tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/beach-4682/articlesBeach – The Conversation2024-01-04T20:01:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2143072024-01-04T20:01:53Z2024-01-04T20:01:53ZBecome a beach scientist this summer and help monitor changing coastlines<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565647/original/file-20231213-17-zlgqzp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C11%2C3958%2C2257&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CoastSnap</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When you arrive at your favourite beach these summer holidays, you may notice something different about the coast. </p>
<p>With the triple-dip La Niña now <a href="https://media.bom.gov.au/releases/1205/the-bureau-forecasts-an-unusually-warm-summer/">making way for El Niño</a>, our beaches have been through a rollercoaster ride. Some beaches have been completely stripped of sand, while others have grown very wide. </p>
<p>In the past, such changes went mostly unrecorded. However, thanks to a project <a href="https://www.coastsnap.com/">known as CoastSnap</a>, coastal data is now being collected like never before. Using designated camera cradles installed at beach viewpoints, CoastSnap uses community snapshots taken on smartphones to track beach change. </p>
<p>Almost <a href="https://www.spotteron.com/coastsnap/">50,000 photos</a> have been collected so far. They have revealed a varying picture in recent years: from <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-12/tropical-cyclone-uesi-bring-dangerous-conditions-nsw-coast/11955628">dramatic beach loss during La Niña storms three years ago</a>, to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/the-sydney-beach-that-s-grown-by-59-metres-since-last-summer-20230921-p5e6id.html">60 metres of beach growth in recent months</a>. So with smartphones as commonplace as towels and sunscreen in the beach bag, why not add coastal data collection to your list of holiday activities this summer?</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563079/original/file-20231203-29-n4laod.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="CoastSnap stainless steel camera cradle with smartphone placed in it, overlooking Manly beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563079/original/file-20231203-29-n4laod.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563079/original/file-20231203-29-n4laod.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563079/original/file-20231203-29-n4laod.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563079/original/file-20231203-29-n4laod.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563079/original/file-20231203-29-n4laod.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563079/original/file-20231203-29-n4laod.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563079/original/file-20231203-29-n4laod.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A CoastSnap community beach monitoring station at Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Larry Paice</span></span>
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<h2>Turning beach snaps into scientific data</h2>
<p>Through CoastSnap, we installed a network of stainless-steel camera cradles along coastal trails all around the world. These camera cradles are positioned at a perfect vantage point for tracking changes to the coast – whether it be due to rising sea levels, extreme storms or other factors.</p>
<p>All you need to do is place your camera in the cradle, take a photo and upload it using the QR code at the station. Because the position and angle of the photo is always the same, over time these snaps reveal how the beach is changing.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-satellite-images-reveal-how-beaches-around-the-pacific-vanish-or-replenish-in-el-nino-and-la-nina-years-198505">Millions of satellite images reveal how beaches around the Pacific vanish or replenish in El Niño and La Niña years</a>
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<p>As well as being a powerful visual record, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278434322001492">sophisticated algorithms</a> turn each photo into miniature satellite images that are used to precisely measure shoreline position. This is done using a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photogrammetry">process known as photogrammetry</a>, in which pixels in the image are rearranged as though they had been taken from space. </p>
<p>This aerial view enables beach change to be easily measured. Also, since the exact time of photo capture is recorded, the effects of tides as they vary throughout the day can be accounted for.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563240/original/file-20231204-17-8678xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="CoastSnap photo of beach (left) and equivalent photo converted to an aerial photo with a red line to mark out the shoreline" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563240/original/file-20231204-17-8678xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563240/original/file-20231204-17-8678xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563240/original/file-20231204-17-8678xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563240/original/file-20231204-17-8678xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563240/original/file-20231204-17-8678xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563240/original/file-20231204-17-8678xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563240/original/file-20231204-17-8678xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">CoastSnap photos are converted to a miniature satellite image using a process known as photogrammetry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mitchell Harley</span></span>
