Author Archives: Jose Borrero

Introducing the Ripple Wave Forecast!

The team at ORCAS have been hard at work developing what we hope will be the latest and greatest in marine and surf forecasting for Aotearoa-New Zealand!  Have a look at: https://rippleforecast.com/

What makes this forecast different?

Conventional wave models are great at predicting large-scale swell patterns, but they often fall short when it comes to the dynamic, complex environment of the nearshore where most of us actually interact with the ocean.

Our forecast takes a different approach, built from the ground up with coastal users in mind. Here’s why this model provides a more accurate and meaningful view of local wave conditions.

Built for the Coastline, Not Just the Open Ocean

Most global models use grids that span tens or even hundreds of kilometers between points. This might work offshore, but coastal wave behavior is far more localized—affected by headlands, bays and islands.

Our model resolves wave behaviour down to a much finer scale, incorporating:

  • Detailed shoreline geometry
  • High-resolution bathymetric data — seabed contours that affect wave shoaling, refraction, and breaking.
  • Provides a free 16-day forecast of waves throughout New Zealand.

Here’s an example of how our forecast is different.

Our forecast on the left shows the complex wave shadowing behind Great Barrier Island and even behind smaller islands such as Kauau Island where as in the global model (right), the waves pass directly through these islands due to low model resolution.

You can see this in the image below which compares our model resolution (left) with global model resolution (right). 

The Bottom Line

Our forecast doesn’t just tell you what’s happening far out to sea—it brings the ocean closer to the coast, where every headland and swell angle matters. If you’re someone who lives by the water, works on it, or plays in it, you’ll feel the difference.

This is Just the Beginning…

This forecast is just the start. Over the coming year we will be bringing out lots more upgrades and extra features to our forecast, so keep an eye on the site for new releases.

https://rippleforecast.com/

ORCAS in Costa Rica!

ORCAS Consulting are beyond stoked to announce that we are establishing a presence in the proud nation of Costa Rica!

ORCAS co-founder Rhys McIntosh has moved Central America to be closer to his wife’s family  raise their beautiful daughter.

As such, ORCAS are now poised to provide our consulting serves to Central and South America. We look forward to developing any opportunities and working with you!

¡PURA VIDA! 

What is ‘coastal’ anyway?

The ‘coastal zone’ is an area with many definitions. At its simplest, it can be defined as:

‘the part of the land and the sea that are affected by each other’s proximity’

But if we think deeper on that definition, it is not difficult to see how the ‘coastal zone’ can extend quite a ways – physically or metaphorically – either landward or seaward.

Some examples: the winds of a storm blowing over an expanse of ocean thousands of kilometres from shore give rise to the waves that eventually impact the coastline, defining it’s shape, governing the character of its sands and determining the types of organisms that live there. Similarly, rains that fall thousands of kilometres inland run together, gathering bit by bit into rivers that eventually reach the sea, discharging the terrestrial material picked up along the way. 

For this reason, at ORCAS we take a broad, holistic view of the coastal zone. We appreciate the complexities of working in this environment – this includes the physical, biological and environmental complexities as well as the social and economic complexities. 

Introducing ORCAS

ORCAS Consulting is a full service coastal and freshwater environmental consulting company. Looking for a better way to do business and service their clients, founders Jose Borrero, Dougal Greer and Rhys McIntosh started ORCAS in January 2025 after leaving the company they co-founded nearly a decade earlier.

The name ORCAS has multiple layers of meaning. Firstly it is out of respect to Orcinus orca, one of the most powerful, graceful and intelligent animals on planet earth and one of the undisputed masters of the oceanic environment. The orca is known as a fearsome, apex predator that is also highly social and works in teams to accomplish its goals. The orca is known to inhabit every coastal environment on earth and as such is an apt metaphor for a group of coastal and environmental science professionals with a diverse skillset and decidedly global outlook and ambitions. 

Secondly, the letters O-R-C-A-S serve as an acronym covering many of the core principles that our company embodies:

Today, adaptation to the changes occurring in and around our coastal environment are of paramount concern to everyone on earth. The pressures of an ever-increasing population in the coastal zone combined with the effects of rising sea levels, increasing temperatures and ongoing threats from natural hazards such as storms, cyclones and tsunami are creating challenges on scales never before experienced by human society.

Therefore we coined the acronym ORCAS to reflect our primary aim of helping humanity in its quest to live harmoniously and resiliently in an around the coastal environment. Recognising the that only constant is change and that we must adapt in order to survive and thrive.