Hawaii's famed white sandy beaches are shrinking

Jenn Boneza remembers when the white sandy beach near the boat ramp in her hometown was wide enough for people to build sand castles."It really used to be a beautiful beach," said the 35-year-old mother of two. "And now when you look at it, it's gone."What's happening to portions of the beach in Kailua - a sunny coastal suburb of Honolulu where President Barack Obama spent his last two family vacations in the islands - is being repeated around the Hawaiian Islands.Geologists say more than 70 percent of Kauai's beaches are eroding while Oahu has lost a quarter of its sandy shoreline. They warn the problem is only likely to get significantly worse in coming decades as global warming causes sea levels to rise more rapidly."It will probably have occurred to a scale that we will have only been able to save a few places and maintain beaches, and the rest are kind of a write-off," said Dolan Eversole, a coastal geologist with the University of Hawaii's Sea Grant program.The loss of so many beaches is an alarming prospect for Hawaii on many levels. Many tourists come to Hawaii precisely because they want to lounge on and walk along its soft sandy shoreline. These visitors spend some $11.4 billion each year, making tourism the state's largest employer.Disappearing sands would also wreak havoc on the environment as many animals and plants would lose important habitats. The Hawaiian monk seal, an endangered species, gives birth and nurses pups on beaches. The green sea turtle, a threatened species, lays eggs in the sand.Chip Fletcher, a University of Hawaii geology professor, says scientists in Hawaii haven't yet observed an accelerated rate of sea level rise due to global warming.Instead, the erosion the islands are experiencing now is caused by several factors including a steady historical climb in sea levels that likely dates back to the 19th century.Other causes include storms and human actions like the construction of seawalls, jetties, and the dredging of stream mouths. Each of these human actions disrupts the natural flow of sand.But a more rapid rise in sea levels, caused by global warming, is expected to contribute to erosion in Hawaii within decades. In 100 years, sea levels are likely to be at least 1 meter, or 3.3 feet, higher than they are now, pushing the ocean inland along coastal areas.Fletcher says between 60 to 80 percent of the nation's shoreline is chronically eroding. But the problem is felt particularly acutely in Hawaii because the economy and lifestyle are so dependent on healthy beaches.The state is doing everything it can to keep the sand in Waikiki, for example, joining with hotels in the state's tourist hub on a plan to spend between $2 million and $3 million pumping in sand from offshore.Sam Lemmo, administrator of the state's Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, says the state would need a variety of adaptation strategies for different beaches.It would likely have to abandon hope for beaches in posh Lanikai and suburban Ewa Beach on Oahu because they're already lined with seawalls and are badly eroded.The same probably goes for shoreline next to highways or other critical public infrastructure, where seawalls already exist or may have to be built.Seawalls protect individual properties from encroaching waters but they exacerbate erosion nearby by preventing waves from reaching the sand needed to replenish the beach.For undeveloped shoreline, the state wants to make sure these areas stay pristine. This happened recently when a Florida-based developer announced plans to build luxury homes on sand dunes in Kahuku on Oahu's North Shore."We just kind of went nuts, pulled out all the guns on that one, basically got them to back off," Lemmo said. "We're working pretty hard to keep any new development away from these areas."The University of Hawaii's Sea Grant program is working with a consultant to develop a beach management plan for Kailua that would address how to deal with a 1 meter rise in sea level. The state hopes this will be the first of many site-specific management plans for Hawaii's beaches.A "triage," strategy could be applied to Kailua, which is lined by multimillion-dollar homes but doesn't have seawalls.Fletcher proposes identifying areas where a land conservation fund would buy five or six adjoining properties. The state would tear down buildings on these plots and allow the beach to shift inland.He said when erosion hits more sections of Kailua beach, there's going to be a clamor to put up seawalls."That will be a very important moment," Fletcher said. "If we allow the first home to put up a seawall, then we're probably dooming the entire beach over the course of a couple of decades . . .Ultimately the beach will disappear. Or we could have an alternative to that, to identify now some portions of Kailua shoreline where we want the beach to live."

What Science Says About Beach Sand And Stomach Aches

By washing your hands after digging in beach sand, you could greatly reduce your risk of ingesting bacteria that could make you sick. In new research, published in the Journal of Water and Health, scientists have determined that, although beach sand is a potential source of bacteria and viruses, hand rinsing may effectively reduce exposure to microbes that cause gastrointestinal illnesses.

