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Category Archives: Beaches

Three of a kind

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Island cuteness: beach at Ile de Re. Photo: Alamy

With their blend of beaches, cycling and quirky history, the Ile de Re and her island neighbours are great family holiday spots off western France, writes Fred Mawer.

With its long and undeveloped beaches, picture-perfect villages, mouthwatering markets and miles of cycle lanes, the Ile de Re is indisputably one of France's loveliest seaside spots, but also worth considering for a summer break are other nearby islands off the Atlantic coast.

Though very much on the radar of French holidaymakers, they are far less well known to outsiders, even though they share some of the same enticements.

St Martin de Re town. Photo: Alamy

The Ile d'Oleron has memorable beaches great cycling and seafood, but its down-to-earth atmosphere is completely different from fashionable Ile de Re. There's also tiny Ile d'Aix, with more good beaches and cycling, and an intriguing Napoleonic history.

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So, which to choose? Here are thumbnail sketches of the three Charente-Maritime islands, for a family holiday.

Most visitors to the islands tend to camp, so we focus chiefly on campsites.

The Vail Valley.

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Three of a kind

New state testing plan could mean fewer closed Island beaches

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The Massachusetts Public Health Council unanimously approvedless stringent water quality testing procedures for beaches on Wednesday. The rule change could result in fewer Marthas Vineyard beaches being closed for fewer days than in recent summers. Under the new rules, with some exceptions,beaches would be closed to swimming only if the water fails to meet the states single sample water quality standards on two consecutive days, as opposed to the past standard of one day.

Over the past several summers, local board of health officials were required to close several popular Island beaches as a result of only one failed sample. The water quality samples have puzzled and frustrated local town officials and health agents, who have had to post no swimming signs, sometimes on the hottest days of the year.

For example, on July 7, 2011 West Tisbury closed four heavily used beaches to swimming Lamberts Cove Beach on Vineyard Sound, Uncle Seths Pond off Lamberts Cove Road, Long Cove Pond, and Tisbury Great Pond beach, part of The Trustees of Reservations Long Point property on the south shore. The beaches were reopened the next day.

There has been a lot of concern raised, not just here in Massachusetts, about the lack of an adequate test that provides timely results, said Suzanne Condon, director of the Bureau of Environmental Health (BEH). Weve been looking at the data, and listening to concerns, and wanted to figure out if there was a different way we could approach this to insure we are protecting public health.

Ms. Condon said the data collected over the past 13 years showed that most water quality test results that failed state standards were attributed to short-term environmental events, like heavy rainfall. She said that only .02 percent of all the beaches tested ever failed two days in a row.

By the time we learned a beach had a problem, by the time we got that test result, beaches were kept closed when in fact, they should have been open, she said. Based on the data we have evaluated, we have a very good picture of which beaches present a public health problem.

Out with the old

Local health agents routinely test 40 selected sites on Marthas Vineyard.The agents collect the samples, according to precise guidelines issued by BEH. The guidelines cover the depth, distance from shore, ocean current, and sterile equipment. The guidelines also control the time and temperature of the samples as the bottles are transported to a lab.

The samples are tested for enterococci bacteria. While not usually harmful, enterococci signal the presence of other bacteria that are harmful, and the test is considered the most reliable indicator that the water poses a public health threat, usually from untreated sewage that gets into the water.

Under the old process, it took about 24 hours for the bacteria to grow in a controlled test, before a lab technician can count the bacteria colonies and report any problems to local health agents. If there is an exceedance in the single sample water quality standard, local authorities were required to post no swimming signs on the beach. Usually, if there was an exceedance, health agents collected another sample as soon as possible, so that it could be tested. The beaches had to stay closed until a new test showed that the single sample fell below the standard of 104 colony-forming units of enterococci per 100 milliliters (cfu/100ml). The water also had to meet a geometric mean standard before the beaches could reopen. The geometric mean measurement is based on the five most recent test results, and it computes trends in water quality over time. The state requires that beaches be closed to swimming if the geometric mean rises above 35 cfu/100 ml.

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New state testing plan could mean fewer closed Island beaches

Committee Member of the year for Children Cancer Center, Tampa Beaches & update on HAPPY TAMPA 2014 – Video

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Committee Member of the year for Children Cancer Center, Tampa Beaches update on HAPPY TAMPA 2014
You will laugh watching this... People impact our community in an amazing way! A special thank you to those close to me who contributed to the Children Cancer Center last year which resulted...

