One of the lifeguards in the news report suggests it’s the leg of a surfer, what do you think shark or surfer? Add your comment below.

Check out all the latest shark news on surftherenow.com here.

The Mavericks contest is held semi-annually at Mavericks (between 1999 and 2010, there have been 7 contests). Contest organizers wait until the swell is sufficiently big (40 ft. minimum) before calling the contest. Invitees fly from all over the world within a few days notice to compete. Previous years winners have included Darryl “Flea” Virostko (1999, 2000, 2004), Anthony Tashnick (2005), Grant “Twiggy” Baker (2006), and Greg Long (2007). Check the photos below (full gallery at SFGate.com). Photos: Ben Margot/AP.

Josh Loya paddles into a giant

Diagram of the wave at Mavericks

Evan Slater drops in late on a macking wave as Darryl "Flea" Virostko looks on.

View from the boat of the Mavericks Surf Contest - This photo posted via Twitter

More photos of the Mavericks Surf Contest after the jump

Shane Desmond drops into a beast of a wave

Bystanders scramble as surge from a wave washes over the beacu at Pillar Point. 13 spectators were injured.

Chris Bertish - winner of the 2010 Mavericks Surf Contest - slides into a macker

An unknown contestant tries to out run the lip on a giant wave

How big is big? The board on this wave is 10 ft. The surfer is praying he makes it through.

Unknown contestant drops into a very big wave at the Mavericks Surf Contest

An unknown contestant tried to out run the Pacific Ocean dumping on his back

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One body surfer died in 20 ft. surf today as he was pushed into the rock jetty (Orange County Register Story) (Surfline Story).

Jaimal Yogis, NorCal local, award-winning writer, and part time Buddhist, writes simply and eloquently about his own discovery of surfing in a remarkable account that mixes surfing and snips of Buddhism. Saltwater Buddha resonates with every surfer with stories echoing surfing’s journey of discovery. As surfers, we all know that the sport is much more than the act of standing on a fiberglass boarding and gliding across waves; but it is a struggle to explain that without sounding like the media charicature of surfers. “Bro, it’s all about the wave…”

Jaimal’s spiritual search parallels his discovery of surfing in high school. He did what many of us wished we had, bought a one way ticket to Hawaii at the height of his youth and surfing exuberance. Surfing takes Jaimal through Hawaii, San Francisco, and New York. Jaimal writes simply yet powerfully about the sport and weaves stories of Buddhism. I finished the book in a night and look forward to reading more from Jaimal. Saltwater Buddha puts Jaimal firmly in the class of other great writing by writers such as Duane Duarte (Caught Inside) and William Finnegan (Playing Doc’s Games). Even more Saltwater Buddha is a an excellent narative that transcends surfing.

I turned my board, pointed it toward the rocks and began pumping my hands through the water. The thing began to lift, kept lifting. Up, up, up. I was looking down the line of a horizontal tornado and my board picked up speed. I didn’t hesitate. My body somehow knew.

Then… speed. Unbelievable speed. Not walking on water. Running. Gliding. Flying. No separate self. No Jaimal riding. No wave about to crush me. No thought. Just the sound of thunder behind me. Just a blue wall transforming. Just–I saw the rocks coming.

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Transworld Surf reports on an Oregon State Study of wave heights that measures Pacific wave heights from buoy data and finds that waves are increasing by an average of 7 cm per year. Surfers are likely to the only people rejoicing over this information as larger wave also result in more coastal erosion among other problems.

“Unlike sea level, the current data suggests that wave heights are not increasing uniformly across the globe. However, many regions lack the right data to do proper analysis. Bigger wave heights off the coast of Oregon were first discovered just a few years ago by other OSU scientists. They had the advantage of working with the unique dataset created by the Pacific coast’s longest-floating buoy; it’s been gathering data on wave heights for over 30 years.

“This is high quality data and you didn’t have enough data to do this kind of analysis until very recently,” Ruggiero said.

Despite the clear wave-height increase in the data, particularly of the largest waves, Ruggiero and his colleagues still can’t explain it.”

Photo: Quicksilver

I’m not sure there’s anything that needs to said here. He blew away the field, winning 6 contests and 5 of the first 7 contests. It was never a contest, there was no race in points, it was just a matter of when he would close the deal, which he did in Mundaka, Spain. Unless the top 10 on the tour step up huge next year, there doesn’t look like anything is getting in the way of Kelly winning his 10th world title next year. Final ASP Rankings.

2) AI implodes on tour, takes 2009 off.

Photo: ASP/Cestari

Andy Irons put up a disappointing performance on WCT tour in 2008. He highest finish was 5th place. He failed to show up for his heat at the Quicksilver Pro France and skipped the Brazil contest leading to speculation about his troubles. Andy announced that he was taking 2009 off from the tour, and may be following the path of free surfer of his brother, Bruce Irons.While I respect any athletes decision to do what he pleases with his career, A.I. has shown to be the best competitor to Kelly Slater (no disrepect to Taj, Mick, Parko, Bede, and others in the top 10). When he’s on top form, he’s one of the most exciting surfers to watch on tour. So while a year free surfing the best barrels of the world will no doubt be the time of his life, he will be missed on the 2009 WCT tour and his absence removes one more hurdle to Kelly Slater clinching his 10th world title.

3) Kelly wins 6th pipeline masters (on 5’11″ board).

