Sandown beach scooped both a Blue Flag and Quality Coast Award.

BEACHES on the Isle of Wight have topped the table in the latest Blue Flag awards.

Three beaches have scooped both Blue Flag and Quality Coast Awards and 11 have been given Quality Coast Awards by Keep Britain Tidy, which runs the Blue Flag scheme.

The 14 awards put the Island at the top of the table in the South East for the second year in a row. Thanet was second with ten awards.

Shanklin, Sandown and Ventnor retained their Blue Flag and Quality Coast Awards, while Colwell, Cowes, East Cowes, Gurnard, Seagrove, Springvale, Totland and Yaverland once again earned Quality Coast Awards.

The awards are made for beaches that meet criteria on issues including water quality and litter levels.

In a statement, Cllr George Brown, Isle of Wight Council cabinet member for tourism said: "Once again we have had excellent news from the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign about our beaches.

"This retains our number one standing as the best tourism destination in the south east for quality beaches and shows the hard work to maintain our beaches over the last years has been worthwhile.

"This is very good news for the Island as we build up to the main tourism season."

Earlier this month ten Isle of Wight beaches on the IW have received top accolades from The Marine Conservation Society (MCS).

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Blue Flag success for Island beaches

An increasing number of England’s beaches have gained Blue Flag awards this year.

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Environment: More beaches gain Blue Flag awards

EIGHT beaches in the North East have been awarded Blue Flags for their water quality and top notch facilities.

The first class beaches are Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, Roker and Seaburn in Sunderland, Sandhaven at South Shields and in North Tyneside King Edwards Bay, Longsands South, Cullercoats and Whitley Bay.

The Blue Flag is the internationally recognised benchmark standard for beaches and is based on accessibility, cleanliness and lifeguard services, as well as water quality. The beaches have also been given Quality Coast Awards for beach management. England is now ranked in the worlds top 10 countries for having the most Blue Flag beaches out of 46 countries taking part in the Blue Flag scheme.

The awards follow top ratings earlier this month 29 beaches in the North East which were recommended in the Marine Conservation Societys Good Beach Guide.

Phil Barton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy which is responsible for the Blue Flag scheme in England and the Quality Coast Awards said: We urge more holidaymakers to take advantage of the North Easts award-winning seaside resorts this summer.

Its great to see that beaches along our coastline have achieved high standards of excellence for visitors. With eight beaches in the region receiving both Blue Flags and Quality Coast Awards, what better way to holiday in the North East than to visit one of these local award-winning beaches?

John Kelly, portfolio holder for safer city and culture on Sunderland City Council said: It is always great news for everyone in the city and all our many visitors that Blue Flags continue to fly proudly over both Roker and Seaburn beaches this summer. These flags also recognise the hard work of council staff in maintaining the seafront and beaches for residents and visitors.

Cullercoats Bay in North Tyneside qualified for a Blue Flag after narrowly missing the water quality standard last year. The council responded by capping an old culvert, which was considered to be the source of the potential contamination.

North Tyneside Mayor Linda Arkley said: This is fantastic news. Tourism is worth over 240m to the local economy and we know that our coastline is the main reason people come here.

Thats why were so delighted to have a full complement of beach awards.

Excerpt from:

Eight North East beaches awarded Blue Flags

EIGHT beaches in the North East have been awarded Blue Flags for their water quality and top notch facilities.

The first class beaches are Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, Roker and Seaburn in Sunderland, Sandhaven at South Shields and in North Tyneside King Edwards Bay, Longsands South, Cullercoats and Whitley Bay.

The Blue Flag is the internationally recognised benchmark standard for beaches and is based on accessibility, cleanliness and lifeguard services, as well as water quality. The beaches have also been given Quality Coast Awards for beach management. England is now ranked in the worlds top 10 countries for having the most Blue Flag beaches out of 46 countries taking part in the Blue Flag scheme.

The awards follow top ratings earlier this month 29 beaches in the North East which were recommended in the Marine Conservation Societys Good Beach Guide.

Phil Barton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy which is responsible for the Blue Flag scheme in England and the Quality Coast Awards said: We urge more holidaymakers to take advantage of the North Easts award-winning seaside resorts this summer.