“Our mothers were right! Cleaning our hands before eating really works, especially after handling sand at the beach,” said Dr. Richard Whitman, the lead author of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study. “Simply rinsing hands may help reduce risk, but a good scrubbing is the best way to avoid illness.”
For this study, scientists measured how many E. coli bacteria could be transferred to people’s hands when they dug in sand. They analyzed sand from the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago. Using past findings on illness rates, scientists found that if individuals were to ingest all of the sand and the associated biological community retained on their fingertip, 11 individuals in 1000 would develop symptoms of gastrointestinal illness. Ingestion of all material on the entire hand would result in 33 of 1000 individuals developing gastrointestinal illness.
In a further laboratory experiment, USGS scientists determined that submerging one’s hands four times in clean water removed more than 99% of the E. coli and associated viruses from the hands.
In recent years, USGS scientists have discovered that concentrations of E. coli bacteria in beach sand are often much higher than those in beach water. Follow-up research at beaches around the nation by many scientists has resulted in similar findings, although the amount of bacteria in sand varies depending on the beach. Although beach water is monitored for E. coli as mandated in the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act 2000), beach sand is not currently monitored for contamination.
Recent analysis of seven beaches across the nation by the University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed that beachgoers digging in sand were more likely to develop gastrointestinal illness after a day at the beach compared to those not digging in sand. The association with these illnesses was even stronger for individuals who reported being partially covered up in sand. Because children played in the sand more frequently and were more likely to get sand in their mouths, they were more likely to develop gastrointestinal illness after a day at the beach.
“The excess illnesses we observed among those exposed to sand generally consisted of mild gastrointestinal symptoms, but it is a good idea to be sure to wash your hands or use hand sanitizer after digging or playing in the sand,” said Chris Heaney, lead author of the UNC study.
E. coli is an indicator of recent sewage contamination and if it is present, pathogens harmful to human health are also likely present. The origin of these bacteria is often unknown. They can persist throughout the swimming season, remaining a potential contamination source to beach visitors.
Results of these studies highlight the need to intensify efforts to determine sources of microbial contamination to beaches and associated risk of playing in beach sand.
Journal reference:
Whitman et al. Hand-mouth transfer and potential for exposure to E. coli and F+ coliphage in beach sand, Chicago, Illinois. Journal of Water and Health, 2009; 7 (4): 623 DOI: 10.2166/wh.2009.115
Adapted from materials provided by United States Geological Survey.

Florida ranks No. 3 for trashiest beaches

Cigarette butts, bottles, pull tabs, syringes, condoms, dead animals, morecigarette butts.No, these are not leftovers from the sleazy neighbor's latest weekendwingding. They are a sampling of lovely stuff collected in a single day fromthe state's beaches.Florida, which trades on its sparkling surf and sand, ranked the thirdtrashiest state in a 2008 coastal cleanup sponsored by the OceanConservancy. The environmental group released the result of its 23rdinternational effort, the largest of its kind, on Tuesday.''The reason we do this and count all the this stuff is to make people awareof the effect of their behavior,'' said Vikki Sprull, president of the OceanConservancy. ``Everything we do on land ends up in the ocean.''Judging by the numbers, what we mostly do is smoke, drink and eat. Burnedout and broken cigarette butts are far and away the most common coastallitter -- 197,389 of them in Florida, 3,216,991 overall in 104 countries and42 states where cleanups took place.Toss in cigars, wrappers and lighters, and smokers alone account for 31percent of the beach debris. This might lead some to conclude that smokers,in addition to being stupid, are slobs. Sprull demurs.''People don't believe it's trash,'' she said. ``They think it is too small,that it decomposes. All of those things are myths.''The dirty details of the group's marine debris index suggest people pursue awide array of activities along the Florida coast -- such as car repair andtarget practice. There were, among the state's 200-plus tons of trash, 1,187car parts, 887 tires and 1,181 shotgun shells.There were some foul items as well -- 1,348 condoms, 780 diapers, 499syringes and 934 women's sanitary napkins. On the plus side, the trends onall four -- and trash overall on Florida's coast -- were actually down fromthe previous year.California had the messiest coast by far, roughly tripling Florida's totals.North Carolina ranked second.© 2009 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.

