27 March 2013 Last updated at 01:54 ET

Most of Northern Ireland's beaches have excellent bathing water quality, according to the latest survey by the Marine Conservation Society.

Last year was one of the wettest summers on record, but 15 of the 23 beaches still managed to pass European guidelines.

That is just one fewer than the year before.

Only one NI beach, Newcastle, County Down, failed to meet a minimum European standard for bathing water quality.

Dr Robert Keirle of MSC said Northern Ireland (NI) Water had invested heavily over the last 10 years to improve its network of sewers and pumping stations and this investment appeared to be paying off.

"Despite Northern Ireland as a whole experiencing an exceptionally wet summer during 2012, today we can recommend the second highest number of beaches in the province," he said.

"So the benefits of NI Water's investment are starting to become apparent."

MCS said that, nationally, 42 beaches (5.6%) failed to meet even a minimum European standard, or equivalent, for bathing water quality; 17 more than in last year's guide.

Dr Keirle said just because this was the second best result on record for Northern Ireland's beaches, it was no time for complacency.

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NI beaches 'excellent' water quality

Rancho Santana - One Destination. Five Distinct Beaches
Experience the 5 distinct beaches at Rancho Santana, a Pacific resort and residential community located in Nicaragua. 2700 acres of rolling hills and 2 miles...

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Rancho Santana - One Destination. Five Distinct Beaches - Video

The latest Good Beach Guide from the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has found the number of Scottish beaches rated as "excellent" for bathers is now well below the UK average.

Tests on water quality carried out last year found 42 of Scotland's 109 bathing beaches are fit to be included in the guide, while four failed to meet even a minimum European standard for water quality.

Among those beaches where ratings fell this year are Machrihanish in Argyll and Bute and Croy in South Ayrshire. Both dropped to the bare minimum "mandatory" standard, after being rated excellent last year.

Now the charity has called for greater action to keep Scotland's beaches clean and say the latest figures should serve as a wake-up call to the Scottish Government, water bosses and local authorities.

MCS Scotland programme manager Calum Duncan said more work was needed to ensure Scotland's beaches remain open and to cut down pollution from farms and populated areas.

He said: "With stricter bathing water standards from 2015 and summers that appear to be getting wetter, the image of people bathing off golden beaches could be at serious risk."

Two of Scotland's most popular beaches Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire and Heads of Ayr in South Ayrshire failed to meet European Standards for bathing. Last year the Scottish Environment Protection Agency said both bathing waters recorded levels of faecal contamination above safety levels.

The two other beaches where pollution levels breached international standards were Greenan, also in South Ayrshire, and Lower Largo in Fife.

MCS said flooding during the summer led to an increase in the bacteria and viruses ending up in Scotland's waters, originating from a variety of sources including agricultural and urban run-off, storm waters, leaky plumbing, septic tanks and dog faeces.

Among the beaches rated as "excellent" by the MCS were Pease Bay in the Borders, Portobello in Edinburgh and Portmahomack in the Highlands. West Sands in St Andrews, made famous by the film Chariots of Fire, was judged to have met only the minimum MCS water standards.

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Call for action as majority of beaches fail to meet water quality standards

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A Texas House panel on Monday debated where private property rights end and public beaches begin, as lawmakers considered a proposed constitutional amendment and another measure that could reverse two contentious state Supreme Court rulings on coastline boundaries.

Rep. Harold Dutton is sponsoring an amendment and companion bill that would more clearly define boundaries for public beaches and hold them in a public trust. The amendment means the law would become impervious to future court challenges should it be approved by Texas voters and added to the state Constitution.

Both are in response to a 2010 Texas Supreme Court ruling on the Open Beaches Act that found if an act of nature erodes a beach, the landowner's right to the remaining property is not diminished by state law even if it is now part of the beach. A federal appeals court questioned that decision, but the court reaffirmed it last year.