Its great to see that beaches along our coastline have achieved high standards of excellence for visitors. With eight beaches in the region receiving both Blue Flags and Quality Coast Awards, what better way to holiday in the North East than to visit one of these local award-winning beaches?

John Kelly, portfolio holder for safer city and culture on Sunderland City Council said: It is always great news for everyone in the city and all our many visitors that Blue Flags continue to fly proudly over both Roker and Seaburn beaches this summer. These flags also recognise the hard work of council staff in maintaining the seafront and beaches for residents and visitors.

Cullercoats Bay in North Tyneside qualified for a Blue Flag after narrowly missing the water quality standard last year. The council responded by capping an old culvert, which was considered to be the source of the potential contamination.

North Tyneside Mayor Linda Arkley said: This is fantastic news. Tourism is worth over 240m to the local economy and we know that our coastline is the main reason people come here.

Thats why were so delighted to have a full complement of beach awards.

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Flying a flag for beaches

More beaches judged good for cleanliness, but tougher standards mean fewer are likely to make the grade next year The number of England's beaches gaining Blue Flag awards for cleanliness has increased in 2012. But about 30% of the beaches might not reach tougher water quality standards being introduced next year, said Blue Flag scheme organisers Keep Britain Tidy. For 2012, a total of 79 English ...

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More English beaches gaining Blue Flag awards

15 May 2012 Last updated at 07:31 ET

Four of Devon's best-known beaches have lost their prestigious Blue Flag awards from Keep Britain Tidy.

Croyde, Woolacombe and Preston Sands failed to meet the necessary standards. Bigbury-on-Sea did not apply for the flags, which are awarded annually.

Sandy Bay was awarded a flag, however, bringing Devon's total to 12 - five of which were awarded in Torbay. Westward Ho! received its ninth Blue Flag.

A total of 79 beaches received Blue Flags in England - nine more than 2011.

Forty-one countries take part in the Blue Flag programme, which is managed internationally by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and in England by Keep Britain Tidy.

A Blue Flag application costs 792 and awards are based on a number of criteria, including water quality, environmental management, beach services and safety.

Keep Britain Tidy spokeswoman Helen Bingham said water quality was the reason Croyde, Woolacombe and Preston Sands lost their flags.

More stringent water quality standards will be introduced next year under the new EU Bathing Water Directive, which organisers have said could result in 30% of English beaches losing their flags.

From 2013, Blue Flag beaches will also have to provide warnings to beach users when nearby combined sewer overflows discharge, if that discharge could temporarily affect the bathing water quality.

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Four beaches lose Blue Flag title

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Hawaii’s Beaches Are in Retreat, and Way of Life May Follow

It will cost $20 this season to park at Cahoon Hollow and White Crest beaches, the selectmen agreed Tuesday, after hearing Suzanne Grout Thomas, beach administrator, explain that the rates at these two beaches have not changed in 19 years.

In 1993 the board of selectmen raised the fee from $10 to $15 a day. The parking fees at the other beaches already have been raised. Nauset and Barnstable for two years have charged $20 per weekend without any griping.

The proposed fee increase would help her staff, she said, because we wont have to have $500 in fives every weekend to make change.

The town took in $153,825 in revenue between the two beaches from 10,255 vehicle passes. If they have the same number of vehicles this year, it will mean $51,275 in anticipated new revenue, she said. Since the town needs revenue, she recommended the increase, and the board readily agreed.

The board took no action on beach fire regulations Tuesday, agreeing to wait until it gets a report back from Thomas and the ad-hoc committee created to come up with new rules and regulations for beach fires.

That means beach fires will be allowed, as they traditionally have been on four ocean beaches, with four permits issued daily for each beach.

I recommend we leave things as they are for the summer, Thomas said.

The committee came up with 20 recommendations, only one of which Thomas said she did not agree with. That was a regulation that those receiving a fire permit be given flags and a bucket when they pick up their permit.

I dont have funding for that, Thomas said. I cant imagine how many buckets and flags will walk out of here as souvenirs. Im not sure that part will not work.

