Biting flies annoy beachgoers

Jaleesa Irizarry, WZZM 11:42 PM. EDT July 28, 2017

OTTAWA COUNTY, MICH. - It's supposed to be a perfect weekend to head to the beach, but you may be accompanied by some unwanted guests. Ottawa County Park officials confirm, biting flies have reportedly hit a few Ottawa County beaches.

Visitors at North Beach Park along Lake Michigan were greeted with a 'black fly warning' on Friday. A worker at the park booth says a number of people asked for refunds earlier in the day due to the increase of black flies.

The insects are known to sting people around the ankles.

"It's worse than a mosquito," beachgoer, Barry Watson, said.

Park officials tell WZZM13 they first noticed the flies on Thursday. Park Supervisors say the increase in insects is due to the winds.

"They bite and they're annoying and I don't like them," beachgoer, Cynthia Caulfield, added.

Signs warning about the biting flies were put up at North Beach Park in Ferrysburg and Kirk Park in West Olive on Friday. Park officials say because of the wind the flies may be an issue on Saturday as well.

"Its been pretty over the top today," Kirk Park beachgoer, Mike Ward, said. "I smashed one and blood just squirted everywhere, it was pretty epic."

While the signs claim these are black flies. Michigan State University Entomologist Howard Russell begs to differ, he believes they're stable flies. "They're strong fliers, the wind helps, they blow in from areas where they breed," Russell told WZZM 13 over the phone.

Russell says like black flies, stables flies bite, and bite a lot, "They're very aggressive biters and it's a hot bite.They like to bite low. Once you lay down you're right in there power zone. The repellents really don't provide a lot of protection."

Russell says the best way to avoid getting bitten is wearing pants to cover your legs and ankles.

Ottawa County Park officials are offering a full refund within 15 minutes of entering the park if you can't handle the flies.

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Beachgoers beware: Biting flies hit Ottawa County beaches - WZZM

We'll admit it. At first glance, the state of Texas beaches is underwhelming. Between the spring breakers and year-round partiers on South Padre Island to beaches that are more dirt than sand, it can be hard to find hidden pockets of real beach. But whether you want to hunt for seashells, windsurf, actually surf (who knew), or just sit out with plenty of layers of SPF and a good book , Texas has a beach for you, with real sand and access to the Gulf.

Padre Island is the longest undeveloped barrier island in the world but its national seashore is one of the state's most underrated areas. Home to sea turtle nesting grounds, 380 bird species, and 70 miles of coastline, these shores are secluded. From Malaquite Beach to South Beach, visitors can camp directly on the sand for a few dollars a night or just find a quiet spot to pitch an umbrella for the day. If you're looking to go to the island's more remote beaches, make sure your car has four-wheel drive.

Located along the the state's Upper Gulf coast on the Bolivar Peninsula, Crystal Beach is for the party set. Sunbathers can pull their cars (and trucks) directly onto the edge of the sand, set up barbecues, and walk right out to the water. Plan a trip here later in the season, since strands of seaweed brought in by the current pile up in the early summer months.

Alamy

Windsurfing at Bird Island Basin.

You won't spend much time on the beach along Bird Island Basin. You'll be in the water, thanks to some of the best windsurfing conditions in the U.S. A part of the Padre Island National Seashore, the basin has steady breeze, warm Gulf waters, and shallow depths, making it perfect for beginners and experienced windsurfers alike. Plus, there's plenty of room for other water activities, like kayaking and fishing. There's a boat ramp for access to Laguna Madre if you want to explore other areas of the protected seashore.

Across the ship canal from Port Aransas, San Jose Island is accessible only by boat. A ferry travels hourly between here and nearby Mustang Island. Since the island is privately owned, visitors are restricted to beach areas. But fishing along the jetty for speckled trout, redfish, and flounder, beach-combing, and birding along the shore are all welcome. In February, avid birders visit for the annual Whopping Crane Festival .

Getty

A view of Mustang Island State Park's coastline at sunrise.

Named one of the "prettiest, cleanest swaths of publicly owned land on the Gulf" by Texas Monthly , Mustang Island State Park has something for everyone. There are tide pools, hiking and mountain bike paths, Texas-sized waves for surfers, white sand, and car-free beaches. If you're up for even more, rent a kayak and head out on the paddling trail, which offers more than 20 miles of wildlife watching and shallow-water fishing.

Read more:

Best Beaches in Texas - Cond Nast Traveler - Cond Nast Traveler

WATCH LIVE

(Published Friday, July 28, 2017)

Thirteen beaches on Massachusetts' South Shore have been closed this week due to high levels of bacteria found in the water.

The other 52 salt-water beaches on the South Shore have been deemed safe for swimming and remain open.

The high levels of bacteria are most likely the result of runoff rainwater that was contaminated. Certain beaches saw bacteria levels four times the limit while others were closed as a precuation.

In all, 65 South Shore beaches were tested for intestinal bacteria found in humans and animals that can cause disease.

The following beaches have been closed for swimming:

Milton Street

Rice Road

Sachem Street

Channing Street

Brant Rock

Fieldston

Green Harbor

Rexhame

Sunrise

White Horse Beach

Hingham

Lighthouse

Humarock

Water quality tests results for Cape Cod, the South Coast, and North Shore can be seen viewed here.

It's unclear when these beaches will reopen.

Published at 12:06 PM EDT on Jul 28, 2017 | Updated at 5:07 PM EDT on Jul 28, 2017

View original post here:

13 South Shore Beaches Close Due to Contamination - NECN - NECN

PORT ARANSAS -

Losing a child is every parent's worst nightmare, but think about that happening on miles of crowded beach. Police say that isa big problem during busy summer months.

CCPDgot a missing child call on a Padre Island beach shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday evening. That girl was found safely. Port Aransas police usually respond to missing children calls about five times a week in the summer.

A family day at the beach took a terrifying turn for Bron Doyle when his 13-year-old niece got lost.

"She just wasn't paying attention, and she's walking, and next thing you know she's missing," Doyle said.

With dusk falling, he was well aware of all the risks.

"Wewere scared," Doyle said. "We didn't know whether she got taken by the current. whether she wandered up into the sand dunes, which is pretty dangerous. She could have been kidnapped, or just got lost."

Port Aransas police and emergency responders searched for two hours before the teenager was safely located. Police Chief Scott Burroughs says in a situation like this, it isimportant to call 911 right away.

"A child that's lost and panicking can run, and they can a mile or two a mile or two away in just a matter of 15 or 20 minutes," Chief Burroughs said.

He says that children should know their parents full names and phone numbers, and while they should not approach a stranger, they should contact a working lifeguard or police officer.

A photo of a lost child is also hugely helpful in locating them.

"We encourage people to photograph their children every morning when they come to the beach with exactly what they were wearing, exactly what they look like that day," Chief Burroughs said.

Parents can also help their kids stay oriented by teaching them how to recognize beach mile markers, and setting up near a fixed landmark, like a guard stand.

Since memorial day weekend, Port Aransas police have responded to about 40 missing children calls.

"Very scary, scary!" said mom Elida Padilla.

With that in mind, Padilla and other parents are relying on close supervision of their children.

"We make sure we always know where they're at," Padilla said.

