Session

The Hydrographic Institute (IH) held a session on February 27, 2018 under the theme "Hydrographic and the sea of ​​Nazareth", linking scientific knowledge to the surf and the local economy.

This initiative counted on the collaboration of the Nazaré City Council, in the quality of the President, Dr. Walter Chicharro, and the Surfer Hugo Vau, for the high merit he has had in surfing big waves in Nazaré.

This event, presided over by the Admiral Chief of the Navy and National Maritime Authority, Admiral António Silva Ribeiro, began with an address by the Director General of the Hydrographic Institute, Rear Admiral Coelho Cândido, who thanked everyone for their presence the participants and stressed the importance of this event.

The first presentation on the theme "Hydrographic and the Sea of ​​Nazareth", on the scientific activity in the sea of ​​Nazaré, was in charge of Dr. João Vitorino - Oceanographer, and Dr. Aurora Bizarro - Marine Geologist, both of the Hydrographic Institute.

It was followed by the communication "In the crest of the wave", pronounced by the Surfer Hugo Vau, on his perspective of the surf of big waves in Nazaré. Through images it was possible to perceive the smallness of a surfer in a giant and powerful wave, in Nazaré. It was also clear the centrality of Nazareth in the world of giant wave surfing. Science is central to surfers, information from the multi-parameter buoys installed by IH is central to surfers' decisions and reliable and timely predictions for so-called giant wave surfers around the world.

The intervention under the theme "The sea, the surf and the local economy", delivered by the Mayor of Nazaré, Dr. Walter Chicharro, left a clear message of the high economic importance that the sea and surf currently have for the municipality. Surfing broke seasonality and opened up a whole new set of investment perspectives for the next two decades.

At the end of the presentations, the Admiral Chief of the General Staff of the Navy and National Maritime Authority offered a few words of thanks, emphasizing the strong connection of the Navy, the IH and the Chamber of Nazareth on the theme of science at sea.

This was followed by the inauguration of the Cartotec and the new exhibition hall, where an exhibition related to the theme of the event is on display. This exhibition is open to the public until the end of April 2018. In the end, the Chief of Staff of the Navy and National Maritime Authority, Admiral António Silva Ribeiro, signed the Book of Honor, where he left the following testimony:

"It was with great honor and special pleasure that I visited the IH for the last time as CEMA / AMN, where I was able to see what I soon realized when I came here as an official in 1981. The enormous sense of public service and the extraordinary competence of its scientists and technicians, whom the Navy and the country owe so much for the work they produce so that the Portuguese can use the sea in the right measure of their interests. "