The Saquerema Prime Event is underway in Brazil with some surprisingly large swell in the water for Round 1. The highest seed in the event was meant to be John John Florence, who pulled out after winning the Billabong Rio Pro last week. No need to be chasing down Prime points when you've become a World Title contender.

Gabriel Medina nearly suffered a shock elimination in Round 1, needing a last second left to squeak through in second place behind Jonathan Gonzalez.

For the most part, the top seeds had no trouble advancing through to Round 2, with a couple of exceptions. Tiago Pires, Miguel Pupo, Adam Melling, Brett Simpson, and Yadin Nicol were the only WT surfers to fall on day 1.

The overhead swell, which peaked on day 1 should be on the decline, but not before another day or two of competition is completed.

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Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson was released from a jail in Frankfurt, Germany on Monday, May 21, for his involvement in the apprehension of an illegal shark-finning operation off the coast of Guatemala. He is currently under house arrest while the German courts decide whether he should be extradited to Costa Rica for the incident in question, which occurred in 2002.

The video below is part of a documentary film entitled Sharkwater, which chronicles the altercation between the Varadero, the shark-poacher's ship, and the Ocean Warrior, the Sea Shepherd's ship that Watson was onboard.



While the authorities determine if Watson did in fact violate "ships traffic," and moreover, whether this allegation warrants his extradition, a day of action to free Paul Watson has been planned on May 23 at the German embassies and consulates.

The always vocal 11-time World Champion of Surfing and Sea Shepherd Advisory Board member Kelly Slater, commented on the charges against Watson: "It is literally now a simple choice by government to overturn and release Captain Watson given that the entire incident where he confronted the illegal poachers was caught on tape. The video establishes the facts, and this calls into question the motives of those continuing to pursue Captain Watson despite those facts."

More information on this story can be found at Surfermag.com

Pro-surfing's list of stars used to consist unwaveringly of three nationalities-- Australians, Brazilians, and Americans. However, with the rise of internet-driven publicity and surf-corporations scouring the globe for the next generation of up-and-comers, all that's changed.

Perhaps nowhere is the increased diversity in surfing talent more evident than in the small island locales of the world. These two clips, one of the World Tour's Jeremy Flores and the other of Adrien Toyon, both of whom hail from Reunion Island, are a reminder that there are no longer geographical limitations to the profile of surfing professionals.

The west coast of Ireland and Scotland has been likened to a "cold water Indo" for the countless reefs, coves, and slabs, which are bombarded by powerful North Atlantic swell for much of the year. Here European tube-hunter Nico Von Rupp finds himself a lonely left that pumps out tube after tube. If it wasn't for the 6-mm wetsuit, booties, hoodie, and gloves, Nico coulda sworn this was Macaroni's.

Currently sitting at number three in the world after a semifinal finish in Rio, Josh Kerr dominated in conditions ranging from dribbly lefts to heaving closeout beachbreak. And now, for the first time in his career, he's in world title contention.

Kerr met up with his filmer Matt Kleiner on Australia's Gold Coast for two days and was greeted with great weather but very minimal surf. Given that Josh is one of the most versatile surfers around, he had no trouble standing out in the slow conditions.