"We do a head count," grandmother Tanya De LaRosa added.

Port Aransas police say most of these incidents happen with children ages 4- to 9-years-old, close to dusk, and when there are more adults supervising, becausethey might be distracted.

Police say parents should also be aware of teenagers purposely splitting off, or estranged spouses that try to contact their children at the beach.

Reading on your phone? Download the KRIS 6 News Mobile App for iOS/iPhonehereand for Androidhere.

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Police warn of summer spike in lost children on beaches - KRISTV ... - KRIS Corpus Christi News

All of Atlantic City's beaches are open after seven beaches remain closed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Thursday morning, due to poor water quality.

High levels of bacteria were found in the water off the state's coastline after severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall earlier this week. On Wednesday, 12 beaches were initially closed.

Atlantic City Beach Patrol Chief Steven Downey said around 2:30 p.m., that swimming was still not allowed at certain beaches and the beach patrol was waiting for testing results from the DEP.

According the state's Cooperative Coastal Monitor Program website,njbeach.org,the New Jersey Sanitary Code require the concentration bacteria must not exceed 104 colonies in a 100 milliliter sample. Sampling will continue until water-quality results return to normal levels. A beach closes if two consecutive samples at a bathing beach are higher than the state standard.

By 4:30 p.m., the DEP was reporting all beaches we open, the last being the Pennsylvania Avenue beach.

The Sierra Club of New Jersey released a statement on the contamination of shore waters, putting the blame on the Department of Environmental Protection's failed pollution protection policies.

"This is what happens when we roll back environmental protections and fail to control over-development, combined sewer overflows and storm water" said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "You would think that when it rains our water would be cleaner but instead it becomes dirtier. When it rains it pours; because it washes in polluted storm water with animal waste and even septic waste onto our beaches.

Thursday's weather was more of a damper on people's beach day than the beach closures.

Travelling from Charlotte, North Carolina, Richard Jacobson and his family were trying to make the best of their last days on the beach in Atlantic City.

Jacobson's and his two teen aged children were able to swim at the Texas Avenue beach, but had a bit of walk to find an open ocean.

"We're staying at the Claridge and of course, all the beaches are closed down there, so we had to walk up here... being that it's cloudy and cold and the water temperature isn't the greatest, the bacteria thing is a bummer, but we don't mind walking".

Red "no swimming" flags were planted and lifeguards were keeping people out of the water, but some were okay just to enjoy the sand.

"It's not ruining our day" said Alec Curry, of Philadelphia, who was on the Pennsylvania Avenue beach near Landshark Bar and Grill with friends, celebrating a recent graduation. "If it was really hot we might mind, but we're just hanging out today".

Go here to read the rest:

Atlantic City beaches last to reopen after DEP water quality closure - Press of Atlantic City

It was about 2AM on a Friday morning, and Connor White couldnt find the baby great white shark he was supposed to be tracking off the Southern California coast. He wasnt worried about the shark, really these Pacific waters are its home. But he was starting to panic about losing the $9,000 accessory called a SmartTag that the shark was wearing around its dorsal fin, like a giant, bright orange Fitbit.

Why are these little sharks here?

Equipped with a handful of sensors and a camera, the SmartTag is part of a growing suite of gadgets that gives scientists a window into a day in the life of a shark. That is, as long as the scientists can find it once it releases from the sharks fin. Lose the shark, and you lose the pricey tag along with all its data. To keep costs down, White hadnt outfitted the tag with a satellite transmitter.

So all he had to go by was the high-frequency radio signal the tag was supposed to emit when it floated to the surface, and outside of a 15-mile radius, he wouldnt be able to hear it. You know the shark cant be that far away, White says. But each minute that you cant find it, the area that the shark could be in gets bigger, and bigger.

White helped develop the SmartTag when he was a graduate student in Chris Lowes Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach, which was part of a collaboration with Harvey Mudd robotics professor Chris Clark. There are other, similar tags out in the world helping scientists study animals that spend their lives underwater. But the SmartTag was designed specifically to fit around the fins of smaller sharks. Like, for example, baby great whites.

The team wants to use these tags to figure out whats drawing baby great white sharks to popular Southern California beaches, packed with the biggest threat to sharks in the world: lots and lots of people. Why are these little sharks here? How much time are they going to spend here, and do we have to worry about them? Lowe says. We needed the right tools to answer those questions.

Other than a video camera, the SmartTag sports a thermometer and a depth sensor. And at its heart is an inertial measurement unit, or IMU the same technology that helps your phone or Wiimote detect movement in three dimensions. On your phone, the IMU tells your screen when to flip from vertical to horizontal. On a shark, it logs when the shark dives, swerves, or surfaces. With this information, White says, You can really reveal its secret life, and remove the water through your computer screen.

Thats key, because for all the Hollywood mythology and hysteria built up around great white sharks which are really just called white sharks in science textbooks their lives are still a mystery. We know, for example, that white sharks live throughout the worlds oceans and eat marine mammals, keeping the food web in balance from their position at its apex. We know that the babies are about four to five feet long when they pop out of their mothers with a full set of teeth, and that they can live for around 70 years.

But we dont know how many of them are swimming through the oceans, where they mate, and where exactly they give birth to their young. And we have no idea why baby white sharks are congregating in the warm, shallow waters between Santa Barbara and Baja, California. The team suspects that these baby white shark hot spots in places like Santa Monica Bay and Huntington Beach are nurseries that the babies swim between for their first five or so years, munching on stingrays and avoiding being eaten by larger sharks. White doesnt know for certain, however, which is where the SmartTags come in.

You can really reveal its secret life.

The day before White found himself hunting for the baby white shark in the middle of the night, tagging it had gone smoothly. He and two boatloads of researchers had journeyed from the CSU Shark Lab to just off Belmont Shore in Southern California. Every piece of trash or bird on the waters surface looked like a fin to White. But it only took about 10 minutes for the real thing to appear a tell-tale little triangle, cutting through the water. Ten minutes later, he saw another.

With the help of an aerial drone, he and the crew used boats to stretch out a net and snare a baby white shark. They dragged it to the bigger of the two boats, where the shark was hoisted out of the water and dunked into a saltwater tub on the deck. Baby white sharks look like the short, stubby versions of the adults, White says. But theyre remarkably lazy and relaxed. Put them in a little bathtub, and they kind of just lay there, chilled out, he says.

Then they got to work outfitting the shark with both an acoustic tag, and the SmartTag. First, the team made a little cut in the sharks abdomen, and slipped the acoustic tracker inside. The acoustic tag lasts about 10 years, so its a longer-term, lower-resolution way to keep track of the sharks once the SmartTag falls off. It acts kind of like an E-ZPass on a toll road, Lowe says. By setting up stations that listen for the acoustic trackers little pings, scientists can monitor when and how many times a shark passes.

Then, the crew cinched the SmartTag in place around the sharks dorsal fin. (The tag has a lock that corrodes after 24 hours, sending the tag floating back up to the surface.) Finally, they released the shark back into the ocean. After all that excitement, you feel like its victorious, White says.