The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit that was filed after Hurricane Rita pounded the Texas shoreline in 2005, eroding the sand and leaving Carol Severance's home on a sandy beach along Galveston Island's West Beach. The state ordered Severance to demolish her home, saying her land was now considered a public beach. Instead, Severance sued.

Dutton, D-Houston, said Monday that since 1959, the Open Beaches Act has stated that a beach up to the vegetation line is state property and therefore open to the public.

In the Severance case, Texas argued that its right to the land automatically shifts with the sand, but the court disagreed.

Dutton said the decision effectively "turns on its head" the Open Beaches Act. He said "that's not the way Texas is willing to recognize" property rights.

"My intent was to get the Legislature to start to speak on this issue," Dutton said.

Later, he added: "We have a controversy and the Legislature has to insert itself into that controversy."

Bill Peacock, director of the Center for Economic Freedom at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an influential conservative think tank in Austin, spoke against the bill. He argued that "under this bill, you'd basically have takings without compensation" of private property, while also "removing a check on public authorities."

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Lawmakers mull constitutional amendment on beaches

Beaches, Blogs and Breakfast
If you are part of the Blogging community, then this is a must see! We are working with the best bloggers in the industry and bringing them to the beaches of...

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A home along the shore in the Rockaways ravaged by superstorm Sandy Nov. 2, 2012 (credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) Residents of Rockaway Beach descended on City Hall in Lower Manhattan Saturday, demanding that their beaches be rebuilt right now.

As WCBS 880s Jim Smith reported, residents of the Rockaways said they feel ignored in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which devastated the peninsula in Queens.

Theyve worked on Coney Island. Theyve worked on Long Beach. Were just as entitled. We pay taxes just like everybody else, said Milly Orenga. We need our beaches.

Orenga is one of about 50 residents taking the message directly to the steps of City Hall after they said a previous rally on the beaches fell on deaf ears.

The beaches shouldve been built by now. The sand should be there, the dunes, the water walls, Orenga said. We have nothing absolutely nothing.

Residents said what the city now has is plenty of federal money. And Eddy Pastore, founder of Friends of Rockaway Beach, demanded action before another hurricane season.

Were in imminent danger of flooding again, Pastore said.

Please leave your comments below

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Rockaway Residents To City: Rebuild Our Beaches

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) A federal agency is designating 740 miles of beaches from North Carolina to Mississippi as critical habitat for loggerhead sea turtles, including 175 miles in the Carolinas.

While loggerheads have been listed under the Endangered Species Act since 1978, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011 changed the loggerhead listing from a single worldwide designation to nine distinct groups to focus on need for conservation in specific areas.

So the nesting areas are now being designated as critical habitat for the recovery of the species threatened in the northwest Atlantic. The areas selected have the highest densities of loggerhead nests.

Only occupied habitat is being proposed as we determined this is adequate for the conservation of the species, Sandy MacPherson, the national sea turtle coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told reporters Friday.

She said that about 19 percent of the shoreline in the six states is owned by the federal government; 21 percent is owned by state governments; and the rest is private.Continue Reading

We do not envision additional landowner use restrictions that will result from this critical habitat designation, she said, adding most coastal landowners are aware of state and federal rules designed to protect sea turtles.

Its an informative process that identifies the habitats necessary for the recovery of the species, said Jennifer Koches, a spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Charleston. Anytime there is a federal project such as beach renourishment or dredging activities things that are funded or permitted by the federal government applicants have to consult for impacts on federal species.

At the time the agency changed the loggerhead designation to nine groups, it said it did not have enough data to identify the critical habitat. In January, three nonprofit groups, including Oceana Inc., sued in federal court in San Francisco seeking to have those designations made.

Its something were required to do ... and it was something we were working on when we received the complaint, MacPherson said.

Amanda Keledjian, a marine scientist with Oceana, said the National Marine Fisheries Service should now designate (as critical) off-shore areas as well as waters directly adjacent to nesting beaches if they want these vulnerable populations to recover. Sea turtles often get tangled in trash such as fishing lines or are hit by boat propellers and injured.

