IN OTHER NEWS

Funky Brown Stuff on the Beach: What's all the brown stuff on the beach lately that smells so bad? There have been some rumors going around that it is raw sewage. The good news is that is not the case. Pensacola Beach Safety Director, Bob West reports that the waters at the beach are tested weekly and the fecal coliform counts are actually very low. So what is it? Decaying organic matter washed into the Gulf by all the recent rains. The Bad News: As it decays it looks and smells bad. The Good News: It's not going to hurt you and it will soon be gone.

Hurricane Film Festival Award: Surf Smooth Productions was honored to receive the 'Best Film' award at the 2nd Annual Hurricane Film Festival at Seaside Florida. The never before seen Tropical Storm Ida footage will be included in the upcoming new Surf Smooth DVD release. More on that later.

Australia Dominates: Did the Australians have a good year of surfing or what? Mick Fanning won the ASP World Tour, Joel Parkinson won the Triple Crown of Surfing, and Taj Burrow won the Pipemasters...if that's not enough... Stephanie Gilmore won the Female ASP World Tour. If it's any consolation, the U.S. had 5 surfers in the top 10 as opposed to 4 for Australia... (and 3 of the top ten are from Florida). Congratulations to our friends down under.

Navarre, Florida Surf Report: Hey, if you want a surf report from Navarre  Beach, Florida check out navarresurf.com. They have a current surf report and lots of pictures of the Navarre Beach surf.

Hurricane Record Lost: Before Ida became a hurricane the 2009 Hurricane Season shared the record with 1982 for the year with the least amount of hurricanes (2). The record is now held solely by 1982.

Orange Beach Buoy: The Mobile Buoy was disestablished on 10/07/09. There is now the Orange Beach Buoy to take its place. The Orange Beach Buoy is located 12 nm south of Orange Beach, AL.

Boardbag Charges: Going on a surf trip? Here's Surfline's latest breakdown of airline board bag charges.