California Man Swept out to Sea by Tsunami
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Friday, March 11, 2011
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Via the Mercury News: Calif. man swept out to sea taking tsunami pics
The Coast Guard searched for a man Friday who was swept out to sea by powerful waves generated by the tsunami in Northern California while taking photos near the mouth of the Klamath River in Del Norte County.
Two friends with him were able to get back to shore, but the man remained missing.
Coast Guard officials said they have dispatched helicopters in search of him.
On the one hand, one wonders about the wisdom of getting too close to the ocean to take photos, on the other as something of a shutterbug myself, I can understand the impulse. Hopefully he will end being okay, but one suspects that he won’t be.
About Steven L. Taylor
Crescent City is the wrong place to take a chance. Tsunamis seem to focus there. In so cal reports are that the wave didn’t top the previous high tide (most people missed it).
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I live on the Oregon coast and this happens far too often even without a tsunami. Here’s a couple of recent examples just in my county.
http://www.salem-news.com/tagged/drowning/0
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/november112010/portland-couple-drowning.php
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People do stupid shit.
The core political breakpoint in US politics is between those who think, “F*ck him,” and those who think, “Let’s call the Coast Guard.”
I’m a political moderate so I think we should send the Coast Guard and if, and hopefully when, they find him, they need to slap him and ask what the hell he thought he was doing.
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On one hand, I’m not actively hostile toward and would, absent other considerations, like to see him rescued.
On the other hand, I recognize sending the coast guard at to search is both futile (the chance of finding him before he drowns is practically nil) and hugely expensive.
At what point does it become wrong to force a large group of people to pay for the foolish mistakes of one individual?
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He’s a contender for the 2011 Darwin Awards….
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