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Beaches from N.C. to Miss. critical loggerhead turtle habitat

Nearly 150 miles of Florida beaches, including all of Palm Beach County and stretches in northern Broward and the Florida Keys, could be designated by federal wildlife managers as critical habit for loggerhead turtles.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which released the proposal on Friday, stressed that the designation wouldnt affect landowner rights and was largely intended to draw attention to the importance of 90 beaches in six southeastern states which are prime nesting areas for the threatened species.

In Florida, much of the proposed area runs from Brevard County south to Palm Beach County. An eight-mile section of northern Broward would be included as well as Long Key and Bahia Honda in the Keys.

Identifying this habitat will help us work with coastal communities to protect loggerhead nests and ensure that more hatchlings reach the water and begin their lives at sea, said Cindy Dohner, the Services Southeast Regional Director. Major threats to turtles including artificial lighting, beach erosion and climate change.

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Florida beaches proposed as turtle “critical habitat”

Quick links to other pages on this site | Still can't find it? see Site Index ***Lady Lisa, a loggerhead turtle, makes its way to the ocean. The South Carolina Aquarium released three rescued sea turtles, two loggerhead turtles and one Kemp's ridley turtle after their recovery at the Sea Turtle Hspital back into the ocean at Beachwalker County Park on Kiawah Island Tuesday July 12, 2011. (Grace Beahm/postandcourier.com) Buy this photo

All of Folly Beach and Kiawah Island among 41 miles of beaches in Charleston County would be made critical habitat for the threatened loggerhead sea turtle under a proposal made Friday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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To read the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service critical habitat proposal or for more information, go to fws.gov/ northflorida.

What difference that would make is anybodys guess.

New homes, businesses or other structures to be built at the beaches would be scrutinized closer by federal regulators before permits could be issued, said a news release by Oceana, an environmental advocate.

Fish and Wildlife staff members said the designation was required by law and shouldnt greatly affect how permits are handled now.

It might be that both are true. The designation is being proposed for beaches that hold the most turtle nests year to year. Those beaches already are protected somewhat under the Endangered Species Act and other federal rules.

But if nothing else, the designation would put more pressure on regulators to get it right when it comes to modifying projects or requiring mitigation or it would give environmental opponents more ammunition in lawsuits to stop a project.

More than 700 miles of beaches from North Carolina to Mississippi would be made critical habitats if the proposal is approved.

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Charleston beaches proposed as loggerhead turtle critical habitat

More than 40 Florida beaches considered vital for loggerhead sea turtles including Canaveral National Seashore could be named as critical habitat under a federal proposal announced Friday.

Several Volusia and Brevard beaches could be designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as vital areas to be protected for the turtles, which lay their eggs in the beach dunes.

The proposal isn't expected to change anything for local beachgoers, but it could affect federal permits or projects on such beaches, such as beach renourishment projects on eroded areas, said Sandy MacPherson, the service's national sea-turtle coordinator.

For example, this would require that a dredging or sand project at a critical beach cannot change the beach so that it would no longer serve as a nesting area for turtles.

Florida beaches are among the world's most important nesting grounds for loggerhead sea turtles. Last year, more than 58,000 nests were counted at the state beaches tracked for long-term trends, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Beaches included in the federal proposal include Canaveral, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Kennedy Space Center and Brevard beaches south of Patrick Air Force Base. In Volusia, beaches north of State Road 40 in Ormond Beach and Ormond-by-the-Sea are included.

However, the federal proposal doesn't include beaches in the Daytona Beach region, including the areas where beach driving is permitted. Officials said that doesn't mean other beaches aren't good habitat for turtles, but that the federal designation focuses on the areas with the highest densities of nests which are considered crucial for the species' survival.

Environmental groups had sued the federal government for the lack of such habitat designations and praised the federal proposal.

