The nominees have just been announced for the 2013 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards presented by Pacifico, and it’s going to be another amazing year for surfing as the sport’s best continue to smash down the barriers of what was once thought possible.

The Billabong XXL Awards competition window closed on March 20, the start of spring, with every wave ridden at every big wave break around the world in the previous 12 months in contention. The five biggest or best in each of the key categories have now been identified based on the photographic evidence, and the winners will be crowned at a gala awards show at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, California on May 3, with over $120,000 up for grabs across seven diverse event categories. (Four are announced today, leaving the wipeout and two performance categories to be announced in April.)

FIVE BILLABONG XXL RIDE OF THE YEAR AWARD NOMINEES (Surfer prize $50,000  –  Video prize $5,000)

• Shawn Dollar (Santa Cruz, California, USA) at Cortes Bank, California on December 21, 2012.
• Shane Dorian (Kona, Hawaii, USA) at Jaws, Hawaii on October 9, 2012.
• Greg Long (San Clemente, California, USA) at Jaws, Hawaii on October 10, 2012.
• Reef McIntosh (Kauai, Hawaii, USA) at Cloudbreak, Fiji on June 8, 2012.
• Dave Wassel (Kaneohe, Hawaii, USA) at Cloudbreak, Fiji on June 8, 2012.

read more @ billabong.com

Great white sharks, the world’s largest predatory fish, eat three to four times more food than previously thought, an Australian study shows.

U.S. research from the 1980s estimated a 30-kilogram, or 66-pound meal of mammal blubber could sustain a one-ton shark for more than six weeks.

That perpetuated assumptions that large sharks could survive long periods without eating.

However, a University of Tasmania-led study published this week in Scientific Reports on the nature.com website found that 30 kilos was only enough for 12-15 days.

Researchers tagged a dozen great white sharks at Neptune Islands off South Australia and calculated their metabolic rate derived from swimming speeds.

They worked out how much energy the sharks burned and how much food they required.

Senior research scientist Jayson Semmens, lead author on the study, said the amount of energy required by great white sharks was equivalent to eating a seal pup every three days.

read more @ Discover

Watch It Live: http://www.nikelowerspro.com/live/

It’s PRIME time! The highly anticipated ASP PRIME Nike Lowers Pro begins tomorrow, May 1, 2012 at Lower Trestles and with back-to-back south swells forecasted to deliver consistent waves throughout the entirety of the waiting period, this year’s Nike Lowers Pro has all of the ingredients for a historic event. With several ASP Top 34 surfers and the finest up-and-comers the world has to offer descending upon one of the world’s most high-performance waves, the Nike Lowers Pro is one event that usually witnesses surfing rise to the next level year after year. Tune in for all of the LIVE action this week!