Beaches

Some beach access parking lots closed this week to allow for restoration projects.

North Collier Fire Control & Rescue District will host a dedication and deployment ceremony Friday morning for Ocean Rescue Tower 29, the district's first such tower on Naples Beach.

The main challenge of Clean Beaches Week is to remind people heading to the shore how easy it is to leave no trace they were there. Organizers point to picking up every bit of trash used, mess made, and recycling created.

The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners has approved the allocation of $6.18 million in Tourist Development Tax (TDT) funding to advance a major beach renourishment and recovery project on Anna Maria Island.

By mid-April the seaweed, which looks a lot like a watery sweet potato casserole with the brown, crusty topping, had spread across the entire Caribbean Sea, with substantial amounts pushing into the Gulf. Huge amounts washed up along many Caribbean shorelines in what USF researchers call “beaching events” in the bulletins issued at the end of every month.

Massive piles of sargassum, the size of which have not been seen before, are floating this way, right now, sure to coat the beaches of Florida’s East Coast, the Keys, and various Caribbean islands

The Florida Department of Health in Collier County is lifting a water quality advisory for North Gulf Shore Beach Access Clam Pass Beach North Gulfshore Boulevard in Naples.

Beach access at San Carlos Bay-Bunche Beach Preserve on John Morris Road is going to be closed from Monday, Feb. 9, through Wednesday, Feb. 11, while Lee County Department of Transportation rebuilds a berm.

Beach dunes may look like sand covered in weeds, but there’s more to these mounds than meets the eye. It’s illegal to interfere or drive on them under Chapter 161 of the Florida Statutes. But some travelers and Southwest Florida residents are unaware of this fact, according to Jeannine Richards, Ph.D. and assistant professor of ecology and environmental studies at Florida Gulf Coast University. Richards said that when people violate this rule, the repercussions are far greater than just leaving a footprint.

Due to a beach renourishment project designed to strengthen and protect the shoreline between Blind Pass and Bowman's Beach Park, the Blind Pass Beach parking lot will be closed for staging equipment beginning tonight (Friday evening, November 21).