June Grass FAQ
Please read the whole FAQ before posting questions and comments. Thanks!
The June Grass Report does NOT do predictions! Please scroll down for more information.
What is June Grass?
Floating marine algae, probably from the genus Cladophora, is called “June Grass” in Florida. It is not really a grass and it is present on Panhandle beaches in June and many other warm months.
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- This is sargassum. It is seaweed, not June Grass.
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- This is June Grass. It is gross!
Is June Grass harmful to people?
No, June Grass does not seem to be harmful to people who are enjoying the beach. Consuming it is probably not a good idea. It will get in your hair and in your bathing suit if you choose to swim while there is a lot of it in the water.
The worst thing about June Grass is that it can be smelly when it accumulates in large concentrations along the shore and begins to rot.
Where does June Grass come from?
I don’t know exactly but I have lived here for more than a decade and it seems to always come from the west, in the Gulf, NOT from the bays and freshwater inputs. It does seem like June Grass can be worse around freshwater inputs. I think this may be a nutrient issue.
When will the June Grass go away?
It varies widely and there is no way to know for sure. Sometimes it comes in then leaves…repeatedly…and sometimes it stays until October!
I want to visit during ________(insert month here). Will there be June Grass?
I don’t do predictions on The June Grass Report. Chances are that if you visit the Emerald Coast, during a month that (American) public schools are not in session, you will encounter June Grass in one form or another. It’s natural and there’s nothing to be done about it. If this is a huge problem for you then visit in a different month. October is especially nice here and so is April, if you can avoid the spring breaker college kids. If you have school-age children, vacation as a family, and don’t want to deal with June Grass then I strongly suggest looking elsewhere.
We’re thinking about coming down, should we cancel our plans?
That is up to you. If there has been a lot of rain then, yes, get I would try to get my money back if it were me. Heavy rain causes runoff from the land, which fertilizes the Gulf and I suspect it makes the June Grass worse. Plus heavy rain also increases the bacteria count in the water and the beaches get closed anyway. Sometimes a tropical storm will disperse the June Grass but not always. DO NOT COME IF THERE IS A TROPICAL STORM! You will just get evacuated!
We’re here and we already paid for our vacation. How can we avoid the June Grass as much as possible?
I have a whole page of suggestions for avoiding June Grass.
Our family/friends have been living here for years/we’ve been coming here for years. Why does the June Grass keep getting worse?
I don’t know. My opinion is that it has something to do with increased nutrients in the water (see above).
What are these sea lice I keep hearing about?
When June Grass is heavy there may be other organisms in the mix such as sargassum, jellies (some sting, some don’t), and you may hear people talking about “sea lice”. Don’t be alarmed: there are no actual sea lice.
In this part of Florida the term “sea lice” refers to nearly-transparent stinging pieces of jellies, that have been broken off from the larger organism, usually because of stormy, rough ocean conditions. They can give you an itchy rash if they come in contact with exposed skin. Fortunately, this is usually very minor and is not directly related to the June Grass phenomenon.
Is there any objective measurement in the June Grass Grossness Index?
No, there is not. I just made it up and it is completely subjective. I make the measurements based on my observation of beach conditions. However,the June Grass Working Group is developing a scientific way to measure June Grass. You can help with this.
The June Grass Report 
Coming to Sandpiper Beacon in PCB Sept 7-14. What is the June grass condition and the water bacteria condition?
With all due respect, I think folks in the Panama City Beach are in denial about this. On my last trip to the Panama City/Carillon Beach area green slime carpeted the beaches for miles. Call it natural if you like, but Filamentous algae (June grass) feeds on nutrients, like those that come from lawn fertilizers, septic systems, and package plants. Too much beach development can cause too much fertility from all of these sources. Although many of the beaches in this area are not monitored, those that are are showing increasingly high levels of nutrients and bacteria. The most recent report I saw showed as much as 33% of samples exceeding safe levels of enterobacteria like e-coli (see link below). The enterobacteria increases with fertility,and so does the algae. Its worse in warm water, but the warm water isn’t the cause., it’s just the trigger. I sure hope locals come to grip with this before the region loses its reputation for pristine beaches.
http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/ttw/fl.asp
Our family is coming to Okaloosa Island August 5th for vacation, how does the water look? Is there any seaweed or June grass in the water? If so, about how bad is it?
Heading to Destin – Crystal Beach area on Saturday, Aug 2. Any prediction of what to expect?
Headed to Navarre beach on July 13th is the June grass still there?
We visited Henderson State Park (beach) today in Destin and there was tons of June Grass. Tons! We came last year in early June and there was none in sight.
Any current updates about PCB this week? Headed that way on Saturday.
Thanks
We are here right now and the June Grass is thick. It came in yesterday afternoon. Hope it leaves soon!
We are here right now. It’s pretty thick at the moment. We are next to a state park so there was a clear area but only lasted two days before it got thick with June grass slime. We pretty much stuck to pools and just sat on the beach… Hopefully gone when u arrive.
Today at Henderson Beach Park, you can get for 6.00 entrance fee a great bath with the sea weed. Water looked green and ugly. The best thing is to go to Destin (area) in August or a bit later to enjoy blue Golf water.
Just left Okaloosa Island/Ft. Walton Beach and it was very heavy! Destin was fairly clear and the sound was completely clear.
Looking for a June grass report for Panama City Beach for 2014, anything to report as of yet or possible for next week June 14th?