"It will benefit the turtles because it will be easier to ensure that the quality and quantity of beaches will not be degraded over time," said Amanda Keledjian, a marine scientist at Oceana, a nonprofit conservation group.

llelis@tribune.com or 386-479-1529

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More than 40 beaches crucial to loggerhead sea turtles targeted for critical habitat list

More than 40 Florida beaches considered vital for loggerhead sea turtles including Canaveral National Seashore could be named as critical habitat under a federal proposal announced Friday.

Several Volusia and Brevard beaches could be designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as vital areas to be protected for the turtles, which lay their eggs in the beach dunes.

The proposal isn't expected to change anything for local beachgoers, but it could affect federal permits or projects on such beaches, such as beach renourishment projects on eroded areas, said Sandy MacPherson, the service's national sea-turtle coordinator.

For example, this would require that a dredging or sand project at a critical beach cannot change the beach so that it would no longer serve as a nesting area for turtles.

Florida beaches are among the world's most important nesting grounds for loggerhead sea turtles. Last year, more than 58,000 nests were counted at the state beaches tracked for long-term trends, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Beaches included in the federal proposal include Canaveral, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Kennedy Space Center and Brevard beaches south of Patrick Air Force Base. In Volusia, beaches north of State Road 40 in Ormond Beach and Ormond-by-the-Sea are included.

However, the federal proposal doesn't include beaches in the Daytona Beach region, including the areas where beach driving is permitted. Officials said that doesn't mean other beaches aren't good habitat for turtles, but that the federal designation focuses on the areas with the highest densities of nests which are considered crucial for the species' survival.

Environmental groups had sued the federal government for the lack of such habitat designations and praised the federal proposal.

"It will benefit the turtles because it will be easier to ensure that the quality and quantity of beaches will not be degraded over time," said Amanda Keledjian, a marine scientist at Oceana, a nonprofit conservation group.

llelis@tribune.com or 386-479-1529

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More than 40 beaches crucial to loggerhead sea turtles

After the recent turtle festival in Ratnagiri, theres another one in the offing.

For the first time, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has planned a turtle (Olive Ridley) festival in Sindhudurg.

Olive Ridley turtles are scheduled I endangered species, the same as tigers.

The festival, in 12 beaches in Sindhudurg, aims to promote turtle tourism and conservation. Earlier, the locals of Sindhudurg used to eat turtle eggs but now they have joined the conservation drive.

We have organised a turtle festival at Mochemad beach in Vengurla taluka of Sindhudurg between March 22 and 24, said an official with UNDP-GEF (Global Environment Facility), Government of India project.

With an intention of creating new opportunities for the villages that take part in the conservation programme, SNM has announced this festival. SNM has conducted hospitality training for the local people who will host the tourists in their own houses, said Bhau Katdare of SNM.

This festival also gives an opportunity to tourists to know more about the local life, exchange ideas and create a bonding with the nature conservation programme.

Integrating hospitality at the village level also helps in conservation. The locals realised that turtle tourism helps in giving them earnings and have saving the eggs and nests, instead of eating them.

This year, a total of 305 hatchlings have been released into the sea from five nests. Hatchlings from19 more nests are left to be released.

Till now, the conservation of Olive Ridleys nestlings was happening in isolation, but this is the first year that the focus is on saving nests at 12 beaches of Sindhudurg.

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Sindhudurg beaches beckon nature lovers

Kauai officials have closed all north-facing beaches, including Anahola, due to high surf conditions.

Ocean Safety officials report hazardous ocean conditions with waves over 20-feet-high.

The National Weather Service has issued a high surf warning for the north and west facing shores that will remain in effect until at least 6 a.m. Friday. The warning calls for very strong shore breaks and dangerous rip currents, which make entering the water very hazardous. The National Weather Service warns that anyone entering the water in these areas is risking significant injury or death.

Lifeguards will remain at the beach towers throughout the day to notify beachgoers of the closure.

The beaches will reopen as officials deem them safe for swimming.

