Footage by Tim Haywood of Timages Photography.

There’s been a breach!

Local photographer Tim Haywood sends us this footage of powerful currents flowing from a breach along the Big Lagoon Spit.

Redwood National and State Parks Environmental Scientist Michelle Forys told the Outpost this morning that lagoon breaching is a season occurrence, but that beachgoers should still stay the heck away from there.

“It can be very dangerous when it opens up,” Forys said. “It’s very similar to the mouth of a river flushing out and can cause dangerous wave interactions.”

According to the Parks Service’s somewhat limited records, the number of breaches has steadily increased over the last few years as Northern California’s drought has come to an end.

Big lagoon has already breached five times this winter. That’s more than all the breaches recorded between 2011 and 2014 combined.

The video above was recorded yesterday afternoon. The last recorded breach happened on February 4, but Foys said the breaches take quite a while to close.

“This is likely the same breach,” Forys said. “My observation is that it usually takes a few weeks for the lagoon to close back up, and a few week for it to breach again.”