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Category Archives: Beaches

Disappearing beaches

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Beaches and coasts are amazing wonders of nature. Indias coastline stretches for around 7,500 kilometres. Quite apart from the beautiful beaches, they also support an incredible diversity of wildlife like flamingos, shore birds, Olive Ridley turtles and red crabs.

Indias beaches are visited by millions of people every year too. But have we thought how our beaches are formed? They are formed because of the rivers. Thats why majority of our coastline have sandy beaches.

The rivers draining into the sea transport the large amount of sand that is gradually accumulated along their course. The sea currents moving from south to north direction in the Bay of Bengal and the vice versa in the Arabian Sea deposits the flowing sand along the coast.

The sea waves act as the engines of sand transportation. They drive the movement of sand to form beaches. The amount of sand and sediments deposited in our beaches is a whooping 1.2 billion tonnes every year! Isnt this an amazing natural phenomenon?

These beaches act as a defence mechanism for coastal villages from large waves and natural calamities. But they are destroyed permanently every year at an alarming rate because of construction activities right on the beach.

The classic example for this is the Puducherry harbour. After it was built in the mid 1980s, the authorities realised that the harbour was too shallow for the ships to enter. So they abandoned it. Only smaller fishing boats use it today.

But just the two breakwaters that were built to form the harbour were enough to spark beach erosion. These breakwaters are long strips of construction with boulders. They jut out into the sea for many meters. One of the reasons these are built is to reduce the wave action so that the ships are anchored safely. The unintended consequence of constructions like these is erosion of beaches.

Because the sea currents move from south to north in the Bay of Bengal during the major part of a year, the incoming sand from the rivers is accumulated on the southern side of the breakwater while the northern part of gets eroded, in a matter of months.

This is the reason for erosion of the pristine beaches in Puducherry. With the protective barrier of beaches vanishing, the sea has engulfed fishing settlements, putting livelihoods at stake.

Even the temporary solution of depositing rocks along the beaches seals the opportunity for beach formation. This method not only destroys the hills and forests but also adds to further beach erosion.

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Disappearing beaches

A FitzGerald – Clean Coasts Protecting our beaches, seas and marine life – Video

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A FitzGerald - Clean Coasts Protecting our beaches, seas and marine life
Slides to accompany this presentation can be found here http://ow.ly/FlKga. Annabel FitzGerald speaks at An Taisce #39;s annual Clean Coasts Symposium Ocean Hero Awards. Her presentation is called ...

By: Clean Coasts Ireland

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A FitzGerald - Clean Coasts Protecting our beaches, seas and marine life - Video

Tjipetir mystery: Why are rubber-like blocks washing up on European beaches? – Video

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Tjipetir mystery: Why are rubber-like blocks washing up on European beaches?
For the past few years, 100-year-old rubber-like blocks from Indonesia have been mysteriously washing up on beaches in the UK and northern Europe. The Titanic has been suggested as one of the...

By: robin show

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Tjipetir mystery: Why are rubber-like blocks washing up on European beaches? - Video

Places to visit in Goa – Goa tourism sightseeing in Goa Beaches in Goa Best places to visit in goa – Video

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Places to visit in Goa - Goa tourism sightseeing in Goa Beaches in Goa Best places to visit in goa
Places to visit in Goa: 1. Anjuna Beach is the favorite haunt of the hippies who used to organize the famous rave beach parties. Referred to as the Freak Capital of the World 2. Baga Beach...

By: Siteseeing.Trecking Waterfalls.Outing

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Places to visit in Goa - Goa tourism sightseeing in Goa Beaches in Goa Best places to visit in goa - Video

Rain combined with sewage spills closes some Southland beaches

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Officials in Orange and San Diego counties Wednesday warned residents to steer clear of the ocean as a double whammy of rain runoff and sewage contamination hit beaches along the Southern California coast.

In Newport Bay, Orange County environmental health officials closed the dock areas at Balboa Bay Club due to a sewage spill.

Separately, warnings were posted for other beaches where rain runoff has caused bacterial levels to rise beyond acceptable health limits. This includes five areas in Newport Bay; in Laguna Beach, 150 feet upcoast and downcoast of Aliso Creek at Aliso County Beach; and in Dana Point, from the Dana Point Harbor breakwater to 300 feet downcoast at Doheny State Beach.

In southern San Diego County, polluted runoff from the Tijuana River forced closure of the Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge and Border Field Park.