British beach litter piling up

The amount of litter dumped on beaches across Britain has more than doubled in the last 15 years to its highest ever level, endangering the health of wildlife and humans, according to a survey on Wednesday.The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) said its beachwatch 2008 annual survey had found an average of 2,195 items of litter per kilometre of beach, a rise of 110 percent since 1994.Over 5,000 volunteers cleaned and surveyed 374 beaches for its survey, uncovering 385,659 items of litter in the process.Items such as food packaging and cigarette butts dropped by the public make up more than a third of all litter, with discarded fishing paraphernalia accounting for 13 percent.The MCS said marine animals and seabirds often ingest litter or accidentally eat plastic, leading to infections or death.Discarded fishing nets and lines were also a common cause of entanglement for marine wildlife, it added.Humans were also affected as some plastics can attract toxic chemicals, while filter-feeding animals that ingested plastic particles could see pollutants ultimately entering the human food chain.Furthermore, council and taxpayers had to pay out millions of pounds to clear up litter from the beaches.The MCS said it wanted to halve the litter on Britain's beaches by 2015 and called on the government to take action.However environment minister Huw Irranca-Davies said it was up to the public not the government."Litter goes in our bins, not on our beaches -- and ultimately this is an issue of personal responsibility," he added."This is a problem caused by a minority who spoil things for everyone else, and campaigns against this behavior can help us to make this unacceptable to everyone."

DOLPHIN MORTALITY - INDIA

An 8-foot dolphin was found washed ashore at Juhu beach on Thursday[26 Mar 2009]. According to experts, the dead marine mammal was a long-snouted dolphin (Delphinus longirostris), commonly found in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. The dolphin, which was found lying on the sand near the Centaur Hotel building, did not have any visible injury except a few red rashes on parts of the skin."The rashes could have been caused by sunburn. Though dolphins are very intelligent creatures, sometimes they do get disoriented due to physical weakness or disease that makes them lose their way and come to the shore," Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute marine scientist Vinay Deshmukh said. He added that last week, another dead dolphin was found at Vasai; in January [2009], a dolphin was washed up Dadar beach."The fishermen here do not catch dolphins, as they worship them as seagods. However, in Goa and some parts of south India, dolphins are hunted for their meat," Deshmukh said.4 of the dolphin species seen in Indian waters are the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, the common dolphin, the spinner dolphin and the bottle-nosed dolphin. Freshwater dolphins have also been seen in the Ganges in northern and eastern India.

Stranded whales returned to sea off SW Australia

Eleven long-finned pilot whales were returned to sea Tuesday after surviving a mass stranding on a remote southwest Australian beach, but they appeared disoriented and were trying to return to shore, an official said.The animals had been trucked overland to a bay with deeper waters in an attempt to save them after nearly 70 others died when they beached themselves early Monday in Western Australia state.Rescuers moved them out 100 yards (meters) to sea off Flinders Bay but the whales began moving back to shore, said Laura Sinclair, liaison officer with the Department of Environment and Conservation."They're meandering around at the moment," Sinclair said. "It's not an unusual situation but we're just trying to guide them out further. If one strands itself again, it could put out distress signals which will bring them all back."She said rescuers on Jet Skis, boats and surfboards were trying to direct the animals.A group of 87 whales and five bottlenose dolphins beached themselves early Monday in Hamelin Bay. One dolphin and 72 whales died before they could be rescued.Volunteers and government employees worked all day and overnight to stabilize the survivors, keeping them wet and moving them into one pod in a safe holding area with slightly deeper water.Most beached whales die of dehydration, overheating or from their weight, which can crush their internal organs once they leave the weightlessness of the water.Rough seas and high waves hampered the rescue effort at Hamelin Bay and officials decided to move the surviving animals overland to deeper, more protected waters in Flinders Bay, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) away.Four whales and four dolphins were pushed back to sea before the move, Sinclair said.The remaining 11 whales — which measure up to 20 feet (6 meters) long and weigh up to 3.5 tons — were loaded into trucks by slings and individually transported to the new location Tuesday morning.It was the latest mass beaching of whales in Australia. Strandings happen periodically in Tasmania, in the southeast, as whales pass during their migration to and from Antarctic waters, but scientists do not know why.Department staff and scientists took measurements and DNA samples from the dead whales and dolphins to allow scientists to assess the genetic information and population structure of the pod. The dead whales will be transported to a nearby waste disposal area.Earlier this month, 194 pilot whales and seven dolphins became stranded on a sandbar in Tasmania and only 54 whales and five dolphins were able to be saved. In January, 45 sperm whales died after becoming beached on a different Tasmanian sandbar.

