Surf's Up for Science

Cliff Kapono was just settling into life as a chemistry student at the University of California, San Diego, when his professor called him into his office. “I see you’ve been doing a lot of surfing,” the professor said. “Yes, I surf every day,” Kapono admitted, thinking he was in trouble.

But the professor wasn’t upset. “That’s awesome!” he replied, to Kapono’s surprise. He told Kapono to find a research project that combines science and surfing. “That was the first time I realized I didn’t have to separate these two loves,” says Kapono. He’s a Native Hawaiian who grew up exploring nature and riding big waves.

Cliff Kapono was just settling into life as a chemistry student at the University of California, San Diego, when his professor called him into his office. “I see you’ve been doing a lot of surfing,” the professor said. “Yes, I surf every day,” Kapono admitted, thinking he was in trouble.

But the professor wasn’t upset. “That’s awesome!” he replied, to Kapono’s surprise. He told Kapono to find a research project that combines science and surfing. “That was the first time I realized I didn’t have to separate these two loves,” says Kapono. He’s a Native Hawaiian who grew up exploring nature and riding big waves.

Taking his professor’s advice, Kapano decided to find out how spending time in the ocean affects surfers’ microbiomes. Your microbiome is the collection of bacteria, viruses, and other tiny organisms that live on and in your body. According to some estimates, microbes outnumber your own cells 3 to 1. Many of them keep you healthy by helping to digest food and fight infections.

Kapono wondered whether surfers pick up microbes from seawater that make their microbiomes special. If so, he wanted to know: Do the microbes differ from the kinds that inhabit nonsurfers? Do surfers’ microbes differ in different parts of the world?

Kapono decided to take his professor’s advice. He wanted to find out how spending time in the ocean affects surfers' microbiomes. Your microbiome is the collection of tiny organisms that live on your body. These tiny organisms include bacteria and viruses. According to some estimates, microbes outnumber your own cells 3 to 1. Many of them actually keep you healthy. Some help you digest food. Others fight infections.

Kapono wondered if surfers pick up microbes from seawater. Spending time in the water might make their microbiomes special. He decided to make this his research project. He wanted answers to questions like: Do the microbes differ from the kinds on nonsurfers? Do surfers' microbes differ in different parts of the world?

Kapono called his study the Surfer Biome Project. He began by visiting surfers all over the world—from Hawaii to Morocco to the United Kingdom. To find the makeup of their microbiomes, he rubbed cotton swabs on their heads, in their mouths, and on other body parts. In all, he collected more than 500 samples.

Back in the lab, he and his colleagues tested the samples and identified thousands of different microbes. Then they compared the results to samples from nonsurfers. Kapono is still analyzing the data. But, he says, “we have reason to believe we’ve found unique bacteria that are specific to surfers.”

He hopes to do similar studies with other groups of people. “What about all farmers, or all skiers?” Kapono asks. He suspects that each group of people shares its own unique microbes picked up from soil or snow. “With science, we start to see these invisible connections we couldn’t see before,” he says.

Kapono called his study the Surfer Biome Project. He began by visiting surfers all over the world—from Hawaii to Morocco to the United Kingdom. To find the makeup of their microbiomes, he rubbed cotton swabs on their heads, in their mouths, and on other body parts. In all, he collected more than 500 samples.

Back in the lab, he and his colleagues tested the samples and identified thousands of different microbes. Then they compared the results to samples from nonsurfers. Kapono is still analyzing the data. But, he says, “we have reason to believe we’ve found unique bacteria that are specific to surfers.”

He hopes to do similar studies with other groups of people. “What about all farmers, or all skiers?” Kapono asks. He suspects that each group of people shares its own unique microbes picked up from soil or snow. “With science, we start to see these invisible connections we couldn’t see before,” he says.