Surf's up! But why?

Every summer, the California surfing community enjoys the arrival of a long, regular swell from the southwest. The origin of the swell is in the winter storms of the southern hemisphere, some in the Indian Ocean, half way around the Earth.

In the latest program from Birch Aquarium’s Perspectives on Ocean Science series, join internationally renowned Scripps professor Walter Munk to learn how World War II and measurements of Guadalupe Island led to this discovery and what it means for surfers today.

Watch “Where the Swell Begins” tonight (Dec. 12) at 8pm on UCSD-TV, or online now.