We humans are drawn to the shoreline, to live and to play. Some of us have even found a home in the waves, riding on gentle swells or braving roaring mountains of seawater. Surfing has been a part of human lives for centuries and is enjoyed around the world today. The stormy summer we’ve had this year provided some spectacular (if dangerous) conditions for surfers, many of them captured in photos below. Gathered here are images from the past several months of people (and animals) in the surf, including professional surfers, amateurs, spectators, and more.
Australian Mick Fanning rides a wave during a round one heat at the Billabong Pro surfing competition, on Saturday, August 20, 2011 in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.(AP Photo/Association of Surfing Professionals, Kirstin Scholtz)
Spectators watch as body surfers wait to catch big waves in Newport Beach, California, on September 1, 2011. Authorities had warned that dangerously high waves were arriving from a winter storm off New Zealand. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Kelly Slater of the U.S. competes in round one of the Billabong Rio Pro men’s surfing competition at the Arpoador Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 17, 2011.(AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A surfer flies through the air after jumping off his board while riding the waves at the Wedge in Newport Beach, California, on September 2, 2011, as a large swell hits the Orange County beaches. (AP Photo/Orange County Register, Mark Rightmire)
Bruce Irons of Kauai, Hawaii, rides a massive tow-in surfing day during a lay day at the Billabong Pro Tahiti, on August 27, 2011. Irons is the brother of the late three times Association of Surfing Professionals World Champion Andy Irons. (AP Photo/ASP, Kirstin Scholtz)
Air Tahiti Nui wildcard trialist Anthony Wals of Lennox Head, Australia, rides a massive barrel during a tow-in session at Teahupo’o, Tahiti, on August 27, 2011.(AP Photo/ASP, Kirstin Scholtz)
A large wave crashes behind a surfer at the Wedge in Newport Beach, California, on September 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Orange County Register, Mark Rightmire)
Laura Enever of Australia jumps into the water to compete in round three of the the Billabong Rio Pro Women’s surfing competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 15, 2011. Enever was eliminated in the quarterfinal round by fellow Australian Stephanie Gilmore. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
Jordy Smith of South Africa competes in the Rip Curl Pro surfing event at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, on April 23, 2011. (AP Photo/ASP, Kirstin Scholtz)
Surfers and body boarders look on as a large wave rolls ashore at the Wedge in Newport Beach, California, on September 1, 2011.(AP Photo/Orange County Register, Mark Rightmire)
Surfer Scott Chandler holds his daughter Tyler aloft as their dog Zoey rides on the front of their board during the Loews Surf Dog Competition in Imperial Beach, California, on June 4, 2011. (Denis Poroy)
A boogie boarder rides a wave at the Wedge in Newport Beach, California, on May 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Spectators are splashed with water as waves crash onto the beach in Newport Beach, California, on September 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lifegaurds help pull a woman out of the ocean as high waves measuring up to 20 feet pounded the beach at the Wedge on September 1, 2011 in Newport Beach, California. A winter storm off the coast of Australia and New Zealand brought unusually high surf to the Southern California beaches. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Damien Hobgood, of the United States, competes in the Rip Curl Pro surfing event at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, on April 21, 2011. (AP Photo/ASP, Kirstin Scholtz)
Owner Jeremy Duenas of Yorba Linda, looks on as Deagen, a 5 year old French Bull dog, competes in the third annual Purina Incredible Dog Challenge’s surfing competition in San Diego, California, on Friday, June 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Purina, Gus Ruelas)
A body surfer rides a high wave at the Wedge on September 1, 2011 in Newport Beach, California. Waves measuring up to 20 feet pounded the beach.(Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Owen Wright of Australia surfs his way to victory in the championship round of the Quiksilver Pro New York surfing tournament on September 9, 2011 in Long Beach, New York.(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Taylor Jensen of USA surfs a wave during an international surfing event at Sri Lanka’s eastern coastal resort of Arugam bay on September 4, 2011. With surfers from the UK, USA, Hawaii, Netherlands, South Africa, France, Japan and Brazil the competition aims to promote the country’s east, which was once plagued by the Tamil rebellion, as a major tourist attraction. (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images)
Surfers walk along the shore as the sun sets on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A competitor rides a wave at the third annual Surf Liberia Contest at Robertsport on the coast of the West African nation September 4, 2011. Scarred by two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, Liberia is still recovering from years of brutal conflict, but a fledgling tourism industry has emerged, along with a nascent surfing scene. Among surfers, the country is celebrated for its faultless point breaks and some world-class tubes. (Simon Akam)
Spectators are swept by huge waves while watching tides of Qiantang River at a dike on August 31, 2011 in Haining, Zhejiang Province, China. More than 20 spectators were injured by strong tides as the typhoon Nanmadol approached on Wednesday. (ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)
Policemen and residents run as waves from a tidal bore surge past a barrier on the banks of Qiantang River in Haining, China, on August 31, 2011. As Typhoon Nanmadol approaches eastern China, the tides and waves in Qiantang River recorded its highest level in 10 years, local media reported. (China Daily)
A surfer rides a high wave at The Wedge on September 1, 2011 in Newport Beach, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
A surfer on his back clasps his hands together while riding a wave near the rocks at Fort Point in San Francisco, on September 10, 2011 .(Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
A surfer watches a pair of dolphins jump the waves at Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, on September 5, 2011. (AP Photo/The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Nigel Cook)
Travis Logie, of Durban, South Africa, free falls down a solid three-meter wave during round three of the Billabong Pro Tahiti at Teahupo’o in Tahiti, on August 28, 2011.(AP Photo/ASP, Kirstin Scholtz)
Kelly Slater of the USA rides the waves in the semifinal round at the Quiksilver Pro New York tournament on September 9, 2011 in Long Beach, New York.(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Sally Fitzgibbons, of Australia, celebrates as she is carried after winning the Rip Curl Pro surfing event at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, on April 23, 2011.(AP Photo/ASP, Kirstin Scholtz)
Pauline Ado, of France, competes in the Subaru Pro surfing competition in Taranaki, New Zealand, on April 28, 2011. (AP Photo/ASP, Kirstin Scholtz)
Owen Wright, of Australia, rides a wave to become runner-up to champion Kelly Slater, of Florida, during the Billabong Pro Tahiti surfing competition, on August 29, 2011.(AP Photo/ASP, Kirstin Scholtz)
Volunteer surf instructors cheer as 9-year-old Morgan Farrier, who is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, stands up on a surfboard during the Mauli Ola Foundation’s Cystic Fibrosis Surf Experience Day in Redondo Beach, California, on June 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Surfing guru Laird Hamilton is pulled on his standup paddleboard in Newport, Rhode Island, on June 28, 2011. Hamilton is working with the PUMA Ocean Racing team’s entry in this year’s around-the-world race on everything from design to nutrition. In exchange, they’ll be searching for the world’s biggest waves so he can fly out on a moment’s notice.(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
High waves measuring up to 20 feet pound the beach at The Wedge on September 1, 2011 in Newport Beach, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Sally Fitzgibbons of Australia surfs in the women’s finals of the Nike US Open Surfing championship competition, on August 7, 2011, in Huntington Beach, California, Fitzgibbons won the event. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Simao Romao, of Brazil, after qualifying for the men’s Billabong Rio Pro surfing championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
Julian Wilson, of Australia, drops in on a wave during a round one heat at the Billabong Pro surfing competition on August 20, 2011 in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.(AP Photo/ASP, Steve Robertson)
A man wades into the waves of a storm surge created by the passing of Hurricane Irene at Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia, on August 29, 2011. (Paul Darrow)
Leave a reply