Also, surfers and swimmers were warned to stay away from all ocean beaches for at least 72 hours after the rainstorm is finished. Signs are posted at some beaches: Keep Out. Sewage Contaminated Water. Exposure May Cause Illness.

County environmental health officials will test for elevated bacterial levels before declaring the areas safe.

Californias severe drought has had one thin silver lining for its beaches: cleaner water, according to the annual Beach Report Card released by environmental advocacy group Heal the Bay.

But as long-awaited rain pelts the drought-stricken Southland, its clean water grade may be taking a dip.

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Rain combined with sewage spills closes some Southland beaches

Small drains mean big problems at 'baby beaches'

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High fecal counts frequently detected at so-called "baby beaches" may not be diaper-related. UC Irvine researchers found that during summer months, small drainpipes emptying into enclosed ocean bays have a disproportionate impact on calmer waters. The findings were published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Researchers have long known that creeks and tributaries foul coastal waters with major winter storm runoff. But dry seasons like the one that just concluded can spell potential peril, too. Runoff from watering of lawns and flowers collects in narrow pipes, gathering oil and gas drippings, bird guano and other waste along the way and is released in a pulse at low tide, forming a bolus that floats to the surface. There it stays, sitting atop heavier saltwater. Even when plumes drift toward open sea, onshore winds regularly drive them back to shallow swimming areas.

"Small drains play a huge role when it's dry because they capture that urban slobber and deliver it to these estuarine water bodies," said lead author Meg Rippy, a UCI post-doctoral urban ecologist. "Urban slobber is any runoff that comes from irrigation, from washing our cars, bird waste, dog waste, anything that then runs onto our roads that haven't seen rain for a long time. And whatever is on our roads is delivered in highly concentrated form by our storm system to our water bodies."

An estimated 24 million people visit enclosed beaches in California annually, according to the state water resources board. There are hundreds of these small bays along the western coast of the U.S. and worldwide, said co-author Stanley Grant, a UCI civil and environmental engineer. Such areas are dubbed "baby beaches" because they are shallow and still, making them ideal for youngsters and other waders.

To trace the pollutants documented in the study, Newport Beach engineers dyed pulses of waste coming out of pipes at certain spots in Upper and Lower Newport Bays and along Newport Peninsula. They were able to track the bright green plumes as they floated away from or hugged the shore.

Rippy and assistant city engineer Bob Stein then modeled and analyzed when such plumes appeared and how they behaved. Both noted that the fecal indicator bacteria they measured usually did not mean human sewage, although at times it could.

"To find an actual indicator of human fecal matter in Newport Bay is a rare occurrence," said Stein, who recently completed his doctorate in civil engineering at UCI.

But other potentially harmful bacteria abound. Municipalities have installed costly pumps and mixing machinery in polluted shallow estuaries. Grant said those are ineffective because the material typically rests on the surface, not in the water column.

The team said recent clean-up efforts by Newport Beach officials have made a big difference, including placing traps at the mouths of storm drains, building new boat bilge pump-out stations and adjusting street sweeping. Replacing or relocating pipes farther offshore offers another solution. Rippy recommends "green" remedies like bioswales made of drought-tolerant plants in medians and other areas above the estuaries to naturally capture and filter "urban slobber" before it reaches drainpipes. Stein said drought-inspired reductions in irrigation runoff could be the best solution of all.

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Small drains mean big problems at 'baby beaches'

Tourism bureau launches Spanish, Portuguese websites

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Discover The Palm Beaches has launched two new websites, HolaPalmBeach.com and OlaPalmBeach.com to help boost tourist visitation from Latin America.

The websites are part of the Palm Beach County tourism bureau's interactive digital campaign that launched last summer targeting Colombia and Brazil.

The two countries were identified as top international growth markets for tourist visitation to Florida.

The message of the campaign is: "Visit The Palm Beaches and discover the best way to experience Florida."

The Spanish and Portuguese language websites feature information on accommodations, shopping, fining dining, family attractions and outdoor activities found in the destination.

The campaigns goal is to increase awareness and consideration of The Palm Beaches as a top vacation destination among Latin American travelers, Jorge Pesquera, the tourism bureaus president and CEO, said in a news release.

Nearly 800 flights per month arrive in South Florida from those two markets. We want to ensure these visitors learn how close we are to Miami and Orlando and how easy it is to get here, Pesquera said.

asatchell@tribpub.com, 954-356-4209 or Twitter@TheSatchreport

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Tourism bureau launches Spanish, Portuguese websites


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