Sunday, March 2, 2014

A combination of large surf, high tides and dirty water meant that there was no swimming today. On Saturday the Harbor District had closed the beach because of the amount of debris in the water.  The Avila Beach Pier was closed due to the high waves.  

From the Tribune  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bwMFX9bSpM

As for the quality of the water, after some light rain Thursdays samples from Avila Beach were tested for enterococcus bacteria and were well past the state limit of 104 organisms per 100ml. The results were 223 and 288 and are in the last column on the right.  

This water quality data is a result of the work by the volunteers of the local Surfrider chapters Blue Water Task Force.  We collect weekly samples from seven locations from the Cayucos Pier to Pismo Beach.  The samples are tested for enterococcus bacteria, which has been identified by the EPA as the best indicator of the presence of human waste in both fresh and salt water. The results are posted at http://www.surfrider.org/blue-water-task-force/chapter/34.

Beginning in April we will be starting a 30 week effort to collect additional samples from four locations along the last few miles of an Luis Obispo Creek.  Currently our samples from the creek are collected at the creek mouth where it meets the ocean.  This additional data will help identify how far up the creek high levels of bacteria occur and help identify the source or sources for the bacteria.

We could use some additional volunteers for this work.  If you are interested in partipicating contact me at nieldilworth@gmail.com.

Thanks

niel

Oupps! Fixed the image of the lab data AND

This is one of the BEST SWIMMING VIDEOS I have seen. You'll love it!

High Diving Giraffes.mp4 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-fn6JxI1bVrdm5kOVFWenFvT1k/edit?usp=sharing