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Something New for the June Grass Report
I had an epiphany the other day: June Grass is sort of a plant. Plants are green because of pigments called chlorophyll. Various government and scientific agencies track chlorophyll concentrations in the ocean, using satellite imagery, for a variety of reasons.
There are a number of websites where you can access this data. I am still combing through them but this is what the University of South Florida has to say about their chlorophyll tracking imagery:
“The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System region is an area bounded within these coordinates: 31°N 18°N 79°W and 98°W.
For day passes, there are five image products produced. Products include: a chlor_a (Chlorophyll a) image, an ergb (Enhanced RGB) image, a flh (Fluorescence Line Height) image, and a sst (Sea Surface Temperature) image. During night passes, two products are producted: a sst (Sea Surface Temperature) image and sst4 (Sea Surface Temperature) image.
Meris data is not produced for this area.
If you are viewing ‘color’ images, for any week but the current week, and click on a Google Earth link, Florida’s FWC Karenia brevis data will be displayed as a layer. Since FWC makes the data available on Friday, current week images do not have an association to K. brevis data until Saturday. The K. brevis data displayed corresponds to the date of the images you are viewing. All images during any one week are linked to that week’s FWC K. brevis data.
You will notice that the most current imagery date is displayed. If there are several passes, they will be seen inside each of the tabs.
All images are mapped to a cylindrical equidistant projection. Images are at 1 kilometer resolution.
All images are mapped to a cylindrical equidistant projection.
More information / references for any of the products can be found in the ‘information’ link located beneath every image.”
Here is the image they had for May 1, when we happened to have our first June Grass sighting:
Red coloration indicates high concentrations of chlorophyll (and maybe June Grass or other algae) and blue means low concentrations. Zoom in and check out our area. Look at all the red in the west! Everybody always says the June Grass comes from the west. I’m going to try to look at these kinds of images whenever we have reports of heavy June Grass this season and see if there is any correlation. It might not work but it could also be another tool in the fight against June Grass-ruined beach days.
I would love it if you would share your personal June Grass and beach condition reports on the Post Beach Conditions HERE! tab on the menu, to further improve the June Grass Report. You can also submit pics of the beach conditions from your location to: junegrasspics AT gmail DOT com Submitting your pics will vastly increase the beaches the June Grass Report can cover daily. Keep it family-friendly: (no booze, obscene gestures or R-rated swimwear, etc.) and include your location. By submitting pics you agree to let me use them as I see fit but I’ll put your name on them when posted. Your help and support is most appreciated!
There will be no June Grass Reports on red flag days because I do not encourage anybody to go in the water on a red flag. It’s dangerous, don’t do it!
If there isn’t a current June Grass report up on this site I suggest checking the link to local beach cams . They can often give you an idea of what the water is like. It is also important to “Know Before You Go” and check local beach flags. PLEASE ENJOY THE BEACH RESPONSIBLY!
June Grass Update for Walton County 8/11/13:AM
June grass update for Walton County 8/11/13:AM
5 on the June Grass Grossness Index
It’s a very pretty day to be at the beach even if the water isn’t so pretty. The June Grass looks more spinach than broccoli right now, so hopefully that means it’s dying and will go away soon. I think it’s doing the clumping thing, so if you walk a few hundred yards up or down the beach you may be able to avoid it somewhat. The beach water quality reports are good for both Walton and Okaloosa county, except Clement Taylor Park, which is bayside in Destin. When I drove across the pass earlier this week both the pass and Crab Island had finally gone back to blue water instead of brown. However, when I was driving east on 98 on Okaloosa Island I could smell the rotting June Grass from the road. Yuck.
While it’s not ideal swimming conditions right now, there are some biggish boogie board waves coming in over the first two sandbars (there are three right now: 2 close to the beach and the usual “2nd sandbar” out further). These waves aren’t quite big enough for regular surfing but might be an interesting challenge for more advanced SUP. There are also a lot of shorebirds around for the birdwatchers to enjoy. I didn’t see any surf fishers out yet today. As kids go back to school tourist season seems to be winding down. I’ve been quite pleased with the pleasantness of visitors we’ve had on the beaches this year: nobody was so annoying that I left the beach (which has happened often in years past).
In the future there will not be June Grass Reports on red flag days because I don’t encourage anybody to go in the water on a red flag.
At the time this report was made the beach flags were yellow, but check them again before you head to the beach. In Walton County you can text “beachflag” to 67463*
I would love it if you would share your personal June Grass and beach condition reports on the Most Recent June Grass Sightings & Beach Conditions page, to further improve the June Grass Report. It would also e great if you left a comment to tell me where you’re traveling from to visit the beach!
If there isn’t a current June Grass report up on this site I suggest checking the link to local beach cams on the left side of this page. They can often give you an idea of what the water is like. It is also important to “Know Before You Go” and check local beach flags. They are updated twice daily at 9:30am and 1:30pm.
PLEASE ENJOY THE BEACH RESPONSIBLY!
