By BARBARA HOLLANDS, ATHENA O'REILLY and BHONGO JACOB
Street vendors lost merchandise and a 16-year-old seal was washed into the sea from its rehabilitation pool at the East London Aquarium as monster waves wreaked havoc yesterday.
The massive waves gouged entire sand dunes at Nahoon beach and caused havoc with the Mercedes-Benz SA Surf Champs.
People had to run to higher ground as the swells ripped into the Esplanade, breaking sidewalk walls and leaving bricks and concrete strewn across the road.
The monster waves destroyed cement refuse bins along the beachfront and Esplanade, which had to be closed to traffic.
Huge waves also caused havoc along the Gonubie beachfront and closed Oceanway Road.
Last night staff at the aquarium were dismayed when the enormous westerly swells surged into their pool infrastructure and viewing decks and washed Ruff, a 16-year-old seal, from the rehabilitation pool on the western side of the complex, into the sea.
Aquarium superintendent Steven Rheeder said Ruff was flushed out of the pool and dragged into the exposed surf at full high tide at about 5.30pm.
He said the seal appeared to be heading for calmer water beyond the wave sets.
“Ruff has been here since she was a pup, but she should be alright.”
He asked that members of the public keep a lookout for Ruff along the beaches this morning.
When the Daily Dispatch visited the aquarium last night, four seals in the main performance pool appeared agitated as massive waves crashed into their pool, but ducked to the bottom to avoid being sucked out. The pool swirled with debris from broken decking and glass screens.
Local craftsman Christopher Muchina said he lost all his beaded items as the waves swept over parts of the Esplanade.
“The waves just suddenly came and washed off our stuff from where we were selling, everything that was on display is gone with the water. This is our office and we are really stressed out over what has happened. Some of us have lost everything,” Muchina said.
The 52nd premier SA Seniors and Masters Champs had to move from Nahoon Reef at about 8am yesterday to Nahoon Corner as the tide made paddling out to sea difficult and swept surfers into the Corner.
Accelerate Sports head of sponsorship Edward Gregory said the event had to be moved because the ocean was like a washing machine.
“The current was pulling around the Corner because the swell was huge.
“We didn’t get the 20ft waves we thought we would but it was quite rough out there. The waves were like a washing machine, the surfers were pummelled around and washed into the Corner,” he said.
Gregory said due to the conditions the competition could only host 20 heats.
“The conditions were better at the Corner, with cleaner waves, and delivered excellent scores for our surfers.
“The swell hit the dunes overnight and basically destroyed them. Some local surfers said the swell even exposed an old pipe along the beachfront that was last seen about 10 years ago,” Gregory said.
Sam Cele, 19, of KwaZulu-Natal, said while it was her first time surfing in East London she feared coming back because of the swell.
“It was fun and tricky but the waves were huge. I am now scared of the Reef,” she said.
Wayne Monk, 47, of Nahoon, who had been surfing for 35 years and is the defending men’s over-40 champion, said he would like to maintain his spot this year.
“Even though I am competing in the over-45 category, I would really like to win and defend my championship.”
He expected today’s surfing conditions to be much the same.
“Today conditions were extreme, not scary extreme, just the size of the swell combined with the wind, it was extreme,” Monk said. — oreillya@tisoblackstar.co.za / barbarah@dispatch.co.za and bhongoj@tisoblackstar.co.za