A high-surf warning issued in parts of Hawaii advises potential beachgoers to avoid the shore, as waves stretching up to 40 feet pound the Aloha State.

Why It Matters

Large breaking waves could cause damage in infrastructure near certain shores in Hawaii this week, with the high-surf warning remaining in effect until 6 p.m. Thursday. Swimmers and beachgoers also could be at risk of injury, as the surf hit 40 feet in some places.

What To Know

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Honolulu first issued the high-surf warning on Friday, with the alert saying an “extra-large” swell was expected to peak on Wednesday, which would produce “dangerously large surf” on north- and west-facing shores.

Affected beaches include north- and west-facing shores of Niihau, Kauai, Oahu
and Molokai, as well as north-facing coasts in Maui. The surf was highest, up to 40 feet, on north-facing shores, and waves up to 30 feet were expected for those facing west.

The swell is expected to gradually diminish on Thursday and Friday.

Average surf for this time of year is 12 to 16 feet. The dangerous waves are often caused by long-period large swells generated by a storm system near Alaska.

A small craft advisory is also in place, warning inexperienced mariners, especially those operating small vessels, against navigating the waters, as seas were expected to be hazardous.

What People Are Saying

NWS meteorologist Genki Kino told Newsweek: “We have just been really active in the north Pacific with a series of storms off to the northwest. We get into these active patterns with back-to-back swells. January is on average our biggest time of year [for waves] on the north shores.”

While discussing 40-foot waves, NWS meteorologist Tina Stall previously told Newsweek: “Those waves are nothing to mess around with. If they’re high enough, we can also get some overwash up the beaches and onto the roadways if they’re nearby.”

Stall previously told Newsweek: “[High surf] is pretty typical for this time of year. We are getting into the winter season, which is north shore season. So we get a lot of swells out of the northwest from storm systems up in the north Pacific.”

NWS Honolulu, in a high-surf warning: “Expect ocean water surging and sweeping across beaches, coastal benches, and lava flows creating the potential for impacts to coastal properties and infrastructure, including roadways. Powerful longshore and rip currents will be present at most beaches. Large breaking waves and strong currents may impact harbor entrances and channels causing challenging boat handling.”

The warning added: “Stay away from the shoreline along the affected coasts. Be prepared for road closures. Postpone entering or leaving channels affected by the high surf until the surf subsides.”

What Happens Next

The surf is expected to drop below warning levels by Friday.

Chronic Wasting Disease, or CWD, is a deadly and incurable neurological illness. Idaho just received its second confirmed case in domestic elk.

What is Chronic Wasting Disease

CWD is a prion disease, a type of illness not caused by viruses or bacteria, but instead by misfolded proteins called prions. When enough prions enter the body, they can create a chain reaction of damaging normal proteins in the body which leads to cell destruction and neurological damage, and inevitably, death of the organism.

Prion diseases are currently incurable and the only known ones occur in mammals. CWD affects animals in the deer family (cervids) such as but not limited to: moose, caribou, mule deer, reindeer, red deer, and elk. CWD was first found in Colorado in 1967, but through the years has been detected across the globe.

“It’s in Asia, Europe and North America,” said Professor Mark Zabel with the Prion Research Center at Colorado State University

How is it spread?

Zabel said that the disease can be transferred directly–for instance from a sick moose to a healthy moose–as well as transferred indirectly due to the prions’ infectious properties,

“…unlike many most other pathogens, it’s very stable in the environment. So it can remain infectious in the environment, in soil and landscapes. For years to decades.”

Prions get into the environment (soil, water, plants, etc) through excretion by infected animals, such as through their urine, feces, saliva, and decomposing bodies. Then, due to the prion’s very stable protein structure, they’re able to stay infectious for up to 20 years. This means other animals can pass through the environment, and pick up the prions laid decades past, and still get infected.

CWD is difficult to detect because animals may be infected for long periods of time without showing signs due to the disease’s incubation period. On average, the time between initial infection and first signs of it is 18 to 24 months long.