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<h2>From local to global: a network of community beach monitoring</h2>
<p>From its beginnings on the Northern Beaches of Sydney in 2017, new CoastSnap stations have been rolled out all around the world. We now have more than 350 CoastSnap stations in 31 countries and across five continents. </p>
<p>This makes it the largest coordinated network of coastal monitoring worldwide – and all the data is collected by the community.</p>
<p>In Ghana, West Africa, students from local schools are using CoastSnap to <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghanas-fishing-industry-has-a-golden-seaweed-problem-how-citizen-science-can-help-203007">better understand how the “golden seaweed” sargassum impacts fishing communities</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/like-20-tip-trucks-pouring-sand-on-every-metre-wide-strip-how-extreme-storms-can-replenish-beaches-not-just-erode-them-182039">‘Like 20 tip trucks pouring sand on every metre-wide strip’: how extreme storms can replenish beaches, not just erode them</a>
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<p>On Prince Edward Island in Canada, CoastSnap captured the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-fiona-coastal-climate-change-1.6599408">damage done by Hurricane Fiona last year</a>. The same stations are now being used to track the post-hurricane dune recovery.</p>
<p>In Australia, there are currently 125 CoastSnap stations around the country. This enables a big-picture assessment of the coastal consequences of large-scale weather events. For example, during <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-east-coast-rain-seems-endless-where-on-earth-is-all-the-water-coming-from-178316">last year’s record rainfall in eastern Australia</a>, extreme erosion was observed at CoastSnap stations from Queensland to southern New South Wales. The images reveal scouring by floodwaters was the main cause of beach erosion in many locations, rather than wave action as is usually the case.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="TiktokEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@coastsnap/video/7192798251588898049"}"></div></p>
<h2>Monitoring the present to plan for the future</h2>
<p>Data on coastal change is crucial for managing coastlines into the future. This is particularly important as sea levels continue to rise, storm tracks shift, and beaches come under increasing pressure from overdevelopment.</p>
<p>With several CoastSnap stations already operating for over six years now, this growing record is beginning to observe longer-term changes to the coast. This data is being fed into numerical models that help coastal researchers predict what the coastline will be like in the coming decades – and plan accordingly.</p>
<p>Smart coastal planning will help buffer climate change impacts. This will go some way to ensure future generations can enjoy the coast like we do today. </p>
<p>So as you head out to the beach this summer, look out for your nearest CoastSnap station and help monitor the coastline – it really is a “snap”!</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/storms-or-sea-level-rise-what-really-causes-beach-erosion-209213">Storms or sea-level rise – what really causes beach erosion?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214307/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mitchell Harley receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is also the New South Wales Chair of the Australian Coastal Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fred Chaaya works for the University Of New South Wales Water Research Laboratory, which manages the CoastSnap project and network.</span></em></p>With smartphones as commonplace as towels and sunscreen in the beach bag, why not add coastal data collection to your list of holiday activities this summer? Look for the CoastSnap camera cradles.Mitchell Harley, Scientia Senior Lecturer, UNSW SydneyFred Chaaya, Project Engineer, UNSW Water Research LaboratoryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2126662023-09-28T12:28:30Z2023-09-28T12:28:30ZSea glass, a treasure formed from trash, is on the decline as single-use plastic takes over<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550352/original/file-20230926-29-z2b42x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C19%2C2114%2C1390&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Every piece of sea glass has a story − but sea glass could be on the decline. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/handful-of-sea-glass-royalty-free-image/1442716713?phrase=sea+glass&adppopup=true">Olga Pankova/Moment</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When you stroll along a beach, you may look down and spot colorful bits of worn glass mixed in with the sand. But the little treasures you’ve found actually began as discarded trash. </p>
<p>As an <a href="https://www.uml.edu/sciences/eeas/faculty/weeden-lori.aspx">environmental science professor</a>, I find these gifts from the sea particularly interesting. I have analyzed sand from across the world and added samples, including one of sea glass, into a collection for the environmental, earth and atmospheric sciences at UMass Lowell. The way this trash-turned-treasure washes up on beaches reflects an intersection between human activity and Earth’s natural processes.</p>
