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Destined to be one of the most hair-raising-if-not-absurdly-dangerous events to ever take place in Waikiki, the Castles Cup was to pit the best and bravest Hawaiian watermen together in canoes and let them duke it out in the biggest surf of the season. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had something else in mind and despite high hopes and a mountain of anticipation, the 8-foot-plus Hawaiian-style conditions necessary to hold the inaugural Castles Cup canoe surfing event presented by Primo Beer and Soljah Productions failed to materialize this year.

Utilizing an Eddie format, conditions had to reach the red for event organizers to give the green light. But unfortunately, after a less-than-stellar season in Town, event officials were unable to run the contest in the mammoth conditions necessary by the time the holding period expired in early September.

"We were waiting for the surf to hit the 8-foot Hawaiian mark to run, and unfortunately this was sort of a slow summer and that never really happened," said the event's frontman Alika Winter. "But I'm still really stoked on the event. We had nearly 30 boats slated for this year and we're already planning for next year."

As Winter alluded, a veritable who's who of Hawaiian waterman had gathered teams in place for the event, including the likes of Russ Keaulana, Bonga Perkins, Senator Fred Hemmings, and a host of other legends.

With a steady buzz building surrounding the event, the anticipation in the islands is already bubbling for the 2011 Castles Cup. But as summer began to fade, you could almost feel the excitement drifting out of the air.

"We had a lot of really positive feedback from the community," said Winter. "We've got some new ideas that we're gonna try out for next year, but it's gonna be something really special when the event finally runs."

Here's to the carnage ensuing in 2011.

In the latest installments of Rip Curl's Tip 2 Tip series, the ship is taken over by the ladies of Rip Curl, Steph Gilmore, Bethany Hamilton, Tyler Wright, and Alana Blanchard. The mood on the boat, now that the men have been cast off, is far less feral with all the estrogen floating around. The girls also seem to score some fun waves to boot...

check out more info over at Rip Curl.

GRINDTV NEWSWIRE via ASP : LOWER TRESTLES, California/USA - The draw for the 2010 Hurley Pro at Trestles has been finalized, and with projected swell on the charts, it's shaping up to be a banger of an event. Make sure you lock in your ASP FANTASY TEAMS now before it's too late. It's a new competition format for the newly-minted ASP Top 36. Who is on your team?

HURLEY PRO at TRESTLES ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Dane Reynolds (USA), Chris Davidson (AUS), Luke Munro (AUS)
Heat 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Adam Melling (AUS), Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS), Taylor Knox (USA), Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS), Patrick Gudauskas (USA), Gabe Kling (USA)
Heat 5: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Kai Otton (AUS), Rob Machado (USA)
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA), Luke Stedman (AUS), Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 7: Bede Durbidge (AUS), Jeremy Flores (FRA), Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 8: Bobby Martinez (USA), Michel Bourez (PYF), Daniel Ross (AUS)
Heat 9: C.J. Hobgood (USA), Jadson Andre (BRA), Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 10: Andy Irons (HAW), Tiago Pires (PRT), Tom Whitaker (AUS)
Heat 11: Adrian Buchan (AUS), Owen Wright (AUS), Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 12: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), Damien Hobgood (USA), Kieren Perrow (AUS)

ASP WORLD TOUR 36-MAN FORMAT:
Round 1: 12 three-man heats, 1st advances to Round 3, 2nd and 3rd to Round 2
Round 2: 12 man-on-man heats, 1st to Round 3, 2nd is Equal 25th place
Round 3: 12 man-on-man heats, 1st to Round 4, 2nd is Equal 13th place
Round 4: Four 3-man heats, 1st advances to Quarterfinals, 2nd and 3rd to Round 5
Round 5: Four man-on-man heats, 1st advances to Quarterfinals, 2nd is Equal 9th
Quarterfinals: Four man-on-man heats, 1st advances to Semifinals, 2nd is Equal 5th
Semifinals: Two man-on-man heats, 1st advances to Finals, 2nd is Equal 3rd
Final: One man-on-man heat, 1st and 2nd

NOAA's Fisheries Service has designated the eastern North Pacific basking shark, a "species of concern" because it has suffered a dramatic decline in population despite decreasing fishing pressure. The label "species of concern" may be given to a species when there are concerns regarding the population status.