We are here now and it is heavily thick with June grass( came in heavy on Tues July 8th. Didn’t ruin our vacation though… We still had fun even if it felt like swimming thru slime.
Our family is heading to PCB June7-14 and we are bringing along a friend whom will be new to the area. I know there is nothing to stop the June grass, but do you know if it will wash to shore around this time or is this still too early? Either way we are excited and can’t wait to have our toes in the sand! 🙂
Thanks so much for this site! I know June grass isn’t predictable, but do you think it would be clearer the last week of may (right after Memorial Day) or early august? We came in early August 2012 and the area was beautiful. Couple of red flag days, but no seaweed. Trying to plan a longer stay for this summer. Any comments appreciated…..
June grass in bloom at Panama City Beach. It’s spotty enough that avoiding it is possible if you pick a good spot for a dip in the ocean.
We are headed to Ft Walton on friday. Any updates on the June grass would be appreciated…
The Water On Okaloosa Island is loaded with June grass right now. It’s better around Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach. Those beaches still have pockets of June grass, but the water is much more clear.
Headed to Ft Walton next week. Can you provide an update on june grass and water conditions. Heard water is not emerald right now. Thank you!!
On average when does the June grass clear up and leave out of Destin area beaches. We normally come down the 3rd week of august and water is clearing up nicely.
Can you update for this year? It seemed to be starting last week when we were in PCB and my son is going back on the 18th. I was wondering if that’s going to be in the height of the grossness. Thanks.
There is a ton of June grass floating at PCB where we are… It’s like swimming in slime.
Any June grass predictions for July 6-17??
My family will be going to destin june 22-27 for the first time…i have been reading about june grass and I’m hoping its not there when we come…how does the beach look so far??
We will be staying in the Seacrest Beach area 5/25/13 – 6/1/13. Any signs or predictions of the June grass this year?
We visited Okaloosa many years ago in mid July. The June grass was terrible. We drove just a few miles down to Destin and the water was perfect. Is Destin always clearer than Okaloosa.
This year we will be trying Okaloosa out one more time. We will be there first week of June. In the past, how was June grass beginning of June?
When (what month) does the June grass usually come in at its height? Is middle of June better or mid July to try to miss it. We were there the end of June the year of the oil spill and the June grass was horrific!!! We are trying to plan a trip and want to come when the June Grass is gone..
Thank you,
Rachel
I am coming to Panama City on the 30th, I noticed from your site and from the webcams that there is a lot of sargasam? build up on the beaches. Do they ever clean that up? When I was there last year the June Grass was horrible so we were hoping if we came later in the summer we would have clear waters. Your site has been very helpful!
We are coming to Gulf Shores this weekend and saw where the June grass is really bad right now. How long does the grass stay? Will it be there very long, days or weeks? What happens to the grass when it builds up on the beach? Do they have a crew come around and clean it up or does it just go back into the ocean? Thank You!
Thanks for this incredible site!! What are ypur thoughts of the junegrass potential the week of 7/2 (by pompano joes)? Thanks, Mike
We are staying at the Jetty East in Destin. I have been reading about the ocean being pretty rough this past week and about the drownings. That is very scary, I will make sure and look at the flags when we get there. Is it just bad if you go out into it or even just standing on the beach in a little bit of water?
HEADING TO ST JOSEPH PENN STATE PARK ON THE 17TH…KNOW IF JUNE GRASS IS EVER BAD THERE? HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH GRASS NEAR FT. WALTON SEVERAL YEARS BACK. MY SON CALLED IT “THE SLIME BEACH” WE DROVE A FEW MILES DOWN TO DESTIN AND WATER WAS VERY CLEAR.
Hello,
We will be at the Jetty next weekend, is there any June grass there right now? Last time we came the grass was really bad, I hope this time we get lucky and it is not in.
Any June Grass yet?
Is it true that when the water hits 80 the june grass comes in?
We will be in the Santa Rosa area during Memorial Day week? Any June grass in sight yet? Love your blog!
We are coming the week of May 20th. I see that the weather is calling for rain all next week. Does that bring the June grass in? Can you keep me posted it it starts coming in around May 20th. Thank you.
Any news on the June Grass near Rosemary Beach? Will be there in the first week of June. Thanks
I just wanted to let you know that your website has been so helpful for me and my family. We are a military family and just moved to the city of Crestview in May of 2011. When we fist got here the beaches were so clear and the water was amazing! As time went on and our beach trips got more frequent we started running in to June Grass, and we were so dismayed to realize there was no way of knowing what was going on at the beaches before we drove the 45 mins to the shore. When I found your website I was so happy. I use it every single time we are planning a trip to the shore now. Thank you so much!!!!
Hello, I stumbled onto this website via google. My family and I have been coming to Destin for 7 years now, the first 4 years the water was crystal clear as they should be, the last 3 years they have been filled with June Grass which pretty much ruins our beach time. I know it is early in 2012 but we always make our reservations in january or early February for our summer vaca. We are really stumped on what to do this year. We love destin, but we also love a clean beach and clean water so we are considering going somewhere else. Is the entire panhandle affected by this? Living In Indiana its a quick 12 hour drive to destin and we would like to stay there but we also want our 1 week on the beach to be grass free…any advice?
Jonathan… just called Henderson Beach State Park…. they said it’s pretty bad everywhere but there, causing people not to go into the water. But, they said that they are experiencing less June Grass then everywhere else, and that people are flocking there. It’s in Destin.
Coming down this weekend 8/6-8/13….how is June grass looking?
Thanks,
Jonathan