<h2>A history of glass</h2>
<p>Prior to the proliferation of single-use plastics starting in the early 1970s, glass was the container of choice. People in <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/article/592/roman-glass/">ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome</a> used glass for windows, bottles, plates, bowls and more. </p>
<p>In the mid-20th century, people across the United States had milk bottles <a href="https://food52.com/blog/20229-milkmen-history">delivered to their homes</a>, and soda came in <a href="https://www.waybacktimes.com/collecting/short-history-glass-bottles/">glass bottles</a>. After these glass containers served their purpose, users would toss them into a dump. </p>
<p>Before the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/earth-days-modern-environmental-movement/">environmental movements of the 1960s</a>, trash dumps in the United States were often left open and exposed to rain and wind. As many of <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ocean-dumping/learn-about-ocean-dumping#Before%5D">these trash heaps</a> sat near waterways or coves, runoff would wash the trash – including discarded glass bottles – into the ocean.</p>
<p>On their way to the ocean, glass bottles would run into rocks and other objects, which would break the glass into smaller pieces. When these fractured bits traveled close enough to the coast, high tides and incoming waves would wash them out to sea. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2010.077">Wave action</a> causes these fragments to slide and roll along the sandy seafloor. It’s this movement that rounds the glass’ sharp edges and gives the once smooth and clear glass its pitted, frosted appearance.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547052/original/file-20230907-15-tzx3s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Plastic waste litters sand on a beach, with waves seen in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547052/original/file-20230907-15-tzx3s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547052/original/file-20230907-15-tzx3s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547052/original/file-20230907-15-tzx3s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547052/original/file-20230907-15-tzx3s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547052/original/file-20230907-15-tzx3s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547052/original/file-20230907-15-tzx3s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547052/original/file-20230907-15-tzx3s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">With the shift to single-use plastic, beaches have more plastic waste and less sea glass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=plastic%20pollution%20beach&mediaType=photo&st=keyword&vs=true">AP Photo/Julio Cortez</a></span>
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<h2>Sand to glass, then back to the sand</h2>
<p>All glass, including sea glass, <a href="https://www.glassallianceeurope.eu/en/what-is-glass">begins as sand</a>, specifically <a href="https://www.sandatlas.org/quartz-sand/">quartz sand</a>. Quartz sand is clear or white – you can see it on many beaches along <a href="https://www.scgov.net/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/521/4318">Florida’s Gulf Coast</a>. </p>
<p>To make glass from sand, <a href="https://www.ftmmachinery.com/blog/high-purity-quartz-sand-what-is-it-used-for-and-how-to-get-it.html">refiners first purify their quartz sand</a> using both physical and chemical processes to remove all minerals but quartz. They then melt the remaining quartz sand, add a bit of soda ash and limestone to increase the malleability and strength of the glass, and reform it into bottles, bowls, windows and more. </p>
<p>Because quartz is the foundation of all glass, many of <a href="https://geologyscience.com/minerals/quartz/?amp">the mineral’s characteristics</a> are reflected in sea glass. The most obvious is its clarity – quartz is nearly translucent – but also how quartz fractures or breaks. Quartz fractures tend to be a special type of break, called a conchoidal fracture. This type of fracture begins from a single point and breaks outwardly in a semicircular shape, so that the broken surface kind of looks like the inside of a seashell. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550355/original/file-20230926-26-kdhsgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A zoomed in look at sand -- several small rocks of varying colors, from yellow to white to gray." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550355/original/file-20230926-26-kdhsgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550355/original/file-20230926-26-kdhsgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550355/original/file-20230926-26-kdhsgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550355/original/file-20230926-26-kdhsgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550355/original/file-20230926-26-kdhsgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550355/original/file-20230926-26-kdhsgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550355/original/file-20230926-26-kdhsgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The yellowish piece of glass pictured in the center has a conchoidal fracture common for quartz.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lori Weeden</span></span>
