Photo of the day 20 de febrero de 2007

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. As a photographer, I've spent nearly 40 years trying to prove that. (As a writer, I've spent 20 years explaining my photos, but that's another story.)

I don't think either my photos or words can do today justice. The wind-driven ocean has blown up! I went to Jobos (pronounced HO-bos) to see if the waves were breaking over the karst.

EXPLODING is more like it! Twenty, 30, 40 feet in the air in the gap between the two karst formations. I've seen water churn in the blow hole at the other end of the karst. Today the ocean was shooting up through the hole just like breath from a whale's blow hole. It was amazing! And (literally) awesome and powerful.

I came back caked with salt from the spray. I soaked the underwater housing for my camera to make sure I got all the salt out of the buttons. Of course, now I'm headed back out to check out some of the other surf sites.

Some explanation is probably in order here. I promise to write more about the karst later. For now, at Jobos Beach, there is this huge rock - in this case, karst - formation. It protects the little cove and makes it a good swimming beach, even when the ocean is rough. But when the ocean is big, like today, the waves explode over the karst, the top of which is 30-40 feet above the ocean. Waves have worn a gap in the karst, so the formation is actually two rocks. The waves explode in that gap. It's like watching a geyser and then being under a salty Niagara Falls.

The "blow hole" is a hole in the karst carved by years and years of waves wearing away at the "relatively" soft limestone. Waves pound against the face of the formation and then explode (there's that word again. Sorry. I'll try to think of another.) in the hole. The sea-side entrance hole is much bigger than it was even in August when we were here. My guess is we will be here to see the time when the "bridge" over the opening falls away, leaving just a gap in the rock.

I'm posting more pictures from today in the Flickr site. You see a picture of the blow hole there. By the way, the hole has a name and a story. But that is - obviously - another story for another day.