Surf Talk Guru

A study by Oregon State University shows that surfers are at a higher health risk in the water than are swimmers or divers because they ingest ten times more water in a session than other water sport partcipants. According to OSU scientists and the Oregon Dept. of Environmental Quality, this puts surfers at a higher risk of contracting gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses when surfing in contaminated waters.

The good news for Oregon surfers is that since the beaches are overall less polluted than more popular surfing destinations, such as California, Hawaii, or Florida, the risk of GI illness is lower for people surfing the frigid waters of the Oregon coast. But the study’s findings suggest that even Oregon surfers who spend longer periods of time in recreational waters, or who surf in more contaminated locations, are at higher risk of contracting GI illnesses.