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<p>Quartz is also <a href="https://geologyscience.com/minerals/quartz/?amp">highly resistant to chemical weathering</a>. Because sea glass is made from quartz, it tends to break down into smaller fragments, but it won’t weather away quickly.</p>
<p>Most sea glass spends <a href="http://www.seaglassjournal.com/articles/pureseaglass/lamotte.htm">at least a few decades</a> on the seafloor getting tossed around and smoothing its sharp edges in the sand. Some pieces of sea glass are estimated to be <a href="http://www.seaglassjournal.com/articles/pureseaglass/lamotte.htm">hundreds of years old</a> – it’s quartz’s hardiness that allows sea glass to persist in the environment for such a long time. </p>
<h2>A global industry</h2>
<p>Selling and trading sea glass is a multimillion-dollar industry in the United States, supported by organizations like the <a href="https://www.westcoastseaglass.com/north-american-sea-glass-association">North American Sea Glass Association</a> and the <a href="https://seaglassassociation.org/">International Sea Glass Association</a>.</p>
<p>Sea glass jewelry and collections populate craft shows all around the country. There are likely very few beach towns in the United States without a local sea glass jeweler selling custom designs. </p>
<p>With the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/single-use-plastic-waste-rises-2019-2021-despite-pledges-2023-02-06/">explosion of single-use plastics</a> as an alternative to glass bottles, sea glass may soon become <a href="https://inweh.unu.edu/global-bottled-water-industry-a-review-of-impacts-and-trends/">harder to find</a>, with less glass and more plastic in the supply chain. </p>
<p>As sea glass becomes harder to find, some retailers are creating their own artificial sea glass using rock tumblers and chemicals. The difference between the real and artificial beach glass <a href="https://seaglassassociation.org/genuine-vs-artificial/">is subtle</a> but still recognizable. Artificial sea glass has a uniformly frosted exterior, without the pitting seen in natural sea glass. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549176/original/file-20230919-29-z0z4m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A close up image of sand, which looks like small rocks, with a green, translucent piece of sea glass" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549176/original/file-20230919-29-z0z4m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549176/original/file-20230919-29-z0z4m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549176/original/file-20230919-29-z0z4m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549176/original/file-20230919-29-z0z4m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549176/original/file-20230919-29-z0z4m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549176/original/file-20230919-29-z0z4m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549176/original/file-20230919-29-z0z4m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artificial sea glass doesn’t have the same pitted texture as real sea glass. Pictured here in green is real sea glass, with small, textured marks across its surface.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lori Weeden</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The public may eventually become less interested in single-use items and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/06/07/plastic-alternatives-glass-aluminum-paper/">turn back to glass</a>. Unlike plastic, glass can be <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/06/07/plastic-alternatives-glass-aluminum-paper/">recycled multiple times</a> without losing its integrity, and glass doesn’t have the same environmental impact as <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/microplastics/">microplastics</a>. </p>
<p>But because there aren’t many markets for recycled glass and it’s heavy and difficult to transport, it’s not always financially beneficial <a href="https://cen.acs.org/materials/inorganic-chemistry/glass-recycling-US-broken/97/i6">to recycle glass</a>.</p>
<p>However, activists have demanded environmentally friendly alternatives to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2020.1801922">single-use plastics</a> in recent years. Aluminum bottles and cans are becoming more popular, and glass will remain an alternative to plastic. Unless it’s properly recycled, discarded glass will continue providing sea glass for the next generations to discover.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212666/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lori Weeden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sea glass, while an eye-catching treasure and a multimillion-dollar industry, exists because of decades of improper waste management.Lori Weeden, Teaching Professor of Environmental Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, UMass LowellLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2028442023-06-07T02:23:49Z2023-06-07T02:23:49ZHow to treat jellyfish stings (hint: urine not recommended)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530469/original/file-20230607-30115-psgkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/box-jelly-fish-photographed-aquarium-68332459">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you have been stung by a jellyfish at the beach, you’ll know how painful and unpleasant it can be. But how best to treat jellyfish stings has been debated over the years.</p>
