{"id":7284,"date":"2020-04-17T13:21:11","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T20:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/?p=50000001670"},"modified":"2020-04-17T13:21:11","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T20:21:11","slug":"southern-californias-vibrant-surf-culture-shut-down-by-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/southern-californias-vibrant-surf-culture-shut-down-by-covid-19","title":{"rendered":"Southern California\u2019s vibrant surf culture shut down by COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">As Southern California has burst forth from a rainy winter into a radiant spring, the world outside people\u2019s windows is increasingly at odds with the reality of today\u2019s COVID-19 environment. Normally, the first blue skies of April would see long lines of cars waiting to get into beach parking lots, towels and umbrellas all over the sand, and plenty of surfboards and wetsuits bobbing along on the horizon.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Instead, all state beaches and parking lots are closed and surfing advocacy groups are urging their members to stay home.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe love the beach and surfing as much as anyone, but we have seen beach closures around the country and the world due to overcrowding, so please stay local, honor closures and avoid crowded public spaces,\u201d said Surfrider Foundation CEO Chad Nelsen in a statement.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The Surfrider Foundation is focusing on its efforts as a coastal conservation advocacy group and is staying engaged in its fight to end the use of disposable plastics.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.surfline.com\/\">Surfline.com<\/a>, one of the most popular websites dedicated to surf culture hosts hundreds of live stream cameras around the globe, which allow surfers to check live conditions. Almost all of them are broadcasting empty shores and beautiful weather this week, while the editors of the site advise readers to \u201cShred at Home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIn taking stock of the current situation, our view is this: shred at home,\u201d reads a statement from the site\u2019s editors. \u201cWe don\u2019t say this lightly, as connecting surfers with their passion is our entire mission. We deeply understand the draw to the ocean, especially as a means to relieve stress in trying times. However, as of mid-April, millions of surfers around the world are being urged to stay home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In Southern California, surfers have largely respected the shutdowns. One Manhattan Beach surfer was fined $1,000 at the end of March for violating a stay at home order, but, as of now, that\u2019s been an isolated incident.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In Long Beach, there aren\u2019t enough waves to bring surfers, but it has a vibrant kite surfing scene. Outside of surfing, the beach here is a well-used recreation area with a highly-trafficked pedestrian and bike path. All of those facilities\u2014along with the city\u2019s parks and playgrounds\u2014are closed through at least May 1.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWhile many have been practicing social distancing and adjusting their daily routines, we continue to see the gathering of groups on our public beaches,\u201d said Mayor Robert Garcia in a statement announcing the closures. \u201cIt is critical that we continue to take swift action as we work together to do the right thing and address this public health crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Until then, Southern California\u2019s surfers and beach-goers will have to keep shredding at home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Southern California, surfers have largely respected the shutdowns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":17154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","pmpro_default_level":0,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","footnotes":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[154],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[199],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7284"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7284"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=7284"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=7284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}