Wainui surf break in NZ research

SURF BREAK SCIENCE: Wainui surf break "Pines" will be the subject of a three-year scientific study to be conducted by Raglan-based firm eCoast Marine Consulting and Research. Data will be gathered on the break to gain a better understanding of how it works. This will provide further protection to the "nationally-significant break" says the firm's managing director Dr Shaw Mead. He says it is important there is scientific data on the surf break that can be referred to if there is concern about its preservation. The study will begin in November and Gisborne Boardriders Club will be consulted, as well as iwi and other knowledgeable surfers. Picture by Liam Clayton.

Wainui surf break “Pines” is one of seven in New Zealand to be the subject of a scientific study during the next three years.

Researchers from Raglan firm eCoast Marine Consulting and Research will gather data on the break — including wind and wave conditions and underwater topography — through an overhead remote camera and consultation with local experts.

The pictures and video footage will help them to formulate an in-depth understanding on how it works and the changes it undergoes.

The other breaks to be studied are Piha Beach near Auckland, Manu Bay at Raglan, “The Bar” at Whangamata, Lyall Bay in Wellington, and Aramoana and Whareakeake, also known as Murdering Bay, near Dunedin.

“Pines” was chosen for its significance to the Gisborne surfing community and the research will provide further protection to the break, eCoast managing director Dr Shaw Mead said.

“There is very little information or surf science about how these seven breaks work.

“From the data we collect we will look at developing a set of guidelines on how we can quantify the breaks so in the future, if there are any proposed developments or changes in the areas, we can have a baseline to look back on and say yes, this has changed or this could have that kind of impact on our nationally-significant breaks.”

Gisborne Boardriders Club will be consulted as well as iwi and knowledgeable surfers during the first year of the study.

“A large part of the project is consultation — having meetings with the local surfing community. A huge amount of data is stored within the minds and memories of local surfers.”

Large organisations such as Surfbreak Protection Society and Surf Life Saving New Zealand have already been consulted and have expressed their support. Overhead remote cameras will be set up within the next year as well, Dr Mead said.

“We hope to get through the consultation process and get the camera established at the sites, so in the following two years we can establish protocols and understandings of the breaks.”

They will generate an archive of images and video footage of the breaks to be stored and managed by the University of Waikato.

“The data will be readily available for further research. We will continue to monitor changes of the breaks after the study, identifying natural and human-induced changes.”

Five of them, including “Pines”, are described as nationally-significant breaks in the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010. Piha and Lyall Bay are deemed regionally significant.

The study’s results will support the 2010 NZCPS, which called for protection of nationally-significant surf breaks. The funding was awarded by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment to the consultancy as part of a consortium led by Waikato University.