<p>Is it best to use hot water or an ice pack? How about pouring on vinegar or rubbing with sand? Then there’s the popular myth about urinating on your leg, which health professionals have <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-urinating/#:%7E:text=Back%20in%201997%20all%20the,the%20treatment%20and%20it%20worked.">debunked</a> <a href="https://health.clevelandclinic.org/pee-jellyfish-sting/">many times</a> but seems to resurface regardless.</p>
<p>We looked at the evidence for popular treatments and have <a href="https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD009688.pub3/full">just published</a> our analysis in a Cochrane review. This is what we found.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-we-swim-in-the-ocean-we-enter-another-animals-home-heres-how-to-keep-us-all-safe-193457">When we swim in the ocean, we enter another animal's home. Here's how to keep us all safe</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why do jellyfish stings hurt so much?</h2>
<p>Jellyfish are common in coastal regions around the world. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524541/original/file-20230505-29-u5skut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Warning sign for marine stingers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524541/original/file-20230505-29-u5skut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524541/original/file-20230505-29-u5skut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524541/original/file-20230505-29-u5skut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524541/original/file-20230505-29-u5skut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524541/original/file-20230505-29-u5skut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524541/original/file-20230505-29-u5skut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524541/original/file-20230505-29-u5skut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Watch out, jellyfish about.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/yellow-black-warning-sign-dangerous-marine-168106508">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They have tentacles covered with tiny stinging cells called nematocysts. When these cells touch your skin, they release venom that can cause burning, redness, swelling and sometimes more serious reactions, such as heart issues.</p>
<p>Fortunately, most jellyfish stings are not life-threatening. Symptoms differ depending on the species. And the best treatment for one species is not always the best for another.</p>
<p>By knowing which treatment works and which doesn’t, you can reduce your discomfort and avoid complications.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-avoid-a-bluebottle-sting-heres-how-to-predict-which-beach-theyll-land-on-179947">Want to avoid a bluebottle sting? Here's how to predict which beach they'll land on</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What we did</h2>
<p>We found nine trials involving treatments for two types of jellyfish:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>bluebottles</strong> or Portuguese man o’ war (<em>Physalia</em>)</p></li>
<li><p><strong>box jellyfish</strong> (<em>Cubozoa</em>), which are considered the most dangerous jellyfish. Some box jellyfish can cause Irukandji syndrome (a condition that may lead to severe pain, heart problems, and very occasionally death).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These trials, involving 574 people, tested various treatments such as vinegar, hot water, ice packs, isopropyl alcohol, methylated spirits, ammonia and sodium bicarbonate.</p>
<p>The trials also looked at Adolph’s meat tenderiser (a powder thought to break down proteins) and Sting Aid (an over-the-counter treatment thought to help ease pain after a variety of stings).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/welcome-to-australia-a-land-of-creatures-out-to-kill-you-maybe-71490">Welcome to Australia, a land of creatures out to kill you... maybe</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>So what works?</h2>
<p>Regardless of the jellyfish species, it’s reasonable to first remove any visible tentacles with tweezers or a gloved hand. What to do next depends on the species.</p>
<p><strong>For bluebottles, try heat</strong></p>
<p>The data in our included studies provides what’s described as low-certainty evidence for soaking the affected area in water about 45°C to ease the pain. This is thought to denature the venom protein. At the beach, you could apply a heat pack or take a hot shower.</p>
<p>There was not enough evidence to show whether other treatments, such as ice packs, were effective for bluebottle stings.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524542/original/file-20230505-27-3vrruw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C648&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bluebottle on sandy beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524542/original/file-20230505-27-3vrruw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C648&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524542/original/file-20230505-27-3vrruw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524542/original/file-20230505-27-3vrruw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524542/original/file-20230505-27-3vrruw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524542/original/file-20230505-27-3vrruw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524542/original/file-20230505-27-3vrruw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524542/original/file-20230505-27-3vrruw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stung by a bluebottle? Try warm water or a heat pack.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bluebottle-portuguese-man-o-war-on-413370460">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>For box jellyfish, try vinegar</strong></p>