But then comes the hard part: following the shark with a microphone that picks up the pings from its new acoustic tracker. White and a rotating crew of Shark Lab members chased the shark overnight, losing it once for a stress-filled two hours before finding it again around 3AM. By around noon the next day, the shark had reached Dana Point about 35 miles south of where it had started.

By the time they returned to the place theyd last seen the shark, it was gone again

The crew desperately needed to refuel the boat, but by the time they returned to the place theyd last seen the shark, it was gone again. And with it, the tag which was due to release from the sharks fin at any moment. For about an hour, they drove around in a grid pattern, listening for the high frequency radio signal the tag is designed to emit when it reaches the surface. When they finally spotted it, White breathed a big sigh of relief. Finding the tag is one of the most stressful parts, he says. Because if you dont find it, youve not only lost all the effort of tracking the shark, but you lose the $9,000 of technology on the tag.

The first thing he did when he got back to shore was download all of its data and graph the sharks movements. The second thing he did was sleep for the next 12 hours. Adrenaline rushes by far the most when you have the shark in the boat, he says. But I think the most exciting part is definitely when you download the tag and see what the shark actually did.

So far, the Shark Lab has only monitored three white sharks with these new SmartTags. So they havent collected enough information to glimpse more than the tip of the iceberg, White says. Its like trying to infer what all humans do by looking at three peoples Fitbit data. But theyre hoping that tagging more sharks, and changing up how they track them, could help paint a more complete picture about whats drawing these young sharks to Southern Californias beaches.

To that end, the Shark Lab is working with Harvey Mudds Chris Clark to develop a fleet of autonomous robots that track the sharks by themselves. There are other autonomous underwater vehicles that can do this, too, like the REMUS AUV developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In 2013, Massachusetts marine fisheries biologist Greg Skomal used a custom-built REMUS-100 AUV to track and observe four white sharks off the coast of Mexico. (Several sharks tried to bite the AUV, possibly because it looked like food.)

The robot can swim and chew gum at the same time.

But, Lowe says, the REMUS is a little pricey for his team. So he and Clark are developing smaller, cheaper underwater drones that can track any creature bearing an off-the-shelf acoustic transmitter. Shaped like torpedoes sporting underwater microphones, the robots have successfully followed a leopard shark by listening for the pings of its acoustic tag. Theyre designed to circle the shark at a fixed distance. We dont want to get too close, Clark explains. If theres a robot butting up against it all the time, itll affect the shark behavior and ruin the experiment.

The advantage of using autonomous robots is that they can film the shark and learn about its environment in a way thats impossible from a boat. The robots can measure oxygen levels, water temperature, acidity, salinity and can even map the seafloor using sonar. The robot can swim and chew gum at the same time, Lowe says. The problem is that right now, the robots arent fast enough to catch up with a white shark if it slips out of range for their microphones. But his team is working on it, Clark says.

The cool thing about combining all that technology is for the first time, its giving us the opportunity to understand how some of these sharks may be making decisions, Lowe says. And that could go a long ways to restoring great whites reputations. The more we know about these sharks, he says, the less likely the public is to demonize them or fear them. And the more likely they are to want to protect them.

Go here to read the rest:

Could underwater gadgets tell us why baby sharks hang out at LA beaches? - The Verge

The closures are the result of concerning bacteria levels.

(Gizelka/iStockphoto.com)

Elevated bacteria levels have caused the Department of Environmental Protection toclose15 beaches in New Jersey, including Atlantic City beaches.

The concerning conditions wereannounced earlier this week. On Wednesday, the DEP issued three beach closures (all in Toms River in North Jersey) and 31 water advisories. As of Thursday morning, the closures increased in number (instead affectingAtlantic and Ocean counties) and the water quality advisories decreased to four (in Monmouth and Ocean counties).

The beach closures are due topotentially dangerous levels ofEnterococci bacteria, likelythe result of heavy rain that caused sewage and pollution runoff to flow into streams feeding into rivers and bays.

The N.J. State Sanitary Code maintains that concentrations of bacteria should not exceed 104 colonies ofEnterococciper 100 milliliters of sample. Beach closures are issued when two consecutive bacteria samples exceed the state standard, while beach advisories are issued when initial samples exceed the state standard.

The N.J. DEPhasclosedthe following beaches:

Water quality advisories have been issued at the following beaches:

Follow @ClaireSasko on Twitter.

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N.J. DEP Increases Beach Closures to 15, Including A.C. | News ... - Philadelphia magazine

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Video released of suspects in fatal Mendocino County home invasion robbery

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Toxic algae prompts Russian River beach warnings

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MARY CALLAHAN

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | July 26, 2017, 12:41PM

| Updated 2 hours ago.

More Information

Sonoma County provides more information on blue-green algae at its website here

To read more about the recent findings go here

State guide to identifying blue-green algae, here

Sonoma County officials posted caution signs at beaches up and down the Russian River on Wednesday alerting visitors to positive test results for a potentially dangerous, naturally occurring neurotoxin linked to harmful algae, a problem surfacing around Northern California this summer.

Water samples collected at three local beaches turned up very low levels of a substance called Anatoxin-a, which is produced by certain species of blue-green algae, Sonoma County health officials said.

Its the third year in a row the algae-related toxin has been detected in the river.

The most-recent samples were taken Monday and the test results received Wednesday, Sonoma County Health Officer Karen Milman said.

Though the level of toxin in the water was just at the ability to detect it, the finding triggers precautionary alerts under state guidelines, she said.

Rivergoers should be particularly watchful of dogs, which are actually attracted to harmful algae, according to studies, and, by virtue of their relative body size and habits when around fresh water, are particularly susceptible to exposure.

But swimmers, waders, tubers, paddle boarders and others who may have direct contact with water, as well as parents of small children, should take precautions to ensure they do not put themselves or their offspring at risk, health officials said.

That means avoiding ingesting river water or cooking with it, washing off after swimming and avoiding hand-to-mouth contact.

Be aware and take precautions to protect themselves, particularly their pets, but also know that the river is open, Milman said.

The news, if not entirely surprising, is disappointing for business owners dependent on the river, coming at high season for tourism.

After three consecutive years, and with the toxin levels so low, many said they thought most visitors would continue to enjoy local beaches and boating, though some unknown number will stay away, they said.

I think the newness of these warnings has warn off, so people realize that the risk is low, said Dan Poirier, co-owner of Johnsons Beach & Resort in Guerneville.

John Menth, a county parks lifeguard who also runs his own paddle boarding rental and tour company, said he was at Healdsburgs Veterans Memorial Beach on Wednesday when county personnel came to post the caution signs.

Some arriving visitors turned right around and left, he said, forecasting some impact on river business.

But he and others said they hoped people would understand they are not at risk if they dont go down there and drink the water.

The Russian River notification comes in the wake of a broader alert from the North Coast water quality regulators about the potential for harmful algal blooms in fresh water bodies around the region including Lake, Mendocino and Humboldt counties as a result of summer conditions that include warming water temperatures and slow-moving water.

Algae-related toxins already have been reported at several sites around Northern California this year, including in Clear Lake and in Upper and Lower Blue Lakes, all in Lake County.

Blue-green algae is reportedly widespread in Clear Lake, though samples that tested positive for toxins in early July were at very low levels, mostly from the most southerly parts of the lake, according to Sue McConnell, a program manager with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, with jurisdiction over most of Lake County.

