Big storms churn up the ocean, and the proteins in that vast soup of life. Sometimes the churning and whipping creates a mass of froth on the surface -- sometimes a LOT of froth.
That was the case in Sydney, Australia last August, as documented by photographer Bill Counsell. You can read the story about the day the shoreline became the "Cappuccino Coast," and see a couple more photos. For classroom teachers, here's a way students can make ocean foam and learn how it forms.
(The short answer: Just as with meringue, milkshakes and a good cappuccino, molecules in water -- chiefly fat and proteins -- become foamy when they're churned up with air bubbles. In the ocean, those molecules come from algae and animals, as well as ocean salts.)
In Sydney, 12-year-old Tom Woods, emerging from the wall of foam, got first-hand experience. He's been a surfer since he was two, but riding a wave was out of the question.
“Me and my mates just spent the afternoon leaping about in that stuff,” told the Daily Mail newspaper. “It was quite cool to touch and it was really weird. It was like clouds of air - you could hardly feel it."
Very impressive shots. I never knew it happened as bad as this before but it looks like a new world. Well done for capturing these pictures.
Posted by: Photographer Perth | May 07, 2012 at 10:04 PM
Those photos are awesome. I've never seen such a thing. Maybe a little bit of froth but nothing that looks like snow! I'm definately inspired.
Posted by: PWP | March 26, 2012 at 11:01 PM
Wowww!! I have never seen that much of froth at the ocean. I really appreciate the photographer Mr. Bill Counsell, who captured this pic. I would like to be at that place for some moment but its not possible, anyways thanks for sharing the information!!
Posted by: surf holiday | March 09, 2012 at 07:08 AM
Wow that is truly amazing, I agree with dave powell though, surely that must foam cannot be a natural occurence? The first picture really shows the scale of the foam when compared to the boy and it looks about 10foot high! Anyway excellent column, showed me something I have never seen before here
Posted by: ACW Photographer | June 10, 2011 at 07:55 AM
This is the first time that I saw this kind of natural event. Great capture from your camera. It really shows the beauty of the subject.
Posted by: Margaret River | April 08, 2011 at 12:39 AM
Not sure it is the type of capaccuino that I'd like to drink.
Posted by: Kurt Kinetic Road Machine | February 28, 2011 at 05:09 PM
Decades ago I worked at the City of L.A.’s Hyperion Sewage Plant. It was secondary treatment with giant, open tanks for aerobic biological treatment with massive volumes of air bubbled into the tanks. This was at a time when detergents were being introduced and heavily marketed that lots of foam means better cleaning. That excess detergent ended up at Hyperion.
The aeration of the open tanks caused lots of foam and when a Santa Ana wind came up it would lift off giant clouds of foam that blew across the highway. Some were so large they would envelope a car and cover the windshield with disconcerting results!
Hyperion re-engineered their entire treatment process after I left and abandoned the open aeration tanks in favor of trickle filters that produce no foam.
The foam off Australia seems to be much more than would be produced by natural organic matter from dying plankton or algae, etc. I have seen spume maybe a foot deep from broken down plankton/algae combined with heavy storm surf but nothing like that. Could detergent have been dumped nearby? How close is Sydney’s sewage plant? Dave Powell
Posted by: David C. Powell | December 16, 2007 at 10:39 AM