<p>For box jellyfish stings, the evidence was more limited. Our review did not find sufficient evidence to support <a href="https://resus.org.au/download/guideline-9-4-5-jellyfish-stings-july-2010-43-kib/?wpdmdl=13756&masterkey">current</a> <a href="http://www.ilsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/MPS-05%20Envenomation.doc">recommendations</a> to apply vinegar to inactivate the nematocysts.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, it’s reasonable to try vinegar. That’s because <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.5694/j.1326-5377.1980.tb134566.x">evidence</a> not considered as part of our review shows vinegar inactivates nematocysts when tested in the laboratory.</p>
<h2>When to seek medical care</h2>
<p>Most symptoms can be managed at the beach or at home. But always seek medical attention if you or the person you’re looking after has symptoms such as:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>difficulty breathing</p></li>
<li><p>chest pain</p></li>
<li><p>nausea</p></li>
<li><p>vomiting</p></li>
<li><p>weakness, or </p></li>
<li><p>drowsiness.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Such severe symptoms mean monitoring and treatment in hospital may be needed. If the person stops breathing or has a heart attack, they need immediate basic life support.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-cases-of-cardiac-arrest-time-is-everything-community-responders-can-save-lives-126491">In cases of cardiac arrest, time is everything. Community responders can save lives</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What not to do</h2>
<p>Do not rub or scrape the area with sand or a towel because this might cause more nematocysts to release their venom.</p>
<p>When it comes to treatments, our review found some may be harmful or ineffective, so should be avoided. </p>
<p>These included ammonia, methylated spirits and fresh water, as they may cause burns on the skin or trigger more venom to be released from nematocysts. </p>
<p>Avoid pressure immobilisation bandaging (wrapping a bandage tightly around the limb) as this may also trigger more venom release from nematocysts. </p>
<p>We found vinegar, sodium bicarbonate, Sting Aid or meat tenderiser have no proven benefit and may cause irritation or infection.</p>
<p>Perhaps not surprisingly, there were no published trials looking at the effectiveness of urine as a treatment and so it’s not recommended.</p>
<h2>Prevention is best</h2>
<p>Remember, prevention is better than cure. Keep an eye on safety announcements from lifeguards, monitor the water for jellyfish and wear protective clothing to prevent stings where possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202844/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hot water, cold water, rubbing with sand? What our new review says works best to treat jellyfish stings.Richard McGee, Senior lecturer in Paediatrics, University of NewcastleMichelle Welsford, Professor and Director of the Division of Emergency Medicine , McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1960512023-01-12T04:14:50Z2023-01-12T04:14:50Z‘More potent than cyanide’: how to stay safe from blue-ringed octopus this summer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504135/original/file-20230112-13-yk30h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C22%2C2968%2C1661&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kris Mikael Krister/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As an octopus biologist, I get a call from the media every summer because someone has had an encounter with a blue-ringed octopus. Thankfully, everyone has been OK. </p>
<p>Blue-ringed octopus are famed for being one of the most venomous animals on the planet, and the symptoms from a bite are the stuff of nightmares. But how worried do you need to be?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-would-win-in-a-fight-between-an-octopus-and-a-seabird-two-marine-biologists-place-their-bets-158520">Who would win in a fight between an octopus and a seabird? Two marine biologists place their bets</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>1,000 times more powerful than cyanide</h2>
<p>It’s a common myth that blue-ringed octopus are found only in the tropics. These tiny marine animals are, in fact, found all around Australia, including Tasmania.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/6526/">three official species</a> in Australia, with a maximum size ranging from 12 to 22 centimetres, and they are all extremely venomous. There are <a href="https://museumsvictoria.com.au/article/blue-ringed-octopus/">also many</a> scientifically “undescribed” species, which have yet to be named and officially added to the blue-ringed family.</p>