Concerns of the Disease

Not only is CWD an ecological concern due to the difficulty of combating it, but it is also a severe economic issue regarding wildlife and agriculture governmental agencies. The most recent data shows the government as spent $280 million dollars on CWD from 2000-2021. A majority amount of that was spent by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Idaho first saw CWD in wild mule deer in 2021. Within the past two months, there have been two confirmed cases of domestic elks that were from different elk farms, meaning, they couldn’t have infected one another. In Idaho’s 2021-2022 fiscal year, wildlife agencies spent close to $225,000 trying to combat CWD.

Zabel told me his main concern as a scientist is “…this disease could spread to humans, you know. So it has some zoonotic potential, similar to another prion disease that people might be aware of called bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE. Probably more commonly known as mad cow disease.”

When someone eats beef contaminated with Mad Cow disease, a variant of the prion disease from the cow can be made to infect a human. For now, CWD does not have the ability to change to infect humans, but since it is a prion disease, it is possible that it could develop one.

What you can do to stay safe and help

Zabel encourages hunters to follow state practices to reduce the possible spread of CWD and to test their harvest before eating. There’s no evidence yet that CWD can transfer from cervid to human but Zabel told me,

“I would definitely not want to be the reference case. I don’t want to be patient zero.”

This past year, Idaho Fish and Game released hunting guidelines to reduce the spread of CWD . The agency also offers free testing kits for hunters to help track the disease by sending in samples of their game.

Jewish-American dancer, singer, and activist Montana Tucker shared a video on Wednesday wherein she, and members of the Shiraz Dance Ensemble, dance in honor of the Iranian women who have stood against the Islamic regime in Tehran.

Tucker shared the video, which was initiated and produced by Combat Antisemitism Movement, on Instagram to her 3.2 million followers. She posted it along with Noor Pahlavi, the eldest child of former Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi.

“This is dedicated to the women of Iran who stood fearlessly in the face of fanaticism and brutality to fight for their basic human rights,” Tucker wrote on Instagram. “For 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, beaten to death for showing her hair. For Nika Shakarami, 16, whose body was stolen by the regime after her murder. For Sarina Esmailzadeh, 16, beaten to death by security forces for protesting. For Hadis Najafi, 22, who danced for freedom.”

The dance, choreographed by Iris Delshad Maymon, was filmed in Jaffa, Israel, CAM noted.

“For the thousands of school girls and women who dared to burn their hijabs, cut their hair, and march in defiance of the Islamic Republic, knowing it could and had cost countless their lives. For the Iranians who want to reclaim and rebuild their country.”

Iranian women who opposed the Iranian regime

The video features images and short descriptions of Mahsa Amini, Nika Shakarami, Yahoo Daryaei, and Paraastoo Ahmadi, Iranian women who opposed the Iranian regime. Amini and Shakarami were killed by the Islamic Republic

“Iranian women must be supported in this fight. Israeli women, too, know the brutal impact of this regime and its proxies,” Tucker continued. “We stand TOGETHER, bound by the cries of ‘Women, Life, Freedom,’ against a regime that denies ALL of us dignity, safety, and choice.”

Within hours of being published on Instagram, the video amassed over 10,000 likes.

“This dance is our REBELLION. It’s a tribute to the fallen, a symbol of UNITY, and a call to action,” Tucker added. “To every woman fighting for her voice to be heard: we SEE you, we STAND with you, and we WILL NOT be SILENT.”

CAM Public Affairs Officer Natalie Sanandaji, a Persian-American Jewish woman, coordinated the dance project, CAM stated. Sanandaji is a survivor the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks, when terrorists killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others in southern Israel. Sanandaji was at the Nova Music Festival in Re’im.

“Under the shadow of the Islamic regime, the women of Iran are not just battling for their rights — they are fighting for their lives,” Sanandaji said. “For too long, their voices have been silenced, and their basic liberties denied. Yet, despite the brutality they endure, they continue to resist with inspirational strength.”

“The unity between Iranian and Israeli women is a testament to the power of human solidarity,” she added. “By standing together, they show that freedom is a universal desire transcending traditional religious, cultural, and political divides.”