Cappuccino Coast: The day the Pacific was whipped up into an ocean of froth [Australian beach pics]

The Daily Mail [U.K.] ^ | 28 August 2007 | RICHARD SHEARS

[Mike Fieschko]

It was as if someone had poured tons of coffee and milk into the ocean, then switched on a giant blender.

Suddenly the shoreline north of Sydney were transformed into the Cappuccino Coast.

Foam swallowed an entire beach and half the nearby buildings, including the local lifeguards' centre, in a freak display of nature at Yamba in New South Wales.

One minute a group of teenage surfers were waiting to catch a wave, the next they were swallowed up in a giant bubble bath. The foam was so light that they could puff it out of their hands and watch it float away.

Boy in the bubble bath: Tom Woods, 12, emerges from the clouds of foam after deciding that surfing was not an option

It stretched for 30 miles out into the Pacific in a phenomenon not seen at the beach for more than three decades.

Scientists explain that the foam is created by impurities in the ocean, such as salts, chemicals, dead plants, decomposed fish and excretions from seaweed.

All are churned up together by powerful currents which cause the water to form bubbles.

These bubbles stick to each other as they are carried below the surface by the current towards the shore.

As a wave starts to form on the surface, the motion of the water causes the bubbles to swirl upwards and, massed together, they become foam.

The foam "surfs" towards shore until the wave "crashes", tossing the foam into the air.
Whitewash: The foam was so thick it came all the way up to the surf club

"It's the same effect you get when you whip up a milk shake in a blender," explains a marine expert.

"The more powerful the swirl, the more foam you create on the surface and the lighter it becomes."

In this case, storms off the New South Wales Coast and further north off Queensland had created a huge disturbance in the ocean, hitting a stretch of water where there was a particularly high amount of the substances which form into bubbles.

As for 12-year-old beachgoer Tom Woods, who has been surfing since he was two, riding a wave was out of the question.

"Me and my mates just spent the afternoon leaping about in that stuff," he said.

"It was quite cool to touch and it was really weird. It was like clouds of air - you could hardly feel it."

Children play among all the foam which was been whipped up by cyclonic conditions

[Jewels1091]

weird...that would be a site to see

[pillut48]

We were in that area in June/July, I'm glad that didn't happen while we were there!!! Although my 6 y/o probably would have loved it! Here's a pic I took of a lovely beach north of Sydney (Newport Beach):

[LibFreeOrDie]

the foam is created by impurities in the ocean, such as salts, chemicals, dead plants, decomposed fish and excretions from seaweed.

Uh, how could salts, fish, and seaweed be impurities? Wouldn't be much of an ocean without 'em!

[Chickensoup]

To make bubbles like that it would almost have to make a soap which would mean some sort of fat.

[GOPJ]

What do you think caused the bubbles? Seems like salts, chemicals, dead plants, and decomposed fish are the “same old, same old.”

[Bean Counter]

Looks like that old Navy Mechanical Foam we used to use for firefighting....but I’ll be that stuff on the beach doesn’t smell as bad...

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

That is just gross. (*shudder*)

[roscommon]

This reminds me of my time spent surfing in Ocean City, MD in the early 90’s. I remember plenty of mornings seeing the foam blow up on the beach from the Atlantic. I found it quite odd having never seen such a strange phenomena in CA. Of course the foam back then was on a much smaller scale then what the Aussies experienced.

(sigh) I sure wouldn’t mind moving back to OZ and setting up shop on one of Sydney’s northern beaches. Palm Beach would do me just fine. :)

[ASOC]

Firefighting foam (at least the AFFF we used in the USAF) had seaweed as a key ingredient.

[rawcatslyentist]

Looks like a giant natural protein skimmer. Used in smaller form to clean saltwater aquariums.

[Chickensoup]

What do you think caused the bubbles? Seems like salts, chemicals, dead plants, and decomposed fish are the “same old, same old.”

oh I agree!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING!

[abner]

Thanks for the ping. That is one of the most incredible things I have seen ever!

[Albion Wilde]

Fantastic! Thanks for the ping — this one might have to go out to my personal email list!

[dbwz]

Looks like a giant natural protein skimmer. Used in smaller form to clean saltwater aquariums.

Exactly. A protein skimmer (also called a foam fractioner) was designed to mimic the "motion of the ocean" which creates the froth that carries the impurities away. (And that's really, really simplifying it.)

So these happy beachgoers are really frolicking in ocean waste products. Yaaay!