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7 – Best BAHAMAS BEACHES – WAVES DVD Relaxation Nature Videos relaxing ocean sounds – relax – Video

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Which NZ waters shouldn't you swim in?

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New Zealand's beaches, coastlines and rivers are shining jewels in the country's crown, but which ones need a bit more polishing?

For most, a Kiwi summer typically means inordinate amounts of time relaxing on a beach or near water, but a number of popular spots fail water quality measures used by councils including Auckland, Greater Wellington and Environment Canterbury.

Areas which don't meet the standards are normally signposted with warnings it is unsafe to swim, and undergo increased testing.

Safeswim has assessed all of the more than 180 beaches and freshwater sites in Auckland, and has selected 69 for weekly monitoring over the 2014-15 season.

The Greater Wellington Regional Council, along with other local councils, monitor 61 beaches and 24 river sites across the region where people frequently swim. Wellington sites are monitored weekly from mid-November to the end of March.

Water temperature and seaweed or algae cover are also measured, while river sites are tested for clarity.

Water from test sites is compared with national guidelines set by the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Health.

The guideline "trigger level" for beaches which would require more monitoring is more than 140cfu (colony forming units) of enterococci bacteria per 100ml of water, while the threshold for rivers is at 26 cfu/100ml of E.coli.

"Surveillance mode", the lowest of three levels, means there's a risk of illness from swimming, but is acceptable eight in every 1000 swimmers in freshwater and 19 in every 1000 in coastal water.

If water quality reaches the "alert" category, the risk of someone getting sick is increased but still in the acceptable range and increased monitoring is carried out.

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Which NZ waters shouldn't you swim in?

Beach Resorts Are Destroying the Worlds Beaches

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Coastal development is not only making beaches less accessible, its destroying the coast all together. Researchers in the U.K. and the U.S. warn that real estate development is slowly eroding shorelines around the world. In a new book called The Last Beach, professor Andrew Cooper of the University of Ulster and professor Orrin Pilkey of Duke University warn that the construction of sea walls around beach developements are impeding the natural movement of water and sand. Beaches act as a natural defense against the force of ocean waves. Sea walls, however, dont absorb those forces as effectively as beaches do.

The wall itself is the problem. If you build a sea wall to protect the shore, the inevitable consequence is that the beach will disappear. The wall cannot absorb the energy of the sea. All beaches with defences ... are in danger. When you build the sea wall, that is the end of the beach, Cooper told The Guardian.

In fact, Cooper and Pilkey predict that if the current trend of development persists, there will be no beaches left in the developed world in as soon fifty years from now.

You can have buildings, and you can have beaches, but you cant have both, Pilkey told Duke University Press.

Whats a beach resort without beaches? It looks like were going to find out what that looks like sooner rather than later. There is a tragic irony in the idea that the very buildings we constructed as a monument to our love for beaches may be the very things that destroy them.

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Beach Resorts Are Destroying the Worlds Beaches

Hotels question Palm Beach County plans to raise hotel tax

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Palm Beach Countys proposed hotel tax increase is raising concerns about how to spend the money, even before it gets the go-ahead to be tacked onto hotel bills.

The County Commission on Tuesday decides whether to raise the tax on hotel stays and other short-term rentals to 6 cents per dollar. That would generate another $7 million a year to pay for more advertising to promote local tourist attractions and help pay for replenishing eroded beaches.

But the Palm Beach County Hotel and Lodging Association questions the proposed tax increase, saying more of the money should go toward beaches and advertising the region to tourists instead of also giving more money to cultural organizations.

Its the distribution of the (money) that we have always been concerned about, said David Semadeni, of the hotel and lodging association. Beaches is the reason for people to come to Palm Beach County for tourism.

The need to spend more public money to advertise a county already known for its beaches (it is in the name after all), has also raised questions.

I just have questions about the effect of promotion, County Commissioner Hal Valeche said. Its very difficult to track what the results are from.

Yet, other business leaders and tourism industry representatives have backed the tax increase, saying that more money for beaches and advertising will translate to more tourists.

And spending more to promote museums, art festivals, theaters and other cultural attractions in addition to beaches and other attractions also delivers a tourism boost, said Glenn Jergensen, executive director of Palm Beach County's Tourist Development Council.

We have got everybody involved (to) get the best results, Jergensen said. We have done our homework.

Palm Beach County, like Broward County, now charges 5 cents for every dollar spent per night for a so called bed tax on stays at hotels, bed and breakfasts and other short-term rentals.

