Tony Butt has a PhD in Physical Oceanography from the University of Plymouth, UK, and worked as a part-time research fellow with the Coastal Processes Research Group for seven years, during which time he published 16 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals on coastal morphodynamics.
He now lives for most of the year in a forgotten corner of Northwest Spain and makes a meagre living writing and teaching people about waves and the coastal environment. He ran an oceanography / environmental column in the Surfer’s Path magazine from 1997 to 2014, and continues as a freelance writer.
He works closely with Surfers Against Sewage and Save the Waves, and is regularly involved with other surfing NGOs such as Surfrider, Salvem o Surf and the Surfbreak Protection Society. He was the founding organizer of the 2011 Global Wave Conference, bringing together key people from 12 different countries to share ideas on how to protect surf spots.
Tony has been surfing for as long as he can remember. He dislikes crowds, contests, towsurfing and the intrusion of greed and materialism into the world of surfing. Ironically he has been invited to several big-wave events including being pre-selected for the 1999 Eddie Aikau and the 2002 Big Wave Africa at Dungeons. He has appeared in several TV documentaries on big-wave surfing.
Main affiliations:
Trustee, Surfers Against Sewage
Advisory Board member, Save the Waves
Vision Council member, World Surfing Reserves
Surf Ambassador, Patagonia
Main geographic areas of interest:
Continental Europe, UK, Ireland, Macaronesia, South Africa
Selected publications:
Surf Science (paperback, ebook and animated ebook), 2004, 2014
The Surfer’s Guide to Waves, Coasts and Climates (paperback), 2009
Waves are Resources (report for SAS), 2010
Guide to Sustainable Surfing (ebook), 2012