By: Stella Giudicelli

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Committee Member of the year for Children Cancer Center, Tampa Beaches & update on HAPPY TAMPA 2014 - Video

Microplastics polluting Oregon beaches, killing wildlife

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by Wayne Havrelly, KGW Staff

KTVB.COM

Posted on May 16, 2014 at 12:21 PM

CANNON BEACH, Ore. -- It just might be the biggest environmental crisis that most people have never heard about: tiny, contaminated pieces of plastic are polluting the worlds beaches.

Small plastics along the tide line of an Oregon beach may look like bits of shell, but they are, in fact, a pervasive form of pollution that scientists have discovered on nearly every ocean beach on Earth.

A recent one-square-meter sample of sand taken from Fort Stevens State Park in Warrenton yielded 10 pounds of plastics.

Tracy Sund picks up small bits of plastic debris along the shore for the City of Cannon Beach, but he cant get to it all.

These pieces have been at sea a long time, he said holding a small plastic shard. The pieces keep fracturing off, getting smaller and smaller. They [can also] get ingested by wildlife.

The plastics dont biodegrade. The smallest shards, known as microplastics, can mesh unseen into beach sand and stay unnoticed for years.

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Microplastics polluting Oregon beaches, killing wildlife

Funnel webs stake out beaches

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Vet Adam Sternberg with a funnel web. This vet clinic in Brookvale is one of the drop off points for the public who want to help the antivenom projects. Picture: Annika Enderborg Source: News Limited

The northern beaches is a hotspot for funnel web spiders, say experts.

It follows an incident on Tuesday where a six-year-old girl became seriously ill after she was bitten on the finger by a male funnel web.

Dozens of people have contacted the Manly Daily to say they have seen funnel webs in and around their homes recently.

Girl, 6, rushed to hospital after deadly bite from rare funnel web spider in her northern beaches home

Mike Gray, a retired spider specialist from the Australian Museum, said the whole of the North Shore was perfect funnel web territory.

They like any forested region, especially where there is also rocky, sloping ground, he said.

They like to make burrows under rocks, rotting logs and in tree roots, where the ground tends to stay moist.

The funnel web spider which bit the little girl,6, in her northern beaches home this week. Source: Supplied

He said the male funnel webs wander in summer and autumn and can often find themselves, accidentally in peoples homes.

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Funnel webs stake out beaches

Microplastics polluting Ore. beaches, killing wildlife

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by Wayne Havrelly, KGW Staff

kgw.com

Posted on May 15, 2014 at 6:39 PM

CANNON BEACH, Ore. -- It just might be the biggest environmental crisis that most people have never heard about: tiny, contaminated pieces of plastic are polluting the worlds beaches.

Small plastics along the tide line of an Oregon beach may look like bits of shell, but they are, in fact, a pervasive form of pollution that scientists have discovered on nearly every ocean beach on Earth. Tracy Sund picks up small bits of plastic debris along the shore for the City of Cannon Beach, but he cant get to it all.

These pieces have been at sea a long time, he said holding a small plastic shard. The pieces keep fracturing off, getting smaller and smaller. They [can also] get ingested by wildlife.

The plastics dont biodegrade. The smallest shards, known as microplastics, can mesh unseen into beach sand and stay unnoticed for years.

A recent one-square-meter sample of sand taken from Fort Stevens State Park in Warrenton yielded 10 pounds of plastics.

Most microplastics on Oregon beaches are believed to come from what called is called the North Pacific Gyre, a giant whirling garbage dump in the Pacific, now bigger than that state of Texas. Its just one of five giant garbage fields swirling in the planets oceans.

Researcher Marc Ward first learned about microplastics a decade ago, while working to save sea turtles. Turtles often ingest the plastic and die.

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Microplastics polluting Ore. beaches, killing wildlife

Supervisors OK higher parking, docking fees at L.A. County beaches

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Fees for parking, special events and boat docking will increase at many of Los Angeles County's beaches and marinas following a vote Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

Fees at facilities operated by the Department of Beaches and Harbors were last increased in 2009. The department proposed fee increases that would have brought in $1.2 million in added revenue each year, but the board scaled back some of the proposed increases.

"I understand that some surrounding communities charge as much or more than the proposed fees, but they didn't necessarily get to those levels all at once," board Chairman Don Knabe said. "Even then, we need to remember it is our residents and visitors who pay the price when we increase our fees to 'keep up with the Joneses.' "

At Knabe's suggestion, the board voted that parking fees should increase by no more than $2.50 per lot entry for the next year -- rather than the $5 increases that had been proposed at some of the lots -- with parking at Fisherman's Village in Marina del Rey remaining at $1 for every 20 minutes, and that fees for a sailing and ocean sports camp geared toward disadvantaged youths should increase no more than $35.