More Information

Sonoma County provides more information on blue-green algae at its website here

To read more about the recent findings go here

State guide to identifying blue-green algae, here

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A dense bloom in the lakes upper arm also is believed to have contributed to a fish kill that left hundreds, perhaps thousands of fish dead this week near Clearlake Oaks, apparently after they suffocated in water that had been depleted of oxygen, Lake County Water Resources Director Phil Moy said.

In that case, the fish are not believed to have died as a result of toxin, but because the blue-green algae, formally known as cyanobacteria, use oxygen at night and give off carbon dioxide, creating low oxygen levels, he said.

Toxic concentrations of two harmful algae also were detected in a Napa River pond where two dogs died last month, while a toxic bloom was reported last week in Lake Countys Copsey Creek.

The South Fork of the Eel River, which crosses into northern Mendocino County from Humboldt County, also is historically a common hot spot for toxic algae blooms.

Sonoma County health officials and state quality water regulators have been monitoring conditions in the Russian River closely since an outbreak of harmful algae the summer of 2015 led to the deaths of two dogs.

In both cases, Anatoxin-a appeared to be responsible, causing violent, sudden illness and death within moments of exposure.

Caution signs were posted again last year on the Russian River after routine testing revealed low levels of the substance. This year, seasonal testing began July 17 after river monitoring suggested the kinds of conditions in which blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, thrive, Milman said.

All 10 beaches that are part of the testing protocol were clear last week.

Test results received Wednesday showed that samples from Cloverdale River Park Beach, Del Rio Woods Beach in Healdsburg and Patterson Point beach, downstream of Monte Rio in the community of Villa Grande, all had barely detectable levels of Anatoxin-a, measured between 0.14 and 0.16 micrograms per liter.

Under state guidelines, any detection of neurotoxin triggers cautionary notification about a water body.

Danger warnings that prohibit swimming and other activities in the water are not required until the toxin level reaches 20micrograms per liter, or about 130times what was detected early this week.

The bilingual caution signs posted Wednesday say that harmful algae may be present in the water and urge the public to avoid algae and scum while swimming, to keep children away from the shoreline, to prevent animals from drinking the water or eating scum, to avoid drinking or cooking with the water, to throw away the guts and clean fillet of any fish caught in the river and to avoid eating shellfish caught in the river. Larry Laba, owner of Healdsburg-based SOAR Inflatables and Russian River Adventures, lost his own dog during the 2015 bloom and said he was contacting customers who had reserved space for dogs on their boating tours to inform them of recent developments and offer refunds.

He noted that the toxin level in the river when his dog died was several hundreds times what it is right now.

Im not encouraging them to come (with dogs), he said. Im encouraging them to make a smart choice, is the best way I can put it.

Water quality experts say harmful algal blooms have become more common and persistent in recent years, possibly related to changing conditions linked to global warming.

Blue-green algae tends to thrive in warm, slow-moving, shallow water, which is why it tends to peak in the latter part of summer and was prominent during Californias recent drought.

Officials also are wary of the impact this year of voluminous runoff that likely loaded streams and lakes with phosphates and other nutrients on which blue-green algae could feed.

Heightened awareness, closer monitoring and more refined testing may be alerting the public to blooms they wouldnt have known about even a decade ago, officials said.

Thats a big part of the dynamic, said Don McEnhill, executive director of the Russian Riverkeeper. We never looked before, and there could have been these very low concentrations that we werent aware of before.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.

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Sonoma County issues toxic algae warning for Russian River ... - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

MARGATE, N.J. Looks like hell.

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of

Awful.

Devastating.

Its literally like watching a loved one tortured.

Our beautiful beach is being ruined.

Theres no shortage of told-you-so dismay on the beaches and social media of Margate over the Army Corps of Engineers project to construct dunes and widen beaches, an edict of Gov. Christie that the city fought for years, preferring its flat beaches and bulkhead, and predicting that the dunes would cause more problems than they would solve.

Now, as the 24-hour noisy construction and rusty pipes have moved into Margate at the height of summer, residents and officials say their worst fears are being realized: This weeks heavy rains left large gullies of water between the bulkhead and the new dune, water that failed to percolate into the sand as it was supposed to, and left some beach-goers having to walk through standing water to first get to the dune, then up and over the dune to get to the beach (which at several spots in Margate was closed to swimming Wednesday because of construction-related issues).

Cameron B. Pollack

The beach construction site, with accessible beach in the background, in Margate on Wednesday. CAMERON B. POLLACK / Staff Photographer

This is what we said would happen for the last four years, said Margates very unhappy mayor, Mike Becker, who said the timing and the project itself have been blows to his beach town at its most economically sensitive and cherished time. Its happening. Its ugly. Its a mess now. Theres water all over the place. It becomes a nonmanageable problem.

Once up and over the dune, the new beach stretches out much wider than before. Its a hike. The big, rusty pipe that carries the sand being dredged will stay on the beach for the projects duration.

Its like crossing the Sahara desert, Ava Lubert, a lifelong resident, said of the new landscape, which beach-goers maintain is made with a darker, coarser sand than theyre used to. They worry about the loss of surfing breaks, and about waves breaking in shallow surf. Others imagine that the dredged post-Sandy sand will carry toxins and have been alarmed by some elevated bacteria levels stirred up by the beach construction. Its sad. Seeing this, its just sad.

Cameron B. Pollack

The newly built dune on the beach in Margate. CAMERON B. POLLACK / Staff Photographer

Lubert said the standing water had birds pooping in it and forced long detours for beach-goers.

We were wondering if they were going to offer ferry service, said Tracy Nalbandian.

Bob Considine of the state Department of Environmental Protection called the ponding a temporary condition that is a byproduct of the beach construction, pumping of the sand and water, and the heavy rains of the last few days. He said the state was working on a long-term solution. The project called for the beach to be dug out like a trench to collect water between the bulkhead and the dune, which ideally would settle into the sand.

Theres just a lot of saturation, Considine said. This has been kind of a problem area prior to the project, which the city remedied by trenching between the bulkhead and the ocean.

Cameron B. Pollack

Water pooling between a newly built dune and Exeter Street houses in Margate. CAMERON B. POLLACK / Staff Photographer

Still, the ponding water revived fears raised at a December federal court hearing, the last of several held as Margate hired lawyers and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to block the state from proceeding with the project. The city argued that the prior method of dealing with storm water digging trenches that ran from the bulkhead to the ocean would be impossible with the dunes in the way, leading to standing water, mosquitoes, and even a threat of Zika.

Becker said the city was in discussion with the Army Corps and the state to come up with a solution to the drainage troubles a problem that he said has been exacerbated by the project and about which the city repeatedly expressed concerns.

The DEPs Considine said the state was finalizing a plan to bring a long-term, engineering solution to these storm-water issues that have existed there for a long time.

Basically, its a drainage-collection system that would involve the discharge of the storm water to the ocean, he said.

