Lots of people walk the beach each day, some to find treasures washed up in the surf, some to enjoy the beauty of the sights and sounds, and perhaps others to soothe the stresses of the day. Tracy Barnett is one of the local beachcombers you can usually find walking the Bolivar beaches. She knows a lot about the beach and is keenly aware of the seasonal changes Mother Nature brings. Over the last few months, large batches of water hyacinth have washed ashore. County crews had been regularly raking the beaches, but Tracy believes this breaks down the beach allowing more erosion. A while back, she asked the county to refrain from raking the beach to allow the leafy hyacinth to accumulate, and the result is “an obvious rise as the sand built up on top of the hyacinth,” said Tracy.
Research tends to support Tracy’s opinion. Studies have indicated that beach grooming may be ecologically damaging. “Grooming sandy beaches changes rich coastal habitats into barren plains of unstable sand,” says Jenifer Dugan of the Marine Science Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Although there are benefits associated with beach grooming, beach maintenance policies should consider other less disruptive methods.
For more information, read Beach Grooming, by Beachapedia,
http://www.beachapedia.org/Beach_Grooming
[2-20-2017]
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