Surf Zone Injuries in France
A note from Rob on Surf Zone Injuries…
The very first time I went to France was in the summer of 1989 and I remember watching a news report showing incredibly packed beaches and surfers carving through the multitudes of people in the water. It looked like carnage. In recent years I’ve been lucky enough to spend several months while on sabbatical (on multiple occasions!) based in Bordeaux, France working with Bruno Castelle from the University of Bordeaux. Aside from getting to work with Bruno – who is one of the best coastal scientists out there – there are some amazing beaches nearby (like a busy Biscarosse Beach shown above) and of course wine, cheese and saucisson (thanks Bruno). Bruno is also interested in beach safety, especially surf zone injuries. He’s worked closely with Eric Tellier, a PhD and (now) medical doctor from the University, to track down both lifeguard and medical records of surf related trauma.
The latest publication to come out of their work was published in the journal Natural Hazards and Earth Systems Sciences in 2019 and looked at environmental controls on surf zone injuries on beaches in south-west France. They found that SZIs occurred more on warm sunny days with low wind due to increased beachgoer numbers and hazard exposure and were mostly associated with waves approaching the coastline straight on (resulting in ‘close-outs’) with average to below average wave heights and near higher tidal stages when waves break more on the steepest part of the beach. Might there be a relationship with the morphological beach type? Stay tuned for forthcoming research from the UNSW BSRG on this topic…. honours student Alva Lane hopes to begin research in 2021!