Cameron B. Pollack

A family sits in a finished part of the beach in Margate, as construction looms behind. CAMERON B. POLLACK / Staff Photographer

On the beach Wednesday, Ted Tannenbaum of Philadelphia was more philosophical than most and said the long resistance to the project was partly to blame for Margates bearing the brunt of the construction during the summer, which has worried Realtors and other business owners. (The state has denied that Margate is being punished for its resistance, and blamed the timing issues on the contractor, Weeks Marine.) Several blocks of the beach are closed at a time as the project moves from north to south. Longport will be next, though likely after the summer season is over. Work is also being done on Atlantic City beaches, and will move later this summer to Ventnor.

They got what they deserved, Tannenbaum said.

He said the dune was not as high as I thought it would be.

It is what it is, he said. Its just different. Its definitely a little less convenient. And a little less convenient the older you get.

Cameron B. Pollack

A runner makes his way toward dredging pipes with Keep Out painted on them in Margate. He was diverted from the construction site by a security guard (not shown). CAMERON B. POLLACK / Staff Photographer

The long hike up and over the dunes worried others on the beach with kids and gear, and also with older parents. Ventnors boardwalk features walkways that go over the dunes, and does not require a similar hike. Also, the beach goes straight out from Ventnors dunes, which at least in the northern part of Margate above its pier leaves a wide portion of the beach behind the dune.

Becker said that would change on the other side of the pier, where the dune will be closer to the bulkhead, and to houses.

There were further concerns about whether the Margate Fishing Pier, privately owned, would be landlocked, and how the beach replenishment would affect surfing and rip tides.

Cameron B. Pollack

The newly built dune on the beach in Margate, which intrudes on a private fishing pier near Exeter Street. CAMERON B. POLLACK / Staff Photographer

On the beach block of Exeter, Nicole Grenata was renting a pricey beach block house for the week and found the beach at the end of her street closed for construction, 24-hour noise, and ponding water across the street. And no more ocean view from the first-floor porch (though still from the second-floor deck).

Its a bummer, she said. Its 24 hours a day. I dont blame the owners.

Cameron B. Pollack

Construction on the beach in Margate. CAMERON B. POLLACK / Staff Photographer

Some in nearby Ventnor, though, advised Margatians to embrace the dunes, which the state insists will provide needed protection in future storms, and to remember Sandy, which caused widespread destruction along the coast five years ago this October. Margate, though, says the flooding problems were primarily from the bay, not the ocean.

Apparently they liked their beach just fine the way it was. And arent afraid to say so, especially on Facebook.

Its really tough to witness.

Cant wait for Mother Nature to take her revenge & give me my beach backggggrrrr!!!

Published: July 27, 2017 5:00 AM EDT

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People in Margate are sad, mad about their new dunes, wider beach - Philly.com

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(Published 4 hours ago)

A dozen New Jersey swimming beaches are under a bacteria advisory and nine others are closed after test results showed rising levels of bacteria.

The state Department of Environmental Protectionissues an advisory when a sample exceeds the state standard for the presence of entercocci, a type of bacteria found in animal and human waste.

A Foodie's Guide to the Perfect New Jersey Staycation

Swimming advisories warn the public of potentially unhealthy water conditions, and additional sampling is conducted until water quality results are again within standard.

Beaches are closed if two consecutive samples collected at a bathing beach exceed the state standard. Beach closings remain in effect until subsequent sampling indicates bateria levels are again below the standard.

The closure applies to water activities like swimming, wading and playing in the water. Other beach-related activities like sunbathing and walking on the beach are unaffected.

Massive Crowds Gather in NJ ... for a Grocery Store?

The following beaches are closed:

ATLANTIC COUNTY

OCEAN COUNTY

ATLANTIC COUNTY

Atlantic City

MONMOUTH COUNTY

Deal Borough

Highlands Borough

Long Branch City

Middletown Township

Sea Bright Borough

Sea Girt Borough

Spring Lake Borough

OCEAN COUNTY

Barnegat Light Borough

Point Pleasant Beach Borough

Long Beach Township

Toms River Township

Published 5 hours ago | Updated 1 minute ago

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New Jersey Issues Advisories, Closes Some Beaches After Bacteria Turns Up in Water Testing - NBC New York

CAYUGA COUNTY, N.Y.

Two bathing beaches along Cayuga Lake have reopened after being closed due to the presence of harmful algal blooms, according to the Cayuga County Health Department.

The beaches at Wells College dock in the village of Aurora and Frontenac Park in the village of Union Springs were closed last week when the blooms were detected. The health department announced Wednesday that the beaches were back open to the public.

The Health Department says it monitors the water quality at public beaches routinely and closes swimming areas when a potential hazard is identified.

The algal blooms are described as paint-like or give the water a filmy appearance and should be avoided. If any are spotted, the public is encouraged to report them to the state Department of Environmental Conservation at HABsinfo@dec.ny.gov.

If you have any questions about algal blooms, you can call the Cayuga County Health Department at 315-253-1560.

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Two Cayuga Co. bathing beaches closed by algal blooms back open - CNYcentral.com

USA Today NetworkCheri Carlson, Ventura County (Calif.) Star Published 4:48 p.m. ET July 24, 2017 | Updated 5:05 p.m. ET July 24, 2017

For the past 10 years, researchers have tagged juvenile white sharks off Southern California. They found a half dozen hot spots for shark nurseries just off the coast. Cheri Carlson/The Star

Chris Loeb of the California State University-Long Beach Shark Lab releases a juvenile white shark off the coast of Southern California(Photo: Shark Lab at California State University-Long Beach)

VENTURA, Calif. A nursery for great white sharks sits just off Ventura and Oxnard two of a half dozen hot spots along the Southern California coast.

Chris Lowe, a professor at California State University-Long Beach, and his team at the university's Shark Lab searched through close to 100 years of fishery records and identified hot spots for the juvenile sharks. The state started keeping shark records long before the Discovery Channel's Shark Week, which began in 1988 and is having its 30th anniversary this week, had its debut.

About 10 years ago, they began taggingyoung white sharks along the coast to try to confirm those findings. They did.

With the acoustic transmitters that we implant in the sharks, they have to swim within 300 yards of one of our underwater receivers, Lowe said. We have those all along the coast in the Southern California.

Monday: Youre way more likely to die from these than a shark attack Sunday: Fans upset that Michael Phelps didn't race a real shark

What they found was that the young white sharks stayed in the areas Dana Point, Huntington Beach, Oxnard, Santa Monica Bay and Ventura over the summerbefore working their way down the coast and heading to the Baja Peninsula for the winter.

After the winter, some of those young sharks head back to Southern California the next summer. Some do it over and over again, Lowe said.

Weve seen the number of babies in Southern California steadily increase over the last 10 years. Thats a sign that ... our coastal ocean is getting healthier.

"The sharks that we tag tend to hang out mainly at those hot spot areas during their first few summers," he said.They are safer areas for the juveniles ones away from predators and full of easy-to-catch sting rays.

While the young sharks come back to Southern California, they don't always pick the same spot.Why they pick one over another is one of the questions Lowe would like to answer.

It's still too early in the season to say whether they will hang out off the Ventura County coast this year, but in the past month people have seen them.

In June, state lifeguards posted signs along the beach after authorities confirmed a sighting of a juvenile shark near Ventura Pier.

The beach wasn't closed, which follows a protocol used throughout the area. The signs just acted as an advisory, said Tyson Butzke, Ventura sector supervisor for California State Parks.