The parking fee increases only apply to weekends during the summer. They must also be approved by the California Coastal Commission before taking effect.

A handful of residents argued against the fee increases.

"Public lands of Marina del Rey were intended for all the county residents to enjoy access to the water," said Jon Nahhas, a Marina del Rey boating advocate. "More fee increases on people that cannot afford the fees would further limit citizens' options to get to the cooler climate during the summer."

The rate hikes apply to beaches operated by the county, including some in Malibu, San Pedro, Marina del Rey, Venice, and Dockweiler State Beach. They do not apply to beaches operated by cities, including Santa Monica, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach.

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Supervisors OK higher parking, docking fees at L.A. County beaches

County beaches get a clean sweep

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County beaches get a clean sweep

11:23am Wednesday 14th May 2014 in News By Liz Jackson

Megan Lowe, second right, with volunteer Elaine Griffiths, 1st Radipole Brownies and helpers

IT was a clean sweep at the Great Dorset Beach Clean, as results showed 851 bags of rubbish were filled from just 25 beaches across Dorset.

It represents an increase of 23 per cent from the 2013 Spring Beach clean, and 65 per cent more than in 2012.

In Weymouth, 175 bags came from the seven mile stretch between Chesil Cove and Bowleaze Cove alone, amounting to more than a fifth of the total collected from Dorset beaches.

Nearly 700 people participated in the event organised by Dorset County Councils coastal ranger team and families, individuals, community groups and local businesses worked together to clear beaches ready for the summer.

Jenny Penney, coordinator of the Great Dorset Beach Clean, said the increase in rubbish could be down to recent weather.

There has been an increase in storms from further out to sea, along with higher tides.

We found a lot of rubbish pushed further up the beaches, and a lot of rubbish caught high up in bushes which could have been blown out to sea by bad weather.

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County beaches get a clean sweep

EDITORIAL: Extend beach, boardwalk smoking ban to all towns

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Visitors to Belmar this summer will be able to enjoy the sun, sand and surf without choking on tobacco smoke. The Borough Council voted last week to snuff out smoking on the towns entire beach and boardwalk. The new ordinance, complete with $25 fines, goes into effect by Memorial Day weekend.

There are quite a few reasons to commend this and other communities for similar actions and not one reason to object to it. Belmar should be applauded for this action, as it now joins at least 18 other towns in the state, and several at the Jersey Shore, such as Seaside Park and Seaside Heights, that have banned smoking completely on their beaches. Seaside Park bans smoking on its boardwalk as well.

The state Legislature should now pass a pending bill that would virtually eliminate outdoor smoking on beaches and parks throughout the state.

Obviously, it is a health issue. In an open-air environment, too many people are subjected unnecessarily to damaging second-hand smoke. And even after the smokers have left the immediate area, they leave evidence in the form of cigarette butts.

Gone now in Belmar is the previous compromise with smokers, which permitted smoking at the boroughs beachfront at designated areas only. That simply did not work, since wind-blown smoke is unable to recognize boundaries. Belmars new ordinance is a year-round prohibition. It does not include electronic cigarettes or the boroughs Shark River beach.

Smokers will continue to grouse (or wheeze, as the case may be) about this growing infringement of their rights. Yes, smoking is legal, but no right is without limits. As the legal adage goes, Your right to wave your fist in the air ends where my nose begins. That goes for smoking in public as well.

While it is heartening to see beach town after beach town banning public smoking, a proposed state law would make such piecemeal municipal action unnecessary. We support the proposed statewide ban working its way through Trenton. A bill that would ban smoking on all public beaches and parks passed the state Assembly in March by an overwhelming majority, paving the way for the possibility of smoke-free outdoor areas across much of New Jersey. Smokers would face fines ranging from $250 to $1,000.

The bill is now in the state Senate, where it sits in the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. It shouldnt sit there much longer. The full Senate should have a chance to pass the bill and the governor should sign it into law.

The tide is turning against public smoking. The state already bans smoking in indoor public places. At least 220 of New Jerseys 565 towns already ban smoking in parks. The current bill, banning smoking in all parks and beaches run by the state, counties or towns, is a logical next step.

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EDITORIAL: Extend beach, boardwalk smoking ban to all towns


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