Race to save beached whales in Australia

Scores of whales died after nearly 200 beached themselves in Australia but rescuers refloated some and were racing to save dozens of others, according to officials.A total of 192 pilot whales and several dolphins got stranded on an island off southern Australia on Sunday evening and around 140 had died while 14 had been refloated, Tasmania's Parks and Wildlife Service said."A 150-strong group of professionals and registered volunteers have worked throughout the high tide to refloat the animals," said spokesman Chris Arthur."We will continue until dark and start again at first light tomorrow".Arthur told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation earlier he hoped many of the whales, stranded on King Island in the Bass Strait between the southern mainland of Australia and Tasmania, could be saved."It's amazing, some will some die straight away, some will survive for days. These are fairly robust animals, pilot whales. We experienced that in the past."While they're alive there is a chance," he said.Arthur said, however, there was concern for more whales which were close to shore."There's quite a large number of animals still out at sea just off shore milling around," he said.The latest beaching takes the total number of whales stranded around Tasmania in the past four months to nearly 400.More than 150 pilot whales died after beaching themselves on Tasmania's remote west coast in November and 48 sperm whales died in January on a sandbar off Perkins Island.Tasmania, Australia's southern island state, experiences about 80 percent of whale beachings in the country, a phenomenon so far unexplained by science."This last summer has been a particularly demanding one, not only for the specialist Parks and Wildlife Service officers but also the volunteers and local communities," Arthur said.It was not uncommon to have both whales and dolphins strand simultaneously, with a group of 97 long-finned whales and bottle-nosed dolphins beached on King Island on 28 November 2004. All of them died.

Beaches may harbor staph bacteria

Swimmers at crowded public beaches are likely to bring home more than a bit of sand in their bathing suits, according to U.S. researchers, who said as many as one in three swimmers may be exposed to contagious staph bacteria.They said people who swim in subtropical marine waters have a 37 percent higher risk of being exposed to staph bacteria, including an antibiotic resistant staph known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA."We think that people are the instruments for bringing their organisms into the water and leaving it behind," Dr. Lisa Plano of the University of Miami told reporters at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago on Friday."I don't know if that is the only source. The bacteria may still be in the sand left over from other people, but we haven't studied that. These are things we plan to do in the future."People who have open wounds or are immune compromised have the greatest risk of infection, she said.In one experiment with more than 1,000 bathers on a popular Florida beach, people spent 15 minutes dunking themselves in the sea, then bringing sea water back with them in a jug.They then tested the water for staph and MRSA and found 37 percent of the samples contained staph, and 3 percent of those contained MRSA."I don't think you should fear going to the beach," Plano said, particularly if they take a few simple precautions.She recommends people shower before going to the beach, to keep from depositing their own germs into the water. And she suggests they shower once they leave, to wash off any pathogens."If you don't go into the water with a gaping wound, you should be fine," Plano said.

Hundreds of dolphins beached in Philippines

More than 200 dolphins have beached themselves on Manila Bay, officials in the Philippines said Tuesday as they tried to work out why the marine mammals had come ashore.Residents saw huge pods of dolphins near the towns of Pilar and Abucay on the Bataan peninsula west of Manila.Bataan governor Enrique Garcia said at least three have died."This is an unusual phenomenon," Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director Malcolm Sarmiento told local radio, estimating the number of dolphins at "more than 200."He said they could be reacting to a "heat wave or disturbance at sea" such as a possible major underwater earthquake.Since they are mammals, the dolphins have ears that are sensitive to large changes in pressure underwater, he said."If their eardrums are damaged they become disorientated and they float up to the surface," he added.Sarmiento said authorities' first concern was to keep the dolphins alive, and experts are being summoned to the area to help.He said smaller pods of dolphins numbering "in the tens and twenties" had beached themselves elsewhere in the Philippines previously, but this was the first time so many had done so at the same time and place.