The shark, about 6 to 8 feet long,didn't show any aggressive behavior, and the advisory was lifted the next day.

For 20 years, Ventura Harbormaster John Higgins said he hadn't seen any sharks close to shore in the area.

Friday: Shark expert breaks down Phelps's chances in race July 12: How common are shark attacks?

Then in 2015, surfers, harbor patrol and others saw them regularly just off the coast.

"I could go there almost every day and see them," Higgins said of a spot just south of the harbor beaches.

Beach-goers enjoy a warm day near the Ventura Harbor South Jetty in Ventura, Calif.(Photo: Chuck Kirman, Ventura County (Calif.) Star)

Since then, "we have been kind of invested in knowing about these sharks," he said.

Higgins and others have worked with Lowe to learn more about the sharks and helped set up receivers to help track the tagged sharks.

Now, harbor patrol officers specifically look for the juvenile sharks, and agencies have worked together to share information.

"They are just juvenile white sharks. They're not the great white shark that you see on 'Jaws' or as part of Shark Week," Higgins said.

A newborn great white shark measures 4 to 5 feet long. They grow about a foot annually for the first three or four years.

Weve seen the number of babies in Southern California steadily increase over the last 10 years, Lowe said.Thats a sign that were doing some things right and that our coastal ocean is getting healthier."

Most of the sharks along the beaches in Ventura and Oxnard are between a few weeks and a few years old.

July 6: Fisherman swims with a whale shark off Maryland coast June 8: Man films shark bite while spearfishing

They tend to stay closer to shore, eating stingrays and fish along the bottom of the ocean.

Aggressive behavior is rare, but people should leave them alone, Lowe said. Like any wild animal, they will defend themselves if threatened.

Follow Cheri Carlson on Twitter:@vcCheri

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Why great white sharks keep coming close to California beaches - USA TODAY

Swimming advisory lifted for Beach 1, Barracks Beach and Beach 6; precautionary advisory remains for Beach 9.

Presque Isle State Park officials have lifted a swimming advisory that was issued for Beach 1, Barracks Beach and Beach 6 on Tuesday and issued a precautionary swimming advisory was issued for Beach 9.

The advisory, which was placed because of elevated E. coli bacteria counts, was lifted on Wednesday at 11:45 a.m.

According to Erie County Department of Health protocol, if E. coli bacteria counts are between 235 and 999 per 100 milliliters of water, a swimming advisory is posted for a beach. The precautionary swimming advisory will be lifted when there is no longer an environmental and public health concern, officials said.

Swimming is allowed at beaches with advisories, but officials recommend that swimmers avoid swallowing lake water and avoid swimming with open cuts or wounds. Beach users should wash their hands before handling food. Beaches under a precautionary swimming advisory are still open to the public for swimming, sunbathing and other recreational opportunities.

Presque Isle State Park has 13 regulated swimming beaches.

For information, call the park office at 833-7424.

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Swimming advisories lifted for three Presque Isle beaches - GoErie.com

Texas is known for many things, but many people overlook Texas beaches. With 600 miles of the Gulf of Mexico coastline, it is difficult to see why. Beachgoers will find everything here in Texas that they could find in more popular beach destinations such as California. Texas beaches have exciting water sports, plenty of room for sunbathing, beach houses and surf. Have a Texas Beach Partyinvite all your friends and have them invite all of theirs. You can party year-round here and enjoy every bit of the sun.

One Texas beach you should be familiar with is Surfside Beach Texas. It is small island created by the Gulf of Mexico. It has 21 miles of shoreline. You will find plenty of space to relax and enjoy the tranquility of the splashing waves. Also, they have hundreds of cabana beach houses lining the coast as a place to call home for a weekend or a week. Make Surfside Beach Texas a home away from home, set up a hammock, and let the breeze blow your stress away.

Other Texas beach vacation spots to be familiar with are numerous and hard to count on 2 hands. Keep your eyes open to see Crystal Beach, Galveston Island, and South Padre Island--the activities are endless. On a Texas beach vacation you can go fishing, crabbing, shelling, birding, beachcombing, biking, surfing, boating camping and photography to name a few. Any water sport you could imagine is here in Texas. Do keep in mind that this is only a few of the beaches that embrace the 600-mile shoreline.

The Texas beach vacation doesn't stop with sun bathing and water sports, oh no, there are colorful shops and a thriving nightlife that need your attention. Party all night. Isn't that what the beach is for anywayrecovering? You will have a great time in places such as South Padre Island. Make that Texas Beach party non-stop. There are also plenty of restaurant that are sure to stir your taste buds. And if all of this doesn't get you excited then take a walk in Sea Rim State park or take a boat cruise. There is an endless amount of the things to do, you just have to jump in and do them.

The Texas beaches are well worth the trip, and come in your own leisure. We aren't going anyway. Let the sea breeze and the sun let your relax. Time flies when you are having fun, and you certainly don't want to go back to work too soon. Pick a beach any beach like Surfside Beach Texas for instance, and take advantage of water sports and other festivities going on.

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Texas Beaches - Texas Beach Vacation

(Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

As urban as the metroplex is, North Texans are lucky to be nearby so many beaches! Within an hours drive, DFW folks can dip their toes in the cool, refreshing waters of many sandy shores and both reservoir and natural-spring fed lakes. Overflowing with amenities that will keep both excitement-seekers and relaxation-buffs satisfied, these sites keep summer day trips options flooding in.

Burgers Lake 1200 Meandering Road Fort Worth, TX 76114 (817) 737-3414 http://www.burgerslake.com Burgers Lake is one of the few spring-fed lakes in North Texas, teeming with fresh water and a family atmosphere dating back to the 1930s. Nostalgia blooms at this spot, where grills and coolers are welcome. This 30-acre park boasts purified water that is safe for young swimmers. Admission to the park is only $5 for children to age 6 and $12 per person for ages 7 and up, good for the entire summer day. Bubbling up in Fort Worth, metroplex residents can access this natural joy in a car ride of an hour or less.

White Rock Lake1152 N. Buckner Blvd. Dallas, TX 75218 (214) 660-1100 http://www.whiterocklake.org White Rock Lake may not have the sandiest of shorelines, but it has enough unique attractions to be one of the areas most popular water spots. Well-traveled by runners, bikers and strollers, White Rock Lakes trails give spectacular views of the water, flora and areas of interest for families and culture-buffs. Surrounding the lake sits the Bath House Cultural Center for artistic inspiration, White Rock Lake Museum where visitors can learn more about the history and development of the lake, the Dallas Arboretum (separate admission fee) and green, grassy picnic spots aplenty. A day kayaking up to the shore by the Arboretum just in time for an open air concert cant be beat.

Joe Pool Lake Lynn Creek Marina 5700 Lake Ridge Parkway Grand Prairie, TX 75052 (817) 640-4200 http://www.joe-pool-lake.org Joe Pool Lake just might call itself the birthplace of summer fun. Between the boat docks and Oasis on the water restaurant and the breezy good times at Lynn Creek Park, few would argue with that statement. Lynn Creek Parks beach was recently renovated and is now plentiful in smooth sand. Nearby visitors will find a concession stand, a playground and even covered picnic tables. For those who dont want to leave when the park closes at 10 p.m., Joe Pool Lake has campsites and even cabins decorated with themes from various regions of Texas. Admission starts at 6 a.m. and is free to Grand Prairie residents. Non-residents pay $10 most days, or $15 for holiday excursions to the lake.