For up-to-date information about ocean conditions, please speak to a county lifeguard, log onto http://www.kauaiexplorer.com, or call the Ocean Safety Bureau at 241-4984.

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Kauai officials close all north beaches due to surf

Thousands of dead fish have washed up along the foreshore at Moana Beach. Source: adelaidenow

THOUSANDS of dead fish found washed up on Adelaide's southern beaches this morning may have been dead for some time.

Southern suburbs residents have reported the small fish, about two inches in length, across long stretches of sand at Moana, Moana South, O'Sullivans Beach and Christies Beach.

Biosecurity SA is investigating the cause of the deaths but the incident is likely to have been caused by heat.

Seaford Rise resident Phyl Gava said the stretch of beach affected runs from Moana to Maslin Beach.

It's not known why scores of fish have ended up dead on Adelaide's southern beaches.

Ms Gava, who has been walking the beach for over 17 years, said she has never seen anything like this.

Biosecurity SA said the cause of the death is likely to be heat, as was the case with similar incidents on the Eyre Peninsula earlier this month.

Dead fish litter the foreshore at Moana Beach. Picture: Roger Wyman

Spokesman Ken Pearce said many of the fish, mainly leatherjackets, are already partially decomposed.

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Scores of dead fish on our beaches

Holdfast Bay Council is conducting a two week blitz on dog owners doing the wrong thing at the beach. Picture: Helen Orr Source: adelaidenow

A BLITZ targeting owners of out-of-control dogs using Glenelg, Brighton, Somerton Park and Hove beaches will start tomorrow.

Council officers will target all Holdfast Bay beaches, targeting dog owners who have dogs off the leash outside prescribed times or who do not clean up after their pets, until April 6.

Holdfast Bay chief executive Justin Lynch said the crackdown was prompted by an outpouring of anxiety from residents about out-of-control dogs on its beaches this summer.

"The council always takes very seriously any public safety concern related to dog control and has multiple dog control initiatives in place at all times," Mr Lynch said.

"But given the strong feedback from our community this summer, it's time to send irresponsible dog owners an even clearer message to clean up your act or pay the penalty.

"It will be a matter of less talk, more fines."

Dog owners caught doing the wrong thing during the blitz, which starts tomorrow (March 23) and ends on April 6, will automatically attract an $80 fine, he said.

"Stern warnings will also be issued to dog owners whose dogs are not within close proximity of verbal commands," Mr Lynch said.

Dogs are allowed to be off-leash at Holdfast Bay beaches between 8pm and 10am during the daylight saving months as long as they are still "under effective control".

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Blitz on out-of-control dogs on beaches

RARE SIGHT: The shark pack was spotted from the air by the Westpac Rescue helicopter. Source: PerthNow

SHARK PARK: More than 100 sharks have been sighted feeding off Trigg Point. Picture: Surf Life Saving WA (Rescue helicopter) Source: PerthNow

CLOSED: More than 100 sharks have been spotted off Trigg Beach, closing beaches in the area. Source: PerthNow

BEACHES have re-opened after a massive pack of more than 100 sharks was seen about 600m off popular Trigg Point earlier today.

The sharks were spotted about 12.25pm today by pilotson board the Surf Lifesaving Westpac Helicopter.

City of Stirling Beach services coordinator John Snook told ABC radio this afternoon the sharks were believed to be juvenile bronze whalers feeding on a school of baitfish.

He said the size of the school of sharks was "absolutely unusual."

Beaches 1km north and south of Trigg Point were closed for several hours with shark alarms going off to get people out of the water. They were reopened around 2pm.

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Beaches open after shark scare

A fight over bonfire pits in Newport Beach went regional Friday, when air quality officials proposed a year-round ban on open burning on all Los Angeles and Orange County beaches.

Officials cited health concerns for beachgoers. They said the proposal is part of an effort to strengthen regional air quality regulations to meet stricter federal clean air standards for fine-particulate pollutants by 2015.

"This is not going to be the end of California's storied beach culture and history," said Sam Atwood, spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District. "This is to create a healthier experience for those who go to the beach."