Few survivors from mass whale stranding in Australia

More than 40 sperm whales have died after a pod of about 50 became stranded off southern Australia, an official said Friday as rescuers struggled to save the survivors.By the time the pod, which is trapped on a sandbar 150 metres (500 feet) offshore from Perkins Island on the northwest coast of the island state of Tasmania, was discovered late Thursday most had perished.Only five were still alive by Friday afternoon.Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Services spokeswoman Liz Wren told AFP rescue options would be difficult because of the massive size of the animals and the fact that the pod was accessible only by water."The males are as big as 18 metres, females 12 metres, weighing in between 20 and 50 tonnes," she said.She said while rescuers had been able to save some long-finned pilot whales after another mass stranding on a Tasmanian beach in November "sperm whales are an entirely different kettle of fish and much more difficult.""And it's much harder on them when they strand because the great weight of their bodies puts more pressure on their internal organs," she said.Rescuers, who spent the day trying to prevent the giant animals from overheating, will attempt to move the surviving whales at high tide on Saturday morning."This will be one of the most challenging rescues ever attempted, they are packed pretty tightly together, this will be as difficult as they get," Wren told national news agency AAP.Authorities are also assessing how to remove the carcasses of the dead whales, which could pose a problem because they are stuck on the edge of a major navigation channel for a fishing port.More than 150 long-finned pilot whales died, with many sustaining deep cuts after thrashing onto rocks, after beaching themselves on the remote west coast of Tasmania state in November.Australia's southern island of Tasmania experiences about 80 percent of whale beachings in the country, a phenomenon so far unexplained by science.

Thirty false killer whales beached in Thailand; most saved

Thirty false killer whales swam ashore on a beach near the Thai resort isle of Phuket, but local residents and hotel staff saved all but one of them, a marine official said Friday. The whales, which were up to 4.2 metres (nearly 14 feet) long, beached Thursday on Racha Island in the Andaman Sea, said Wannakiat Thubthimsang, director of the Phuket Marine Biological Center.Residents and hotel staff rushed out to carry them back into the rough seas, he told AFP.Ten whales had to be loaded onto trucks and carried to another beach less than a kilometre (mile) away, where calmer waters made it easier to return them to sea, he added."One of them died from shock," Wannakiat said.Scientists weren't sure why the whales swam themselves ashore."They may have run aground because of the strong wave, or they could have been misled by their leader's sonar signal," he said. "It's not the first time this has happened, but this is a very large number."False killer whales are not a threatened species. They are much smaller and less aggressive than their distant relatives, the Orca, or killer whale.Like Orcas, scientists classify them as dolphins rather than whales. They are social creatures and are known for stranding themselves.

Toward Long-range Beach Forecasts On Bacterial Contamination

Long-range forecasts of beach bacterial contamination are inching closer to reality because of a new water quality prediction method scheduled for publication in the July 15 issue of the ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

"For the first time, this study showed that bacteria concentrations could be forecasted with reasonable accuracy, hastening the day when people will be able to better plan their beach holidays," the report says.
In the new study, Walter E. Frick and colleagues explain that decisions on whether beaches are safe for swimming, or should be closed due to fecal contamination, are based on testing the water for E. coli. However, existing tests take 24 hours to complete, providing a backward-only look at conditions the previous day. As a result, beaches may be closed unnecessarily when water quality has improved, or open when water quality has declined and disease-causing microorganisms are present.
Building on pioneering modeling studies in the Great Lakes by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) and others, the researchers developed "Virtual Beach," a broadly-applicable software tool for the development of models that predict concentrations of indicators of fecal contamination at beaches. Unique features of Virtual Beach are the ability to evaluate a dynamic modeling approach for using short-term data sets to rapidly develop reliable models, and the use of available weather and marine forecast variables to forecast E. coli levels 24 hours or more in advance.
Evaluations of Virtual Beach were accomplished using data collected by USGS, NOAA and other sources for Huntington Beach on Lake Erie in northeastern Ohio. During the 42-day study, models developed by Virtual Beach correctly forecasted 24 hours in advance eight instances when E. coli levels exceeded safety standards. These results exceeded the accuracy of traditional sampling methods and approximately matched the accuracy of nowcasting (real-time predictions), according to the researchers.
Journal reference:
Frick, Walter E., Ge, Zhongfu, and Zepp, Richard G. Nowcasting and Forecasting Concentrations of Biological Contaminants at Beaches: A Feasibility and Case Study. Environ. Sci. Technol., 42, 13, 4818-4824, 2008 DOI: 10.1021/es703185p
Adapted from materials provided by American Chemical Society, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Most Polluted Beaches In US Identified

The water at American beaches was unsafe for swimming a record number of days last year, according to the 17th annual beach water quality report released by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)। Using data just collected from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the report, “Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches,” tallied more than 25,000 closing and health advisory days at ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches in 2006. The number of no-swim days caused by stormwater more than doubled from the year before.