Related:Tips To Adding Some Beach To Your Wardrobe Lake Grapevine Meadowmere Park 3000 Meadowmere Lane Grapevine, TX 75061 (817) 488-5272 http://www.lake-grapevine.com Lake Grapevine spans far and wide, but Meadowmere Park is likely its most visited spot. Migratory birds fly past its numerous amenities, including a swimming area, boat ramp, fishing piers, camping spots and even kayak, paddle board and pavilion rentals. Open from 8 a.m. to dusk, admission for day use is only $5 per car; a great deal for an entire day of sandy beaches and wooded trails.

Lake LewisvilleLake Park Road & Mill St. Lewisville,TX 75057 (972) 219-3550 http://www.cityoflewisville.com

Lake Lewisville is adventure-packed with party boats, jet skis, windsurfing and even sailboats. However, relaxing family time isnt hard to find here either. Lake Lewisville has its share of picnic areas and a pavilion and even designated swimming areas for those who need a splash to cool down. Open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Labor Day, residents of Lewisville only pay $3 admission per car and non-residents pay $10. At that affordable price, where else can you see all that action?

Related:Best Flying Adventures In DFW

Kena Sosa is a freelance writer in Dallas. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.

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Best Public Beaches For A DFW Summer Day CBS Dallas / Fort ...

65 black and white demonstrators under arrest troop off the beach at Biloxi after staging unsuccessful attempt to desegregate the Gulf Coast beach. Group was led by Dr. Gilbert Mason (center, foreground) and white minister, Rev. R.G. Gallagher, Biloxi (third in line with shorts). The group was arrested for 'trespassing on private property'. (Credit: AP Photo/Jim Bourdier)

The beach in Biloxi, Mississippi is much like any other: palm trees, piers, sparkling water, white sand. But in the 1950s, the beach wasnt open to everyoneuntil a group of African Americans waded into the water to fight against segregation.

On May 14, 1959, Gilbert Mason, Sr., Murray J. Saucier, Jr. and five African American children headed into the Gulf of Mexico. But they werent exactly there to swim. It was the first in a series of three protests designed to desegregate Biloxis beachespublic spaces that were inaccessible to African Americans in Jim Crow Mississippi.

The swimmers were run off the beach by police, who claimed that the beach was off-limits to black people. Negroes dont come to the sand beach, a police officer told the group as he hustled them off the beach. As the men left, says Gilbert Mason, Jr., his father noticed somethinga trashcan labeled Property of Harrison County.

He knew that the countyand taxpayer money paid by black folksmaintained the beach, says Mason, Jr. The beach belonged to the county, not to the individuals that claimed they owned it.

The wade-in, as Gilbert Mason, Sr. later wrote, was no fluke or accident. It was premeditated. It provided a legal test of African Americans right to use the beach their tax dollars helped pay for. First, the men asked to see the law. They were denied and told it was in a locked safe. Then, the county board of supervisors insisted that African Americans were forbidden to use the beachand when Mason, Sr. and a group of friends pressed the board to allow them to use the beach, they were offered a segregated portion instead. Mason, Sr. told the board that he wanted access to every damn inch of it. The mens pleas were dismissed.

Mason, Sr. was familiar with discrimination. He was a physician specializing in family practice, and moved to Biloxi to bring his medical expertise to an underserved area. It took decades for him to receive full privileges at the local hospital, and he could only treat black patients. Daily life in Biloxi was marked by segregation. As historian Neil MacMillan explains for American RadioWorks, Mississippi didnt have many formal segregation laws on the booksbecause it didnt need them. The state was a bastion of anti-black bias, and public spaces were almost entirely segregated, even after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed school segregation with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

Mason, Sr. later wrote, I wanted to live a long life, but I wanted the chance for a full and wholesome life for my family and for us as a people. He decided to fight for his rightsincluding the chance to go to an integrated beach. There were places for black people to swim on the Gulf Coast, including the Gulfside Assembly, a Methodist retreat that also served as a gathering place and training ground for civil rights activists. Black folks would come from all over the South to swim there, says Mason. It was a wonderful, glorious place. But Gulfside was over 40 miles from Biloxi, and African Americans who tried to visit were often attacked.

Mason, Sr. returned to the beach in April 1960 for another wade-in, but no other protestors showed upand he was promptly arrested. Then, on April 24, he went back again. This time, he was accompanied by 125 African Americans. A mob of angry whites was there to meet them. They attacked the protestors with clubs, fists, chains and eventually guns.

Though he wasnt present at the violent wade-inhis parents sent him to Louisiana to stay with familyMason, Jr. remembers the aftermath. Wed get phone calls at our house that would hang up, he recalls. Someone would cut off our power. A dead cat was found on our fence.

Despite being arrested for disturbing the peace, Mason, Sr. staged another protest. On June 23, 1963days after the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, who was a friend and associate of Mason, Sr.protestors headed back to the beach. This time, they didnt just wade: They planted black flags in the sand in Evers memory. A mob of over 2,000 white rioters gathered during the protest and all 71 protestors were arrested for trespassing.

These were very strategic actions that were planned to get people arrested and beat up so they could bring their cases to court, says David Perkes, an architect and associate professor at Mississippi State University. Perkes leads the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio, which recently was awarded a $100,000 grant for a project that will commemorate the wade-ins and encourage public dialogue about civil rights. Witnessing the Beachthe projects titlewill work with the community to create exhibits and events about the wade-ins, and Perkes studio will create movable platforms that can taken to different wade-in sites for events.

It took until 1968 for the Justice Department to win a lengthy legal battle over Biloxis segregated beachesBiloxis public beaches have been open to all ever since.

The protest really energized people in Mississippi, says Perkes. Though the wade-ins had precedentlike a 1955 wade-in in Floridathey were Mississippis first nonviolent segregation protest.

While today, the wade-ins are hardly remembered, they helped prove an essential pointthat nonviolent protest worked.

Today, a simple historical marker points to the site of the first protesta stretch of sand where people of all races can soak up the sun without fear of reprisal or discrimination.

Read more from the original source:

How Civil Rights Wade-Ins Desegregated Southern Beaches - History

Health officials are warning the public not to swim at 19 beaches in Nassau County because the beaches may have poor water quality caused by high levels of bacteria.

The Nassau County Department of Health issued the advisory Monday, saying that it's a precautionary measure for beaches known to be impacted by storm-water runoff caused by recent heavy rainfall.

Storm-water runoff can cause bacteria levels to exceed the standard for bathing water quality, the health department said.

The advisory was to be lifted at 1 p.m. Tuesday unless additional heavy rainfall revealed continued elevated bacteria levels.

