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Surf cams have completely changed the way we approach riding waves. Before the advent of the now-ubiquitious devices, surfers used to have to pore over buoy data, rely on anecdotal reports, or just show up and see what happened. Now, you can take out your phone and examine for yourself whether the journey to your local wave will be worth it. However, while many love the convenience and utility of a well-placed cam, others have decried the devices as being against the spirit of surfing. Some think they take away the feeling of discovery, others are annoyed that it gives less skilled surfers access to information that used to require institutional knowledge, and many just don’t like that it makes their favorite beach more crowded.
Recently, this debate has come to a head due to the installation of a surf camera at Winki Pop, located right next to the legendary Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia. The popular break is also part of the Bells Beach Surfing Recreation Reserve, which notably bans commercial activity without a permit. In response, the Surfrider Foundation has created a petition to have the camera removed which has garnered over 2,500 signatures.
The camera, which is attached to a private home, started broadcasting around April 2022 and is accessible with a premium subscription to Swellnet. Despite how common cams are around the world, the Winki Pop cam in particular has struck a nerve. “We’ve had other surf cams in the area, which we’ve put up with, but having this one is staring right into the guts of Winki Pop is just too far,” Darren Noyes-Brown of the Surf Coast branch of the Surfrider Foundation told ABC News.
The petition cites a number of reasons for opposition to the camera, including privacy intrusions on the surfers who are being filmed, the potential for overcrowding as a result of surfers being able to see when conditions are good, and the fact that the paid camera is profiting off of public land. However, perhaps the most subjective of the claims made in the petition is that the camera will lead to “the erosion of surfing’s cultural norms and the change imposed on surfing by commercial interests represents a threat to surfing’s core values.”
The issue has even spawned academic discussion, with Deakin University senior criminology lecturer Monique Mann and colleague Ian Warren publishing a discussion paper entitled “Surfveillance: Swellnet’s SurfCam at Winki Pop.” The paper analyzes the legal and regulatory issues relating to the surveillance of public land for private commercial gain. In the end, it recommends to either regulate the use of the camera in order to ensure it operates in the public interest or remove it entirely. Furthermore, it concludes that “Given the increasing prevalence of surfcams and their potential to create impacts across social, environmental, economic and human rights domains, there is an urgent need for further research to develop an evidence base that can guide regulatory governance for surfcams in Australia and internationally.”
Swellnet’s chief executive Ben Matson took issue with the paper, telling ABC that that the authors, “did not contact Swellnet at any time prior to or following [the] publication of their paper,” and that it contained errors that had damaged his company’s reputation. He also pointed out that that there were other surfing reserves in Australia with surf cameras, including Margaret River, Noosa and Bondi, and that, “the paper concedes that Swellnet has not broken any laws.”
Officials seem to agree that the camera is operating legally, at least for now. Surf Coast Shire general manager Chris Pike told ABC, “The Bells Beach Surfing Recreation Reserve Coastal and Marine Management Plan — which has a vision to respect and protect Bells — applies to the public reserve. It does not apply to private land or offshore waters.” Parks Victoria, which manages the Point Addis Marine National Park (on which Bells and Winki Pop are located), also said the issue was not under its jurisdiction, since the camera was on private property.