But most of the committee recommendations could be put in place, she said, and she will report back to them, as the summer progresses, on the beach fire situation. One of the committee recommendations was that 10 fire permits be issued, but she was not sure if that meant 10 permits for each of the four beaches, or 10 permits to be divided between the four beaches.

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Fees raised at two Wellfleet beaches

JEFFERSON CITY Several Missouri State Park beaches, including two in St. Francois County, opened Friday for the 2012 recreational season.

Monsanto and Pim beaches at St. Joe Park opened along with Cuivre River State Park in Lincoln County, Lake Wappapello State Park in Wayne County, Long Branch State Park in Macon County, Pomme de Terre State Parks Hermitage and Pittsburg beaches in Hickory County and Stockton State Park in Dade County.

Additional state park designated swimming beaches are scheduled to open for the recreational season later this month.

Visitors to Missouri State Parks are able to sign up to receive electronic notices about the status of state park beaches. For the past two years, visitors have been able to check the status of beaches at a glance on the Missouri Department of Natural Resources website at http://bit.ly/MoStateParksBeachStatus as well as http://mostateparks.com.

In addition to checking the website, visitors can sign up to receive free alerts and advisories through e-mail or text messages at http://bit.ly/HlSnaG. The department will notify subscribers when the beach status website is updated with the latest postings and will provide a link to view an interactive map of all state park beaches.

The departments map will display flags at each beachs location, with a green flag denoting an open beach and a red flag denoting a beach that has been closed. If a beach is closed, the flags will denote the reason, which could include high bacteria, flooding or high water levels, or storm debris.

When a beach is closed, signs will be posted at the beach and on bulletin boards at the park office to notify the public. Beaches will be closed for high bacteria when a single E. coli sample exceeds 235 cfu/100ml or when the geometric mean a 30-day rolling average exceeds 126 cfu/100 ml.

The department samples the water at all designated beaches in the state park system weekly during the recreational season to determine suitability for swimming. The department will post the information about the beach status on the website at http://bit.ly/MoStateParksBeachStatus as well as http://mostateparks.com. The sample test results indicate a snap shot of the water quality taken at the beaches at a specific time; however, a single sample does not provide an overall sense of the water quality in the lake where the beach is located.

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Beaches open for summer season

About 2,000 birds were found dead on beaches in central Chile, a natural history museum director said Friday, accusing fishermen of snagging them in their nets and letting them drown.

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Thousands of birds found dead on Chile beaches

BEACH LEVEL RISE: A recent powerful earthquake reversed years worth of coastal erosion at beaches in Chile. Image: Wikimedia Commons/Maximiliano Reichenbauer

In 2010, a massive, magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck the south central coast of Chile, rupturing beaches and launching a tsunami that rode inland with devastating effect. In an instant, whole sections of the coastline were transformed, with large swaths of sand and rock lifted from beneath the waves.

For Chile, it was a disaster of sobering proportions. But for Eduardo Jaramillo and Jenifer Dugan -- researchers who have spent years studying the effects of coastal erosion on beach ecology -- it was also a rare opportunity to see one of climate change's more immediate effects put in reverse.

"It was like setting the clock backward," said Dugan, a researcher at the Marine Science Institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara. "The whole coast went up in places. Beaches that had been much lower elevation relative to sea level came up a couple of meters. They regained a lot of lost ground."

Before the quake, that "lost ground" had been steadily eaten away by a combination of natural and human influences.

As thermal expansion and glacial melt -- both products of global climate change -- push sea levels steadily higher, coastlines are shifting inland. Yet in many places, that shift has been arrested by man-made sea walls, vast projects meant to protect the trillions of dollars of infrastructure that perch on the edge of the world's oceans.

Sea walls are often constructed at high-tide lines, and although they may protect the infrastructure behind them, they actually exacerbate the erosion of the beach in front of them, said Jaramillo, of Universidad Austral de Chile.

How sea walls accelerate erosion "When you build a sea wall close to high tide, the water actually hits it and bounces off with more force" than if the tide had been allowed to go out naturally, he said. Beaches lose more sand to erosion when they have sea walls than when they're allowed to move naturally, he added.