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Hotels question Palm Beach County plans to raise hotel tax

World's beaches being washed away due to coastal development

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Heavy surf from Hurricane Sandy crashes on to the sand. All beaches with defences ... are in danger. When you build the sea wall, that is the end of the beach. Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The worlds beaches are being washed away as coastal developments increase in size and engineers build ever higher sea walls to defend against fierce winter storms and rising sea levels, according to two of the worlds leading marine geologists.

The warning comes as violent Atlantic and Pacific storms this week sent massive 50ft waves crashing over sea defences, washed away beaches and destroyed concrete walls in Europe, north America and the Philippines.

Most natural sand beaches are disappearing, due partly to rising sea levels and increased storm action, but also to massive erosion caused by the human development of the shore, said Andrew Cooper, professor of coastal studies at the University of Ulster.

The widespread damage on western Europes storm-battered shores, the devastation caused by hurricane Sandy along the northeastern US seaboard, the deaths brought on by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines all exemplify the total inadequacy of [coastal] infrastructure and the vulnerability of cities built on the edge of coastlines, said Orrin Pilkey, professor of earth and ocean sciences at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Pilkey and Cooper say in a new book, The Last Beach, that sea walls, which are widely believed by many local authorities to protect developments from erosion and sea level rise, in fact lead to the destruction of beaches and sea defences and require constant rebuilding at increasing cost.

Dunes and wide beaches protect buildings from storms far better than sea walls, say the authors. The beach is a wonderful, free natural defence against the forces of the ocean. Beaches absorb the power of the ocean waves reducing them to a gentle swash that laps on the shoreline. Storms do not destroy beaches. They change their shape and location, moving sand around to maximise the absorption of wave energy and then recover in the days, months and years to follow, said Pilkey .

Beaches in nature are almost indestructible, but seawall construction disrupts the natural movement of sand and waves, hindering the process of sand deposition along the shorelines, said Cooper.

The wall itself is the problem. If you build a sea wall to protect the shore, the inevitable consequence is that the beach will disappear. The wall cannot absorb the energy of the sea. All beaches with defences ... are in danger. When you build the sea wall, that is the end of the beach, he said.

Beaches have become long, narrow engineering projects sustained only by constant maintenance and ongoing expenditures. Ugly seawalls have removed beaches altogether. Trying to hold the shoreline in position makes a flexible response to sea level rise more difficult, said Pilkey.

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World's beaches being washed away due to coastal development

Fewer drownings at beaches

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Fewer drownings at beaches

The number of drownings at Australian beaches has fallen by a third over the past year, a report from Surf Life Saving Australia shows.

The 2014 National Coastal Safety Report shows 84 people drowned off Australias coast in 2013, with more than half that number happening more than 5km offshore.

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This represents a significant increase on the previous year and was the highest in the past 10 years.

What that tells us is that the Surf Life Saving patrols are saving lives. The system works when people heed the warnings and swim between the red and yellow flags. We cant save you if we cant see you, Surf Life Saving Australia President Graham Ford said.

However, the fact that we still had 19 people lose their life while swimming in areas outside of our patrolling zones is a national concern and I would urge people to please stay between the red and yellow flags this summer.

In WA, 38 people drowned.

LIFE SAVER PM ON BEACH PATROL WARNING OVER PADDLING POOLS TODDLER DROWNING DEATHS ON THE RISE

In 2013-14, 38 per cent of drowning deaths nationwide occurred at beaches. A third of all drowning deaths were offshore and a quarter of all fatalities were on rocky coastlines. This is consistent with concerning increases in the drowning deaths of rock fishermen and people using boating and watercraft.

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Fewer drownings at beaches

Drownings down at Australian beaches

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The number of drowning deaths at Australian beaches has fallen by a third over the past year.

Surf Life Saving Australia has won high praise from Tony Abbott, with a report showing drowning deaths at beaches fell by nearly a third over the past year.

The 2014 National Coastal Safety Report shows 84 people drowned off Australia's coast, down 29 per cent on last year, with over half happening more than 5km offshore.

The prime minister, who launched the report at Sydney's Queenscliff beach, said the drop in drownings was impressive, particularly considering there were no deaths between beach safety flags over the year.

"If you swim between the flags you can be very confident you will be looked after and you will be safe," he said.

Surf Life Saving Australia President Graham Ford says the figures show his organisation saves lives.

"The system works when people heed the warnings and swim between the red and yellow flags," he said.

"We can't save you if we can't see you."

Over the year, 38 per cent of drownings were near beaches and a quarter happened on rocky coastlines.

Men accounted for 89 per cent of deaths, while a startling 91 per cent of male drowning victims were aged between 60 and 64.

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Drownings down at Australian beaches


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