occurence which can be enviromentally beneficial if done at that right time. These guys found an awesome way to do it. While we are on the topic of cutting ponds,here's a cool article about the Secret Service cutting a pond near my house open when President Clinton visited. Pond cutting made the cover of the new york times.. It must have been a really slow news day. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/09/nyregion/the-clinton-crowd-has-left-and-so-has-georgica-pond.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traincrossin Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Totally awesome, reminds me of this endless wave in Germany! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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