“Vacations are being ruined. Families can’t use the beaches in their own communities because they are polluted. Kids are getting sick – all because of sewage and contaminated runoff from outdated, under-funded treatment systems,” said Nancy Stoner, director of NRDC’s water program.
In addition to compiling data on 3,500 U.S. beaches, the report this year takes an especially close look at the nation’s highest risk beaches – those that are either very popular, very close to pollution sources, or both.
Of those highest risk beaches, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Rhode Island, and Minnesota ranked the worst for failing to meet national health standards. This new area of focus is the result of a peer review process NRDC undertook with five professionals from local and state health agencies, academia, and the research community.
Aging and poorly-designed sewage and storm water systems hold much of the blame for beach water pollution। The problem was compounded by record rainfall, which added to the strain on already overloaded infrastructure. The authors also say that careless urban sprawl in coastal areas is devouring wetlands and other natural buffers such as dunes and beach grass that would otherwise help filter out dangerous pollution.

“A summer rainstorm should not have to mean that endless amounts of pollution are washed down to the beach, or that sewers will overflow. We can fix leaky pipes; we can require costal developers to maintain vegetation to absorb rain. The solutions are out there,” Stoner said.
Sewage spills and overflows caused 1,301 beach closing and advisory days in 2006, an increase of 402 days from 2005. Elevated bacteria levels from miscellaneous sources, such as boat discharges or wildlife, accounted for 410 closing and advisory days, an increase of 77 days from 2005. In addition, more than 14,000 closing and advisory days were due to unknown sources of pollution.
Not only are the beaches polluted, the way they are tested is also failing the American public, according to NRDC public health and water experts. The current beach water quality standards are 20 years old and rely on obsolete monitoring methods and outdated science that leave beachgoers vulnerable to a range of waterborne illnesses. Risks include gastroenteritis, dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory ailments and other serious health problems. For senior citizens, small children, and people with weak immune systems, the results can be fatal.
“What this report means for families heading to the beach this weekend is that they need to be careful। That means they need to do a little homework,” said Stoner. “Call your local public health authority. Ask them if the beachwater is safe for swimming. And there is any doubt, or if the water smells bad or looks dirty, stay out of it.”

Beach Buddies and Beach Bums
Based on the report’s findings, NRDC recently announced the best and worst beaches for protecting beachgoers from contaminated water। This year there are 13 Beach Buddies, six Beach Bums, and for the first time, a Beach Hero.

Beach buddies
Beach buddy beaches have:
Monitored beach water quality regularly
Violated public health standards less than 10 percent of the time
Took significant steps to reduce pollution

Beach buddy beaches are:
North Carolina: Kure Beach and Kill Devil HillsBeach
Wisconsin: Sister Bay Beach and North Beach
California: Laguna Beach
Michigan: Grand Haven City Beach and Grand Haven State Park beaches
Maine: Libby Cove, Mother’s, Middle, Cape Neddick, Short Sands and York Harbor beaches
Beach hero:Dr। Carl Berg

For the first time this year NRDC is recognizing an individual as a Beach Hero। Dr. Carl Berg of Hawaii, a marine ecologist and long-time water quality champion, was nominated as a Beach Buddy by the staff of the Hawaii Department of Health for his work with the Hanalei Heritage River organization and the Hanalei Watershed Hui. Dr. Berg worked to set up monitoring programs for the beaches, rivers and streams of Hanalei Bay and to protect them by replacing cesspools on beach parks and on private land along the river, working with farmers to reduce sediment discharge, and developing best practices to protect the upper watershed.

Beach bums
Beach bum beaches have:
Violated public health standards 51 percent or more of the time samples were taken
Beach bum beaches are:
California: Avalon Beach (north of Green Pleasure Pier) (53%) and Venice State Beach (57%)
Maryland: Hacks Point (60%) and Bay Country Campground and Beach (56%)
New Jersey: Beachwood Beach West (60%)
Illinois: Jackson Park Beach (54%)

About the 2007 Beach Protection Act
In May, the Beach Protection Act of 2007 (H.R. 2537/S. 1506) was introduced in the U.S. Congress, reauthorizing the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act) of 2000. If passed, the Act will mandate the use of rapid testing methods to detect beach water contamination in two hours or less so that beachgoers can be notified of public health risks promptly.
The Act will also increase the amount of grant money available to states from $30 million to $60 million annually through 2012, and expand the uses of grant funds to include source tracking and pollution prevention.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Natural Resources Defense Council.