June Grass Update for East Pass Destin 8/3/13:AM
June grass update for Destin 8/3/13:AM
0 on the June Grass Grossness Index
I went out to the jetties this morning to dive on the high tide and was pleasantly surprised to find clear, although tannic, water! The only grass I saw was some torn up sea grass. There were a lot of fish. There were also 8 “cattle boats” of SCUBAs, snorkelers, SNUBAs but it really wasn’t crowded. There are life guards down there now!
In the future there will not be June Grass Reports on red flag days because I don’t encourage anybody to go in the water on a red flag.
At the time this report was made the beach flags were yellow, but check them again before you head to the beach. In Walton County you can text “beachflag” to 67463*
I would love it if you would share your personal June Grass and beach condition reports on the Most Recent June Grass Sightings & Beach Conditions page, to further improve the June Grass Report. It would also e great if you left a comment to tell me where you’re traveling from to visit the beach!
If there isn’t a current June Grass report up on this site I suggest checking the link to local beach cams on the left side of this page. They can often give you an idea of what the water is like. It is also important to “Know Before You Go” and check local beach flags. They are updated twice daily at 9:30am and 1:30pm.
PLEASE ENJOY THE BEACH RESPONSIBLY!
June Grass Update for Walton County 8/2/13:PM
June grass update for Walton County 8/2/13:PM
3 on the June Grass Grossness Index
I had a look around at the beach. I didn’t stick my feet in since there are bacterial advisories at 3 nearby beaches. The water looks pretty gross close to shore then appears to clear up further out, as people have been telling me all week.
In the future there will not be June Grass Reports on red flag days because I don’t encourage anybody to go in the water on a red flag.
At the time this report was made the beach flags were yellow, but check them again before you head to the beach. In Walton County you can text “beachflag” to 67463*
I would love it if you would share your personal June Grass and beach condition reports on the Most Recent June Grass Sightings & Beach Conditions page, to further improve the June Grass Report. It would also e great if you left a comment to tell me where you’re traveling from to visit the beach!
If there isn’t a current June Grass report up on this site I suggest checking the link to local beach cams on the left side of this page. They can often give you an idea of what the water is like. It is also important to “Know Before You Go” and check local beach flags. They are updated twice daily at 9:30am and 1:30pm.
PLEASE ENJOY THE BEACH RESPONSIBLY!
June Grass Update for Walton County 7/29/13:AM
June grass update for Walton County 7/29/13:AM
0-1on the June Grass Grossness Index
The torrential downpours and constant lightning strikes subsided, temporarily, long enough to climb down from my ark and row my dingy across the yard and down the road to have a look at the beach this morning. I saw literally 2 small clumps of June Grass, and they weren’t even in the water, they were up on the sand.
The water is a shade similar to green milk glass in the Gulf. The Bay and East Pass look like dishwater. Yuck. The Gulf looked swimmable but if you’re near a dune lake outfall, as pictured below, (Walton County only) I don’t recommend swimming in the out-flowing lake water or letting your kids play in it. It’s probably ok but better safe than sorry. Just walk down the beach until you can’t see the brown tannic water anymore.
There were a few early surf fishermen out and I saw some good-sized fish jumping offshore, so it may be a better fishing day than swimming, if you’re like me and prefer clear water. I also saw some big fish jumping in East Pass Saturday night.
I’ve noticed lately that certain public beaches aren’t always flying the most current beach flag so be sure to check online before you go.
In the future there will not be June Grass Reports on red flag days because I don’t encourage anybody to go in the water on a red flag.
At the time this report was made the beach flags were yellow, but check them again before you head to the beach. In Walton County you can text “beachflag” to 67463*
I would love it if you would share your personal June Grass and beach condition reports on the Most Recent June Grass Sightings & Beach Conditions page, to further improve the June Grass Report. It would also be great if you left a comment to tell me where you’re traveling from to visit the beach!
If there isn’t a current June Grass report up on this site I suggest checking the link to local beach cams on the left side of this page. They can often give you an idea of what the water is like. It is also important to “Know Before You Go” and check local beach flags. They are updated twice daily at 9:30am and 1:30pm.
PLEASE ENJOY THE BEACH RESPONSIBLY!
Campbell Lake outflow. This is the first time I’ve seen Campbell Lake break out after living here for over seven years.
More Campbell Lake outflow…
June Grass Update for Walton County 7/24/13:AM
June grass update for Walton County 7/24/13:AM
Stay OUT of the water!
Sorry for the lack of current reports. I’ve been on vacation and didn’t want to post that information online while I was away.
In the future there will not be June Grass Reports on red flag days because I don’t encourage anybody to go in the water on a red flag.
At the time this report was made the beach flags were red, but check them again before you head to the beach. In Walton County you can text “beachflag” to 67463*
I would love it if you would share your personal June Grass and beach condition reports on the Most Recent June Grass Sightings & Beach Conditions page, to further improve the June Grass Report. It would also be great if you left a comment to tell me where you’re traveling from to visit the beach!
If there isn’t a current June Grass report up on this site I suggest checking the link to local beach cams on the left side of this page. They can often give you an idea of what the water is like. It is also important to “Know Before You Go” and check local beach flags. They are updated twice daily at 9:30am and 1:30pm.
PLEASE ENJOY THE BEACH RESPONSIBLY!
The June Grass Report 