Photo: Channel Islands Surfboards

Kelly looked unstoppable all year and the Pipeline Masters was no exception. He beat Chris Ward in the final heat while riding a 5’11″ in 8-10 ft Pipeline. Adding a final flourish to his epic year. Well done, Kelly. Looking forward to see what you can do next year.

4) Year of the shark.

Fatal shark attacks in San Diego and in Mexico along with a record setting year of attacks at New Smyrna Beach (more here), Florida marred the year and kept surfers out of the water in these areas. The attacks created media hysteria and were blamed on everything from global warming to the surfers themselves. The truth is that sharks attacks happen and will continue to do so as more and more people spend more time in and around the ocean, but the odds of getting killed by a shark haven’t changed (practically zero).

Image: International Shark Attack File

5) Cortes Goes Huge! wins Billabong XXL for Biggest Wave.

Photo: Robert Brown

Mike Parson goes XXL at Cortes Bank on Jan 5, 2008 (NYT  article).

6) Bede Durbridge on fire on tour. 

Australian Pro, Bede Durbidge, finished the 2006 ASP season ranked a very respectable 15th in the world especially considering he was unknown on tour up to that point. At the start of the 2007 ASP Tour, Bede Durbidge was without a sponsor and was scraping by to pay for the travel expenses of the tour after Billabong opted not to re-sign him at the end of 2006. Big mistake. Durbidge proved Billabong and everyone else on tour wrong by finishing 5th on the World Tour in 2007, and finished 2nd in 2008.

7) PWCs banned at Ghost Trees.

Photo: Robert Brown

A site we will no longer see at Ghost Trees as PWC and tow-ins are no banned at Ghost Tree and Moss Landing. Mavericks remains a “seasonal” PWC zone. (Surfing Mag)

Mavericks goes mental, best paddle day at Mavericks.

Photo: Robert Brown

Paddling is back at Mavericks as perfect conditions come to Mavericks come on Thanksgiving weekend

9) Best conditions for triple crown.

Photo: ASP

The 2008 Triple Crown was held in some of the best conditions ever. Joel Parkinson took the title with Kelly Slater winning the Pipeline Masters.

10) Shane Dorian wins Billabong XXL Ride of the Year at massive Teahupoo.

Photo: Tim McKenna

Honorable Mention: Western Australia takes tow surfing to a new level. (All photos)

Photo: Andrew Buckley

The future of the big-wave Mavericks Surf Competition (Half Moon Bay, CA) was in doubt when previous sponsors pulled out this year (article SFGate). Jim Beam bourbon and benefactors Moose Guen and Jane Sutherland of the private equity firm MVision couldn’t pass on the opportunity to support the chance of the best big wave surfers in the world hucking themselves over 50 ft. ledges at the famed Northern California big wave surf spot. The total purse is $75,000 with $30,000 going to the winner. More at the official website Maverickssurf.com, including the list of invitees.

The Mavericks contest has always been the little brother of the more hyped Quicksilver Eddie Aikau held at Waimea Bay, Hawaii, in spite of both being big wave contests. The contestd are both held in similar conditions, although the Eddie requires 20 ft. Hawaiian Swell in order to be held and the Mavericks contest has been in held in smaller conditions. The invitee list is larger for the Eddie with a list of alternates and favors local Hawaiian surfers. The Mavericks contest leans toward local Northern California surfers like Grant Washburn, Ion Banner, and Tyler Smith. The following surfers made the invitee list to both contests: Jamie Sterling, Brock Little, Carlos Burle, Darryl Virosko, Greg Long, and Anthony Tasnick.

“The entry list includes the previous six contest winners: Darryl (Flea) Virostko, who won the first three (1999, 2000 and 2004); fellow Santa Cruz standout Anthony Tashnick (2005); South Africa’s Grant (Twiggy) Baker (2006), and last year’s champion, Greg Long, who is based in Southern California.

For a variety of reasons – notably the absence of ideal conditions – the contest has not been held every year. If the current big-wave season is any indication, the prospects are bright for 2009. The northwest swell that hit Northern California on the weekend of Nov. 29-30 produced what many surfers called the best Maverick’s surf they’d ever seen.

Then again, the competitors gladly would settle for the conditions that graced the past two events. Baker’s 2006 victory came on a postcard-perfect day with sets up to 25 feet (translating to some 50 feet on the face). Last year’s event featured glorious sunshine and 20-foot surf, and in a remarkable show of sportsmanship, Long and the other five finalists – Baker, Grant Washburn, Evan Slater, Jamie Sterling and Tyler Smith – agreed to split the prize money, no matter who finished on top.

Dave Wassell, a Hawaii-based lifeguard who has made the invitee list for the first time, recently offered a pretty good summation of Maverick’s. “You can’t compare this place to Hawaii; it’s like nothing else,” Wassell said. “It’s got cold water, giant sharks, giant waves and giant rocks.”

San Diego, one of the best surf cities in the country and home of a large population of surfers, is now offering free surfboard recycling to keep old boards out of landfills.

Boards are now accepted at the Miramar Recycling Center and the Solana Beach Lifeguard Station. Those in usable condition will be donated to Los Angeles nonprofit organizations, while broken boards will be ground up and used in mixing concrete.

So consider alternatives to standard polystyrene boards (like epoxy or balsa) and recycle your old boards.