14 North Shore beaches within Nassau County:

Centre Island Sound Bayville

Creek Club Lattingtown

Lattingtown Beach Lattingtown

Laurel Hollow Beach Laurel Hollow

Morgan Sound Glen Cove

North Hempstead Beach Park Port Washington

Piping Rock Beach Club Locust Valley

Pryibil Beach Glen Cove

Ransom Beach Bayville

Theodore Roosevelt Beach Oyster Bay

Sea Cliff Village Beach Sea Cliff

Soundside Beach Bayville

Stehli Beach Bayville

Tappen Beach Glenwood Landing

5 South Shore beaches within Nassau County:

Biltmore Beach Club Massapequa

Hewlett Point Beach East Rockaway

Island Park Beach Island Park

Merrick Estates Civic Association Merrick

Philip Healey Beach Massapequa

For up-to-date recorded information on beach openings and closings, call (516) 227-9700.

Top 10 Beaches in the US for 2017 Revealed

Published at 5:56 PM EDT on Jul 24, 2017

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Officials Warn Against Bathing at 19 Long Island Beaches - NBC New York

MLive.com

'Life-Threatening Waves' Could Pound Lake Michigan Beaches: NWS Patch.com CHICAGO, IL The National Weather Service has issued a Beach Hazards Statement on Monday warning of potential life-threatening waves and strong rip currents along the Lake Michigan shore. Waves could reach as high as seven feet and beach-goers ... Drowning risk higher at most Lake Michigan, Lake Huron beaches todayMLive.com Beach hazard statement issued for possible rip currents across Lake Erie beaches through late tonightcleveland.com (blog) all 9 news articles »

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'Life-Threatening Waves' Could Pound Lake Michigan Beaches: NWS - Patch.com

Beaches at Vigo County parks wont be closing at least for now but their hours will be reduced in a further effort to control vandalism.

Officials last month posted notices warning that Fowler and Hawthorn park beaches would close if thefts, vandalism and other incidents did not stop.

We have seen a slight improvement [but] were still experiencing vandalism, Adam Grossman, assistant superintendent of parks and recreation, told the countys park board Monday.

One very costly deal in recent weeks, Grossman said, involved the cutting of ropes marking safe swimming areas.

Grossman and Kara Kish, parks superintendent, requested, and received, board approval to reduce beach hours to 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Aug. 8 and cut operations back to weekends only from Aug. 9 through Labor Day, the traditional end of the beach season.

It is within our purview as the managers of the department to make this decision, but seeing as this is something that weve come to you before, we are asking for support, Kish said.

Revised hours are the same as those in place when lifeguards were removed from the beaches a few years ago.

Restrooms have been a frequent target for vandalism. Grossman said reduced hours will allow restrooms to be locked when beaches are not open and for beach attendants to be on hand during operating hours to enforce park rules.

I think its a step in the right direction and we can have discussion in the off season about that, he said.

Sure is a lot better than drawing a line in the sand and saying Youre all gone. I would have hated that, said board member Joe Newton, who last week suggested the 30-day notice of potential closure.

Kish and board members heard a request to sever ties with the National Rifle Association concerning crime prevention and personal safety seminars scheduled for Aug. 4 and Aug. 12 in Clinton.

The NRA has come out, especially in the last few months, with some incredibly extremist propaganda and rhetoric that actually treats our group and its members as the enemy, said Lori Henson of a group called the Activist Study Hall of Vigo County.

Our concern is with the parks department using public resources to arrange, promote (and) sponsor this event with the NRA, Henson said. We also feel there are other groups that are less objectionable that are politically neutral that dont carry the political baggage of the NRA.

Henson presented a letter from her group citing an NRA video that stops just short of calling for armed violence against other Americans for the exercise of their First Amendment rights to free speech and petitioning of government.

The letter calls on the department to withdraw its sponsorship of the upcoming NRA-trademarked Refuse to be a Victim seminar or disinvite the NRA in favor of gun safety and self-defense training by local and state law enforcement and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Bear It All Arms Training of Rosedale is scheduled to present the seminar. The business Facebook page says the four-hour course addresses the psychology of the criminal mind; security in the home, workplace, automobiles and travel as well as phone, personal and technology security and self defense tools and training options.

This is not a firearms instruction course and does not include instruction in physical self defense, the page says.

After Henson spoke, parks board President Jeff Fisher said, We appreciate your comments. Thank you.

At the end of the meeting, Kish also thanked Henson for coming and said, We will have discussions about that.

Asked by the Tribune-Star about the request, Kish said only, Well take it under consideration.

Dave Taylor can be reached at 812-231-4299 or dave.taylor@tribstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @TribStarDave.

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Vigo County beaches get reprieve for rest of summer - Terre Haute Tribune Star

Their names are Mary Lee, Katharine and Hilton. During the summer months, they like to hang out relatively close to beaches along the Mid-Atlantic. They are great swimmers. And they feast on the flesh of gray seals.

Also, they are great white sharks.

Just in time for the Discovery Channels Shark Week, as many Washington-area residents are seeking relief from the heat at beaches in Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey, OCEARCH, a nonprofit group that tracks the movements of sharks, has logged a number of pings from great whites tagged with receivers in their dorsal fins.

Les Kaufman, a Boston University biology professor and shark expert, said that while the number of sharks in the water is believed to be dropping, the kind of technology used by OCEARCH makes it easier for nonscientists to track them, including via an iPhone app.

Scientists know that the sharks are out there, Kaufman said. It becomes news when nonscientists are encountering them ... with advances in the technology theres a greater awareness.

In recent years, OCEARCH has tracked about 300 sharks, including mako and tiger sharks. They tend to swim north in the summer, as the hot weather warms the waters off the East Coast. But while they may sometimes venture near shore, sharks more typically swim miles away from the coastline.

Kaufman said a 13-foot-long shark generally would not swim in water less than three feet deep. In the entire world last year, he noted, only four people died from shark attacks. Many, many more people are killed from complications of insect bites.

Mosquitoes, I mean my god! Kaufman said. Malaria takes a huge chunk of humanity every year, and sharks dont.

OCEARCH followed a 1,300-pound male named Hilton who measures about 12 feet from teeth to tail from the coast of Ocean City on Friday to the Jersey Shore by Sunday.

[12-foot white shark detected near Ocean City]

Other great whites spotted along the East Coast in the last 30 days include Miss Costa, a 1,600-pound, 12-foot female recorded near Nantucket, Mass.; Katharine, a 2,300-pound, 14-footer whose location was noted close to Virginia Beach; and Cisco, a young, eight-foot male who spent Memorial Day weekend in the waters between Lewes, Del., and Cape May, N.J., and just appeared in Nantucket.

Mary Lee, a 16-foot great white, who at 3,450 pounds is about the size of a Toyota Camry, has 125,000 followers on Twitter and was last pinged in mid-June near the Jersey Shore. She spent this past winter near Savannah, Ga., and has traveled as far as Bermuda since she was tagged in September 2012 off Cape Cod.

While great whites in particular are known as fearsome predators, thanks to movies such as Jaws, Kaufman said people should remember that humans have caused much more damage to sharks by overfishing.

We have absolutely raped and devastated the global ocean, Kaufman said.

Still, if you happen to be swimming in the middle of a gray seal colony, like those near Cape Cod, the balance of power could shift, Kaufman said.

Thats a shark cafe, Kaufman said. A high-end shark restaurant.

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As 'Shark Week' begins, spottings near Maryland, New Jersey beaches - Washington Post