The eastern Pacific basking shark is not being considered for listing pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, rather it is a species of concern because it has been over fished and its population has apparently not responded to conservation measures implemented to address fishing pressure. We expect that by identifying it as a species of concern we will raise public awareness of the species status, generate interest in additional research to identify factors that may be inhibiting its recovery and, with states and other partners, restore this population before listing under the ESA becomes necessary.

Basking sharks are filter feeders that exist throughout the world's oceans from the tropics to the Arctic, although they are most commonly found in temperate coastal waters where currents converge and plankton, their main food source, concentrate. The eastern North Pacific population of basking sharks is thought to be a single group that migrates seasonally along the West Coast from Canada to Central California.

Until the 1950s, commercial fishermen in California targeted the sharks primarily for fishmeal and fish oil, and Canadian fishermen targeted them until the 1970s, in response to an eradication program that sought to reduce interactions between the sharks and salmon fishing nets. Although there has been no commercial fishing pressure for decades, scientists are worried about the eastern North Pacific population of basking sharks, whose numbers have not rebounded. While hundreds, and even thousands, of fish were once observed together, no group larger than three has been reported seen since 1993.

The species is also still vulnerable to human impacts even though it is no longer actively targeted in the United States and Canada. Fishermen may inadvertently catch the shark while fishing for another species, or it may become entangled in commercial fishing gear or hit by vessels as it feeds near the surface.

In U.S. federal waters of the Pacific, sharks caught incidentally must be released immediately, and the state of California has likewise banned the retention of basking sharks. In Canada, the Species at Risk Act makes it illegal to take, harass, or destroy habitat for basking sharks there. The species is also listed on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as endangered. Basking sharks may still be caught in some countries where they command a high price for their fins in shark fin soup.

Text and Photo by NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service

Scientists at Georgetown University, the National Aquarium and the University of Queensland are the first to extract DNA from dolphin blow (breath exhalations). The researchers found that blow-sampling, which involves collecting exhalations from the blowholes of whales, dolphins and porpoises, could be developed as a less invasive method for DNA collection.

Their findings are explained in the Aug. 25 edition of the online journal PLoS ONE.

Scientists currently biopsy animals by using a small piece of tissue taken from a dart gun to get DNA from wild dolphins and whales for use in research projects.

"Dart biopsying is considered inappropriate for very young animals and the technique requires considerable skill to avoid injuring the animals," says Janet Mann, a senior author on the paper and a professor of biology and psychology at Georgetown. "Thus identifying alternative genetic collection techniques for cetaceans remains a priority, especially for internationally protected species."

At the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Md., blow and blood samples were collected between March and May 2010 from six bottlenose dolphins. A test tube was held inverted over the dolphin's blowhole as they were trained to exhale on cue. A control sample of seawater was taken along with each blow sample set to ensure that any DNA results were from blow samples and not seawater contamination. The blood was collected as part of routine medical examinations for the dolphins.

To estimate whether DNA profiles from the blow and blood samples matched, the scientists amplified 3 polymorphic dinucleotide microsatellite loci for each sample. To estimate whether mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) also matched, the scientists amplified a 426 base-pair fragment of the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA control region. For all samples, blow and blood showed a perfect match for each individual animal. The scientists were therefore able to show that DNA can be successfully extracted from dolphin blow.

The authors are currently applying their method to a wild population of bottlenose dolphins in Western Australia's Shark Bay that they have studied for more than two decades.

"Both biopsy and blow-sampling require close proximity of the boat, but blow-sampling can be achieved when dolphins voluntarily bow-ride, and it involves no harmful contact," says Mann. "While we recognize the important role played by dart-biopsying, we have provided evidence that blow-sampling is a viable and less invasive mode of DNA collection."

Text and Photo by the Public Library of Science