June grass update for Walton County  7/11/13:PM

0 on the June Grass Grossness Index. 

Well the water was clear! The thunderstorms last night and today stirred up a little silt but otherwise the water is very nice. No June grass or jellies! There is a little bit of sargassum. It’s pretty calm out right now. I don’t recommend snorkeling due to the visibility, and the waves are a bit small for boogie boarding, but the water is just right for relaxing. I also saw a school of medium-sized redfish as I was getting out, so fishing might be an option.

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!

June grass update for Walton County  7/8/13:PM

0 on the June Grass Grossness Index. 

I stopped by the beach during l’heure bleue. The water is clearing up nicely. It is now the color of green tea (the real brewed kind is light brown, not that yucky yellowish stuff in the bottle) instead of beef stew. I could actually see the sandy bottom while standing on the shore. There is still a lot of suspended solids in the water and probably a high bacteria count too. I’d still avoid swimming for another day or so in Walton County. In Okaloosa County there is a health advisory due to a sewage spill, which I have linked to in another post.

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!

June grass update for Walton County  7/8/13:AM

0 on the June Grass Grossness Index. 

I was on the beach before 7 this morning. The waves were, and still appear to be, nice for boogie boarding. However, the water is still very turbid and dirty and I don’t recommend getting in. Some sargassum came up onto the beach overnight. There were a lot of ~6″ fish jumping close to shore. They may have been Atlantic bumper feeding on smaller fish, but don’t quote me on that. There was a man kayak fishing the Stallworth outflow out past the second sandbar. I also saw two dolphins just out past the second sandbar. There were quite a lot of ghost crabs on the beach, which is a good sign. No June grass in sight yet but it may be lurking just offshore. Time, wind, and waves will tell.

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!

June grass update for Walton County  7/7/13:PM

0 on the June Grass Grossness Index. 

After The Great Panhandle Flood of July 4th the water in the Gulf is the color of beef stew and/or dishwater. I went for a quick boogie board but I don’t recommend getting in until it clears up. There is a lot of crud and debris in the water. Nothing you want in your ears, up your nose, or in any open wounds. There is a minor longshore current going east along the beach. Small tots should not be in the water, consider it PG-13 at least. At least there isn’t any June Grass.

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!

June grass update for Walton County TSHPSP to Stalworth Blvd./S. Bishop Public Access 7/1/13:PM

2-3 on the June Grass Grossness Index. 

The storms from this weekend have dramatically steepened the face of the beach. The area between the tide line and the first sand bar is now a lot deeper and more U-shaped. There are thicker accumulations of June grass in the “U”s but it’s hard to judge how much since the water is choppy.

The June grass isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I’ve been watching the beach web cameras all day and I could see what I thought was a thick band of it off the first sand bar this morning that slowly moved into the beach this afternoon. The way it still looks on the cams is that all the June grass is pushed up against the shore but doesn’t extend out all the way to the second sand bar.

There is a lot of crud on the beach but not too bad. There are a lot of shoes! I also found a few sea beans and a really tiny by-the-wind sailor. There are also hundreds of dead moths, of various species, at the tide line. Moths aren’t something I usually associate with the beach so I don’t know why they are there or why they are dead. I only saw a few non-stinging jellies washed up on the sand but I didn’t see any in the water. A small (smaller than a bread box) shark was sighted by some other people while I was walking on the beach. If you don’t like sharks then don’t swim at “dinner” time!

I also saw a lot of live coquina clams, a few ghost crabs, and three kinds of terns. There were a few surf fishermen but I’m not sure if they were having any luck. I saw a lot of kingfish last week, so maybe there is some good fishing.

DO NOT LEAVE YOUR KIDS’ DIRTY DIAPER AT THE SHOWER/RINSE STATION! What is the matter with people?!?!

At the time this report was made the beach flags were yellow and purple, 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!

June grass update for Walton County 6/24/13:PM

5-10 on the June Grass Grossness Index. 

Walton County beach cams from ~2:00-2:30 PM

Even if I can’t go to the beach there can still be a report! I appreciate the well-wishes. I’m feeling better and was thinking about going to the beach later but after having a look at the beach cams I think I will just stay home and rest some more. I made this little collage from screen shots of the local cams over about the last twenty minutes. The June grass is really obvious. This should give you an idea of how you can use the cams to decide if you want to go down the the beach. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to improve over the weekend. SwellInfo is predicting an increase in swells on Saturday. Bigger waves may, hopefully, get rid of the June grass or just make it worse. Looking at the cams makes me hopeful though, since the bloom is localized and has just gotten pushed up close to the beach, it doesn’t appear to be reaching out to the horizon.

At the time this report was made the beach flags were yellow and purple, 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!