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that smoke is unhealthy and contains many harmful pollutants some of which can cause cancer," he said. "And it doesn't take a costly scientific study to tell you that dozens of these fires in close proximity create very unhealthy levels of smoke for anyone near them, and for residents downwind."

The agency also wants to resolve a conflict with the California Coastal Commission, which views the fire rings as an access issue.

Newport Beach's fire rings have drawn generations of log-toting beachgoers. But city officials, under pressure from homeowners who said they are fed up with bonfire smoke, had asked the coastal panel for permission to remove all 60 of them 33 near the Balboa Pier and 27 on a patch of Corona del Mar State Beach known as Big Corona.

The commission staff, in a report, had opposed removing the rings, saying it would deny public access to the popular form of lower-cost public recreation. In addition, a decision to approve Newport Beach's request could set a precedent that could lead to removal of fire rings from other parts of the coast, the report said.

The commission's ruling on the Newport Beach request, however, has been delayed pending a decision by the air quality board on the wider ban, scheduled for May 3.

During recent hearings on the Newport Beach matter, coastal commission staff noted that campfires, beach bonfires and ceremonial burning are exempt from the air board's restrictions on open fires.

"We don't want the coastal commission keeping any local city from removing fire rings and somehow using our regulations as a rationale for doing that," Atwood said.

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Officials propose year-round ban on open burning on area beaches

Panaji, March 16 (IANS) The world's next Pele or Ronaldinho could be a youngster playing soccer on Goa's golden beaches, according to world football body FIFA's pointsman for beach soccer Joan Cusco.

Goa's phenomenal beaches and the natural affinity which the locals have for the game of football would make beach soccer a great success if properly implemented, the FIFA board member told IANS Saturday.

"Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho they all grew up playing on beaches. They learnt their football there. Now, the world's next Pele or Ronaldinho could be found on the beaches here," the Spaniard said, underlining the importance of the beach game in the lives of the Brazilian footballing greats.

Cusco, who is the managing director of FIFA Beach Soccer and a sports marketing guru was in Goa to attend Goa International Football Table (GIFT), a two-day conference which discussed ways and means to create football-related infrastructure in the state.

The FIFA official said that beach soccer was emerging as one of the hottest games on the horizon. In a matter of five years had spread from 30 markets to 130 markets globally, he said, adding that more outreach needed to be carried out in order to further increase the popularity of the sport.

"It is tremendously television friendly. So it can make very good product which can be marketed," Cusco said. "There is also a large audience and therefore we get a lot of sponsorship," he said.

Beach soccer is a fast paced version of football played on a smaller pitch on a beach with five players to a team. The rules are almost similar to football, but the fun, beach atmosphere, the casual, the shorter game time (three intervals of 12 minutes each) have made it the football equivalent of T-20 cricket.

The quick and informal nature of the game has propelled the game to heights of popularity, even eclipsing its other sand-game counterpart, beach volleyball.

"The beach volleyball people are speaking to us to join forces. That shows that beach volleyball has already outdone them in terms of popularity," Cusco said. "FIFA is 100 per cent behind beach soccer," he further said.

Beach volleyball is only in a fledgling state in Goa, with very few amateur tourneys organised every year on the state's beaches, which otherwise attract over 2.6 million tourists annually.

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Next Pele, Ronaldinho could be born on Goa's beaches : FIFA official

York County beaches a mess following last week #39;s storm
Last week #39;s storm caused some erosion on beaches in York County. News 8 #39;s Steve Minich reports.

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York County beaches a mess following last week's storm - Video

Santa Cruz debates allowing patrol vehicles on beaches
Santa Cruz debates allowing patrol vehicles on beaches. Uploaded by ksbwtv on Mar 12 2013. Law enforcement vehicles are legally banned from patrolling on the beach in Santa Cruz. ksbw tv.

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Santa Cruz debates allowing patrol vehicles on beaches - Video