For the plants and animals that inhabit beaches, that means a precipitous loss of habitat. Along much of the Chilean coast, species have abandoned beaches hemmed in by closing walls of water and concrete. But in those places where the quake lifted new ground, life quickly returned.

"Dune plants are coming back in places there haven't been plants, as far as we know, for a very long time," Dugan said. "The earthquake created sandy beach habitat where it had been lost." Invertebrate and avian life were coming back quickly, as well, she said.

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Chilean Earthquake Restores Beaches

PROVIDENCE, R.I.Rhode Island is opening three popular state beaches for weekend use.

The state's Department of Environmental Management announced Wednesday that Scarborough North, Roger Wheeler and Misquamicut state beaches will open Saturday.

The beaches will be open on Saturdays and Sundays only until Memorial Day, when all state beaches will open for daily use.

Beaches at Lincoln Woods State Park and Goddard Memorial State Park will also open Saturday for daily use.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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RI to open 3 state beaches for the summer

PROVIDENCE, R.I (WPRI) - The Department of Environmental Management announced that three state beaches in South County will be open weekends from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Scarborough North, Roger Wheeler, and Misquamicut state beaches will open Saturday.

The beaches will stay open on weekends until Memorial Day for early beach-goers, with aims to advance season pass sales.

Lincoln Woods State Park and Goddard Memorial State Park beach will open daily and on weekends, respectively, also beginning Saturday, May 12.

All other Rhode Island state beaches will open Memorial Day for daily service through Labor Day.

The daily beach parking fees are:

RI residents:

Non-residents:

Season pass prices are $60 for residents, and $120 for non-residents (senior citizen pricing is $30 and $60, respectively).

Season passes will be sold weekends only beginning Saturday, May 12 at Scarborough North, Roger Wheeler, and Misquamicut state beaches.

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Select state beaches opening Saturday

By: Wire Report | The Associated Press Published: May 10, 2012 Updated: May 10, 2012 - 5:54 AM

Rhode Island is opening three popular state beaches for weekend use.

The state's Department of Environmental Management announced Wednesday that Scarborough North, Roger Wheeler and Misquamicut state beaches will open Saturday.

The beaches will be open on Saturdays and Sundays only until Memorial Day, when all state beaches will open for daily use.

Beaches at Lincoln Woods State Park and Goddard Memorial State Park will also open Saturday for daily use.

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RI opens 3 state beaches early

The shoreline along Makapuu Point, Oahu, Hawaii, was included in the study Credit: Brad Romine, University of Hawaii Sea Grant/ Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources

HONOLULU, May 8 (UPI) -- A study of coastal change in the Hawaiian Islands found 70 percent of beaches on Kauai, Oahu and Maui are eroding away, scientists say.

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Hawaii assessing erosion along 150 miles of island coastline found an average loss of 0.4 feet per year from the early 1900s to 2000s, a university release said Monday.

The most extreme erosion -- nearly 6 feet per year -- was at Kualoa Point on East Oahu, they said.

The researchers used historical data sources such as maps and aerial photographs to measure shoreline change at more than 12,000 locations.

Erosion is the ultimate fate of all the Hawaiian Islands, researchers said.

"The inevitable fate of the Hawaiian Islands millions of years into the future is seen to the northwest in the spires of French Frigate Shoals and the remnants of other once-mighty islands, ancestors of today's Hawaii, but now sunken beneath the sea through the forces of waves, rivers, and the slow subsidence of the seafloor," USGS Director Marcia McNutt said.

However, researchers said, there are more immediate concerns over erosion rates.

"These data have allowed state and county agencies in Hawaii to account for shoreline change as early as possible in the planning and development process so that coastal communities and public infrastructure can be sited safely away from erosion hazards areas," William J. Aila Jr. of the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources said.

"This will vastly improve upon public safety and will ensure that Hawaii's beautiful beaches will be protected from inappropriate shoreline development."

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Erosion of Hawaiian beaches assessed

May 8, 2012

Image Credit: Photos.com

An assessment of coastal change over the past century has found 70 percent of beaches on the islands of Kauai, Oahu, and Maui are undergoing long-term erosion, according to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and University of Hawaii (UH) report released today.

