Blog Archives
THPSP Morning
Still a 0 on the June Grass Grossness Index. Folks seem to be having a great day at the beach. The safety flags were yellow, the wind was from NNW and the Gulf is pretty calm.
Lots of Choctawhatchee beach mouse tracks in the dunes.
Still Clear
THPSP and Sandestin are still at a 0 on the June Grass Grossness Index.
The wind is coming from the southwest and the water is still a bit choppy for swimming. The water also seems a bit warmer to me today.
There are a ton of black-bellied plover around. They are beautiful birds but very skittish. There are also a lot of other shorebirds like terns, gulls, willet, and sanderlings if bird watching is your thing.
I also noted a large number of black unicorn horn – shaped snails in shallow water, which is new for me. I will try to figure out what species. The beach and the Gulf are full of surprises.
It’s Gone!
THPSP, Stalworth, and Sandestin were clear this evening: 0 on the June Grass Grossness Index!
The water is a beautiful malachite color, between emerald and turquoise, but the surf is 2-3′ and a rip current alert is in effect. Stay out of the water! Red and purple flags were flying at the time of this report. The wind is coming quite strongly from the south, so I am a bit puzzled about where the June grass went.
There was one solitary pompano angler at the beach along with some willets, sanderlings, sand pipers, and a few ghost crabs. It’s shorebird nesting season, so watch where you step and respect roped – off nesting areas.
Here are a few photos:
Help improve the June Grass Report by submitting pics of beach conditions to:
Junegrasspics AT g mail DOT com
Thanks!
THPSP Afternoon
It’s true!
The June grass is in at about a 3 on the Grossness Index.
I stuck my feet in and the water is still a bit cold for my liking (I also turned the heat on in my car Tuesday morning when it was 64F. Obviously I have been in FL for too long).
If the water were warmer I would still go swimming.
I doubt the June grass will be leaving any time soon unless the wind shifts.
Photos of the carnage:
Please send me your beach pics to:
Junegrasspics AT g mail DOT com
June Grass Arrives Early!
I’m sorry for the lack of updates, I have been meaning to share some nice off-season beach pics but life is busy at the moment. In fact I am trying to run out the door to work right now! However, I just got a second-hand report that some fishermen at TSHPSP say the June Grass is in and thick enough that they can’t fish! Ugh!
I will try to get down there after work and confirm but if anybody has any pics please send them to me so I can post them ASAP!
The last two weeks on the Emerald Coast have been stormy, so I suspect a lot of “fertilizer” ended up in the Gulf, plus the majority of the wind has been coming from a mostly westerly direction, which is where the June Grass usually comes from.
What a way to begin the season!
Panhandle June Grass
I haven’t been to the beach yet today since there was lightening when I got up this morning. Maybe I’ll go down later.
I really, REALLY appreciate how much participation there has been on the Most Current June Grass Sightings Page! This really improves the June Grass Report since it gives real-time information from places I don’t usually go. Thank you!
Here’s my take on the current June Grass situation:
We’ve been having unprecedented rain in the Southeast for a month.
All the rivers flowing into the Gulf are full of nutrients, basically fertilizer for the June Grass blooms. Yuck.
Most of the time the June Grass seems to come from the western Gulf and the Gulf Stream is a clockwise current (sometimes the June Grass comes from all directions due to the fickleness of winds & tides).
The worst June Grass reports, for the last week or so, have been coming from the west, especially west of East Pass.
It is my opinion that until the last couple of days the massive water flow going out East Pass from Choctawhatchee Bay has been keeping the close-to-shore June Grass blooms off Destin Gulf-side and South Walton beaches, while it piles up from Okaloosa Island to Navarre. Even if the water from the Pass is blowing the June Grass out into the Gulf it’s going to end up over on Destin and South Walton beaches eventually because of the Gulf Stream. I think the June Grass may be starting to show up on the more eastern beaches. The water in South Walton doesn’t look that wonderful either: all the coastal dune lakes are outflowing so the near-shore water looks pretty nasty. I was told yesterday that it looked decent once you got out a few yards from the beach but the wind and waves were pushing the particulates up closest to the shore where there is a bit of a sandbar at the moment (wait five minutes, that will change).
I personally don’t want to go swimming. I’m strongly considering SUP if the wind and waves are cooperative.
In the meantime here is a nice local video of a lovely shark (no I am not being sarcastic, I like sharks, if you don’t then you’re on the wrong webpage):
All Clear in St. Andrew Bay 5/20/12
Today I went snorkeling at St. Andrew State Park in Panama City. Not a hint of June Grass, a lovely beach day, decent visibility at about 30′, tons of fish including mullet, bucktooth parrotfish, cocoa damsels, bicolor damsels, sheepshead, small snappers and sea bass, senett, and a pufferfish!
Live from Dune Allen
Previously I have gotten some negativity from a local on tripadvisor.com about the fact that The June Grass Report usually comes from Topsail Hill State Park. This happened to be the most convenient beach for me to access in the past, but now I have the ability to report on other beaches such as Dune Allen and Destin Pass.
As of about 7am there was zero june grass at Dune Allen, although there is still a fair bit of sargassum around and the south wind is miring the visibility.
Quick Update
Here is the latest Walton County fishing report on Walton Outdoors and here is the latest Okaloosa County beach water quality reports. I may go down to the beach tonight and do a quick update, I have been a bit under the weather.
Housekeeping: now that I have more blog time I am thinking about writing some posts about beach safety topics, beach-related smart phone apps, featured beach activities, and local beach ecology/environmental topics. Suggestions are welcome.
The June Grass Report 
