I am hereby banning the use of the word “seaweed” from comments on the June Grass Report.

Here’s why: I need to protect the integrity of the June Grass Report.

The whole reason I do the June Grass Report is to give folks an idea of what beach conditions are before they get to the beach. I do this because I would want somebody to do it for me. I do it for free in my spare time because I like the beach and I want other people to be able to enjoy it as much as I do.

Lately people have been posting a lot of comments about “seaweed”. This is a problem because if I see a report like this:

“There is a moderate amount of seaweed at the beach, I didn’t want to swim.”

I am going to think you are being overly sensitive about seaweed (usually sargassum, although we did have some other red kelp-like stuff this summer) and I am going to go to the beach anyway.

If I then find a moderate amount of June Grass is  at the beach I am going to be unhappy. I personally will swim in June Grass up to about a 3 but much more than that I don’t go in unless I want to just cool off. I am not even remotely bothered by clumps of seaweed. Seaweed is not a deal-breaker for most people. June Grass is!

A lot of people read the June Grass Report and expect it to  be honest. Saying seaweed when you mean June Grass is misleading.

Therefore, I will not longer allow comments or reports that use the word “seaweed”

UNLESS

You send me a photo at junegrasspics AT g mail DOT com and it really is seaweed and it really is gross enough that people may want to avoid that particular beach. It can happen.

OR

You write your comment in such a way that it is VERY clear that you are referring to problematic seaweed, NOT June Grass.

I manually approve each and every comment. I will no longer approve your comment if it says “seaweed”. I also don’t approve obnoxious comments. This isn’t usually a problem since the great and vast majority of the people who read the June Grass Report are very nice. However, if you post the same question 17 times within a four hour period I will not approve it. Comments come to my phone and I usually get them approved in a timely fashion, but sometimes I am indisposed.

I really really appreciate the readers who take the time to post beach conditions because that allows for much greater coverage on the June Grass Report and I would also like to thank people who take the time to submit photos of beach conditions. When I first moved here I always wished there was a way to know conditions before I dragged all my heavy SCUBA gear to the beach. With the help of everybody who posts beach reports my small wish has come true.

Ironically, I haven’t actually used my SCUBA gear at the beach in years, but I still like to know if there is June Grass before I go!