Scientists from the USGS and the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at UH studied more than 150 miles of island coastline (essentially every beach) and found the average rate of coastal change taking into account beaches that are both eroding and accreting was 0.4 feet of erosion per year from the early 1900s to 2000s. Of those beaches eroding, the most extreme case was nearly 6 feet per year near Kualoa Point, East Oahu.

The inevitable fate of the Hawaiian Islands millions of years into the future is seen to the northwest in the spires of French Frigate Shoals and the remnants of other once mighty islands, ancestors of todays Hawaii, but now sunken beneath the sea through the forces of waves, rivers, and the slow subsidence of the seafloor, explained USGS Director Marcia McNutt.

These data have allowed State and County agencies in Hawaii to account for shoreline change as early as possible in the planning and development process so that coastal communities and public infrastructure can be sited safely away from erosion hazards areas, said William J. Aila Jr., Chairperson, Department of Land and Natural Resources, State of Hawaii. This will vastly improve upon public safety and will ensure that Hawaiis beautiful beaches will be protected from inappropriate shoreline development.

Of the three islands, Maui beaches experienced the highest rates and greatest extent of beach erosion with 85% of beaches eroding. Erosion is the dominant trend of coastal change on all three islands with 71% of beaches eroding on Kauai and 60% of beaches eroding on Oahu.

The researchers found that, although Hawaii beaches are dominated by erosion as a whole, coastal change is highly variable along the shore with cells of erosion and accretion typically separated by 100s of feet on continuous beaches or by rocky headlands that divide the coast into many small embayments. Most Hawaii beaches are composed of a mix of sediment derived from adjacent reefs and from the volcanic rock of the islands. Sediment availability and transport are important factors in shoreline change, and human interference in natural processes appears to have impacted the measured rates of change. For example, more than 13 miles of beaches in the study were completely lost to erosion nearly all previously in front of seawalls.

Over a century of building along the Hawaiian shoreline, without this sort of detailed knowledge about shoreline change, has led to some development that is located too close to the ocean, said Dr. Charles Fletcher, UH Geology and Geophysics Professor and lead author. A better understanding of historical shoreline change and human responses to erosion may improve our ability to avoid erosion hazards in the future.

The researchers used historical data sources such as maps and aerial photographs to measure shoreline change at more than 12,000 locations. Shoreline changes are measured in specialized Geographic Information System (GIS) software.

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70 Percent Of Beaches Eroding On Some Hawaiian Islands

Marina Del Rey

Beaches and Harbors names new deputy director

John Kelly has been appointed deputy director in charge of capital infrastructure projects and facilities maintenance at the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors.

A former civil engineer at the county Department of Public Works, Kelly will oversee the Beaches and Harbors departments many capital improvement projects on beaches, as well as infrastructure development efforts in the harbor and other parts of Marina del Rey, said Beaches and Harbors Director Santos Kreimann. Kelly will also manage premises and facilities maintenance, as well as traffic and harbor engineering efforts.

With more than 30 years of experience at all levels of the Public Works Department, John brings the wealth of experience and expertise necessary to manage capital projects worth more than $70 million on beaches and in the Marina, as well as to maintain our existing facilities, Kreimann said. John will play a critical role in the departments efforts to redevelop the Marina for the next generation and in maintaining our commitment to provide top-notch amenities at our beaches, from Nicholas Canyon to White Point.

Beaches and Harbors frequently partners with the county Public Works, the largest public works agency in the U.S., on a variety of projects, several of which Kelly has helped manage during his 17-year tenure as a Public Works senior manager.

Most recently, Kelly worked with Beaches and Harbors in connection with the Paseo del Mar landslide in San Pedro, oversaw DPWs work on capital improvement efforts at Venice and Will Rogers beaches and supervised the project management team responsible for the waterline, roadway and Oxford Basin infrastructure improvements currently planned or underway in Marina del Rey.

