First Official Beach Visit

This afternoon we had our first visit to the beach.  At first we were worried that we'd have to hold off another day due to weather forecasts.  This week has been raining nonstop and for this afternoon they were originally predicting thunder and lightning.  For safety concerns we would have stayed off of the beach if there was lightning, but fortunately for us the forecast was wrong and just had to deal with it being overcast and chilly.

My partner for class, boyfriend, and I made it out later in the afternoon.  The entrance to the beach was a bit difficult to find, but after a bit of driving around we found the beach.

Bay View Park's beach was not very busy, but this could have been due to the weather.  It wasn't very warm and the overcast skies made for an unpleasant environment.

*Unfortunately there will not be pictures until I can find my camera's plug-in cord!

Some results from our visit:

I. General Beach Conditions

Air Temperature

                                  F                 C             

Wind Direction

                                              None                 S                 SE                 SW                 N                 NE                 NW                 E                 W              

Wind Speed

                                  Calm (<1 knot)                 Light Air (1-3 knots)                 Light Breeze (4-6 knots)                 Gentle Breeze (7-10 knots)                 Moderate Breeze (11-16 knots)                 Fresh Breeze (17-21 knots)                 Strong Breeze (22-27 knots)                 Near Gale (28-33 knots)                 Gale (34-40 knots)              

Most Recent Rain Event

 Less than 24 hours ago Less than 48 hours ago Less than 72 hours ago More than 72 hours ago I don't know 

Describe the rain event if one has occured in the last 72 hours (3 days)

 Misting Light Rain Steady Rain Heavy Rain No rain event in the past 72 hours I don't know Other 

 Current Sky Conditions

                                                                                     Sunny (no clouds) Mostly sunny (1/8 to 1/4) Partly sunny (3/8 to 1/2) Mostly cloudy (5/8 to 7/8) Cloudy (total coverage) 

Wave Height

                                  No waves                 Less than 1 foot                 1-2 feet                 3-4 feet                 5-6 feet                 6-8 feet                 Over 8 feet              

Wave Intensity

                                  Calm                 Medium                 Rough              

Longshore Current

10 meters divided by  time in seconds = 0.16 meters per second

Longshore Direction

                                  No Current                 S                 SE                 SW                 N                 NE                 NW                 E                 W              

Did you measure the longshore current?

                                  Yes                 No             

II. Water Quality

pH

pH Testing Method

                                  pH paper                 pH liquid solution                 pH meter              

Bacteria Sample Results

   Did your team do a bacteria test?

                                  Yes                 No             

E. coli - water (blue dots)	Coliform (red dots)	Latitude	Longitude	Action

Water Temperature:

                                  F                 C             

Turbidity:

 Clear Slightly Cloudy Cloudy Opaque (solid) 

Additional observations about water quality:

Water had brown algae chunks floating about

III. Bather Load

Total Number of People on the Beach:

Additional observations about bather load:

Cloudy day, sort of cold.  Weather has not been the greatest which probably accounts for the lack of people on the beach.

The most surprising thing about this visit, even after a forewarning, were the number of cigarettes on the beach.  It was pretty disgusting and they were rampant on the beach.