Tuesday, November 3, 2026

A crack in the bluff that holds up Pacific Coast Highway at El Morro, beside Crystal Cove State Park between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, measures as much as 360 feet long and two feet wide, Caltrans says, according to Surfer. Caltrans closed the southbound right lane between Reef Point Drive and Irvine Cove Drive in mid-October and later added more partial closures as it moved to the second phase of emergency stabilization, Fox 11 reports. The closures stay in place until repairs are complete.

Caltrans has secured $4 million in initial emergency funding for a three-phase project that includes protecting the slope from wave erosion before winter storms, with a long-term fix to follow. The pressure from the ocean has been unusual: NOAA says El Niño-related ocean waves helped push water levels at gauges in Los Angeles, San Diego Bay, Santa Barbara and La Jolla to all-time records in late October, Surfer reports. On October 27, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a Highway 1 task force to prepare vulnerable stretches of the coast highway for winter.

Expect slower traffic through the area, and stay off the bluff edge and away from the base of the slope on the beach below. Check QuickMap.dot.ca.gov for current lane closures.

Christopher Stefanou, a New York fishing influencer known online as LI Sharkman, was indicted by a Barnstable County grand jury and arraigned October 21 on five charges, including animal cruelty, illegal shore-based shark fishing and attempting to capture a white shark, over a nighttime trip near Wellfleet's Marconi Beach in October 2025, Surfer reports, citing the Provincetown Independent. Prosecutors allege the group used drones to drop baited lines offshore, fought the shark for more than an hour and hauled it onto the sand to photograph it before release. The shark, tagged by state researchers in 2024, was later detected alive. The charges are allegations that have not been proven in court. Massachusetts prohibits targeting white sharks.

Caitlin Simmers and Gabriel Medina won the women's and men's titles at the Philippines Pro on Tuesday, November 3, local time, the first World Surf League Championship Tour event held in the Philippines, The Philippine Star reports. The contest at Cloud 9 on Siargao Island finished a week before the end of its waiting period.

For Medina, a three-time world champion from Brazil, it was his first Championship Tour win in more than three years, and it moved him to second in the men's rankings, Bahia Notícias reports. Simmers, the 2024 world champion, picked up a win as the season heads into its finale. Home favorites also drew attention early in the event: Siargao's John Mark Tokong, a wildcard, beat world No. 11 Samuel Pupo in the first round, and Jayuard Alciso knocked out Olympic champion Kauli Vaast, before both were eliminated on Monday, Tiebreaker Times reported.

The season's final event, and the last chance to move in the rankings, is at the Banzai Pipeline on Oahu, December 8 to 20.

Washington Fish and Wildlife will hold a virtual town hall on Tuesday, November 10, from 6 to 8 p.m., to discuss planning for the 2026-27 coastal steelhead seasons, the department said November 2. Managers will present last season's escapement figures, preliminary forecasts and proposed regulations, with time for questions and public comment. The meeting is on Zoom and requires pre-registration through the department's website. 'We're focused on balancing wild steelhead conservation with providing meaningful fishing opportunities for hatchery steelhead,' said Chad Herring, the department's Coastal Region fish program manager.