Visitors to our beaches, Marina del Rey and L.A. County residents in general seek a variety of recreational and other facilities along our coast and will benefit from Johns diverse experience as an engineer and manager in the nations most multi-faceted public works agency, Kreimann said. Were happy to have him on board.

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Beaches and Harbors names new deputy director

A University of Hawaii and U.S. Geological Survey study published Monday shows that 70 percent of beaches on the islands of Oahu, Maui and Kauai are undergoing long-term beach erosion.

Scientists from the USGS and the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at UH studied more than 150 miles of island coastline, which is essentially every beach, and found the average rate of coastal change taking into account beaches that are both eroding and accreting was 0.4 feet of erosion per year from the early 1900s to 2000s.

Of those beaches eroding, the most extreme case was nearly 6 feet per year near Kualoa Point on East Oahu.

"The inevitable fate of the Hawaiian Islands millions of years into the future is seen to the northwest in the spires of French Frigate Shoals and the remnants of other once mighty islands, ancestors of today's Hawaii, but now sunken beneath the sea through the forces of waves, rivers, and the slow subsidence of the seafloor," explained USGS Director Marcia McNutt.

"These data have allowed State and County agencies in Hawaii to account for shoreline change as early as possible in the planning and development process so that coastal communities and public infrastructure can be sited safely away from erosion hazards areas," said William J. Aila Jr., Chairperson, Department of Land and Natural Resources, State of Hawaii. "This will vastly improve upon public safety and will ensure that Hawaii's beautiful beaches will be protected from inappropriate shoreline development."

Of the three islands, Maui beaches experienced the highest rates and greatest extent of beach erosion with 85 percent of beaches eroding.

Erosion is the dominant trend of coastal change on all three islands with 71 percent of beaches eroding on Kauai and 60 percent of beaches eroding on Oahu.

The researchers found that, although Hawaii beaches are dominated by erosion as a whole, coastal change is highly variable along the shore with "cells" of erosion and accretion typically separated by 100s of feet on continuous beaches or by rocky headlands that divide the coast into many small embayments.

Most Hawaii beaches are composed of a mix of sediment derived from adjacent reefs and from the volcanic rock of the islands. Sediment availability and transport are important factors in shoreline change, and human interference in natural processes appears to have impacted the measured rates of change.

For example, more than 13 miles of beaches in the study were completely lost to erosion nearly all previously in front of seawalls.

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Study: 70 percent of beaches on Oahu, Maui and Kauai undergoing long-term erosion

HONOLULU (AP) -- Federal officials say most beaches on Hawaii's most visited islands are disappearing.

The U.S. Geological Survey said in a study released Monday that 70 percent of beaches on Maui, Kauai and Oahu are going through long-term erosion.

The study says 85 percent of beaches are eroding on Maui, while more than 70 percent are eroding on Kauai. The study says 60 percent of Oahu's beaches are eroding.

The study's lead author says he hopes the study will help guide developers and local officials as they consider development along the shoreline.

Chip Fletcher of the University of Hawaii says the study looked at more than 12,000 locations.

Beaches are the top attraction for more than 7 million Hawaii visitors each year. Tourists spent $12.6 billion in the state last year.

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Beaches on most visited Hawaii islands eroding

Peru's Health Ministry is urging people to stay away from Pacific beaches from Lima northward after recent large-scale deaths of pelicans and dolphins.

Neither the Health Ministry nor Peru's oceanographic institute has determined the cause of the deaths, and there is no indication the deaths of the birds and the mammals are related.

And the weekend's warning did not indicate why it might be dangerous to visit beaches. Peru's agricultural safety service ruled out Friday that the pelicans could have died of avian flu, which could be contagious to humans.

Since February, some 877 dolphins and, more recently, at least 1,200 pelicans have been found dead on Peruvian beaches for unexplained reasons.

Local fishermen and restaurant owners said the warning hasn't had much effect on their businesses.

It's the low season for Peruvian beach-goers, in any case.

A check of Lima's beaches found no dead animals on the shore but sanitation crews were cleaning up an unusually large amount of garbage and debris including plastic bags and bottles and pieces of wood.

AP

Continued here:

Peru warns against beaches due to pelican, dolphin deaths