<p>The venom of blue-ringed octopus contains tetrodotoxin, a potent neurotoxin <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/6/2/693">claimed to be</a> a thousand times more potent to humans than cyanide. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504137/original/file-20230112-24-xqf111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504137/original/file-20230112-24-xqf111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504137/original/file-20230112-24-xqf111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504137/original/file-20230112-24-xqf111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504137/original/file-20230112-24-xqf111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504137/original/file-20230112-24-xqf111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504137/original/file-20230112-24-xqf111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504137/original/file-20230112-24-xqf111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blue-ringed octopus are found all over Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First discovered in pufferfish, tetrodotoxin <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(16)30596-6.pdf">is actually found in</a> more than 100 species including the Panamanian golden frog and rough-skinned newt. But levels of the toxin varies hugely between species, and levels in blue-ringed octopus are high. </p>
<p>Surprisingly, scientists are debating where blue-ringed octopus and other marine animals source their tetrodotoxin. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166445X1830465X">One theory</a> is that it’s produced by bacteria that live inside the host species, the other is that it’s sourced from the diet. </p>
<p>Most of these animals use tetrodotoxin for defence, but blue-ringed octopus also use it to hunt and kill their prey, such as fish and crabs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504138/original/file-20230112-4958-hwkux8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Pufferfish" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504138/original/file-20230112-4958-hwkux8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504138/original/file-20230112-4958-hwkux8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504138/original/file-20230112-4958-hwkux8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504138/original/file-20230112-4958-hwkux8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504138/original/file-20230112-4958-hwkux8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504138/original/file-20230112-4958-hwkux8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504138/original/file-20230112-4958-hwkux8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tetrodotoxin is found in over 100 species, including pufferfish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stelio Puccinelli/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Are blue-ringed octopus proliferating?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5397513/Record-number-blue-ringed-octopus-sightings-Adelaide.html">media often report</a> spikes or record numbers in blue-ringed octopus sightings. </p>
<p>While we don’t have the long-term data to confirm this, the populations of some octopus species <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982216303190">are increasing</a>. For example, there <a href="https://reporterre.net/Il-n-y-a-plus-que-ca-En-Bretagne-l-inquietante-invasion-des-poulpes">are reports</a> the common European octopus is proliferating in France right now. </p>
<p>Octopus are short-lived – the blue-ringed octopus only lives for <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00348686">a few months</a> – and are highly responsive to changing environmental conditions. </p>
<p>Hypothetically, some human-made habitats, such as breakwalls and lobster pots, or marine litter, such as bottles and cans, could be providing additional habitat for blue-ringed octopus. Likewise, climate change could confer an advantage to some octopus species that can better adapt to <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/mf/pdf/MF14126">warming waters</a>.</p>
<p>But we simply do not know if this is the case for blue-ringed octopus. Octopus populations may also undergo natural “boom and bust” cycles in response to fluctuations in temperature, food, and other factors in their environment, resulting in rapid increases and decreases in population numbers. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/tv/CZVjyUYqnTy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>How to keep safe</h2>
<p>Blue-ringed octopus deliver venom by biting using their parrot-like beak, which is found at the base of the arms. </p>
<p>Blue-ringed octopus bites are rare – they are docile, shy animals and are not interested in people. But they may bite when they are threatened or provoked, so <em>NEVER, EVER</em> pick them up. </p>
<p>And remember, these octopus <a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/215/21/3752/19182/How-does-the-blue-ringed-octopus-Hapalochlaena">only flash</a> their characteristic blue rings when upset, so stay clear of any small octopus, no matter what they look like. </p>
<p>Blue-ringed octopus are found in shallow coastal waters, including the foreshore, so accidental encounters do happen. Their <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/6526/">preferred habitats</a> include rocky reefs and coral reefs, seagrass and algal beds, and rubble. Given they’re found throughout the Indo-West Pacific, you may encounter them while on holiday.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504139/original/file-20230112-34767-8nyu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Blue-ringed octopus in a shallow tide pool" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504139/original/file-20230112-34767-8nyu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504139/original/file-20230112-34767-8nyu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504139/original/file-20230112-34767-8nyu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504139/original/file-20230112-34767-8nyu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504139/original/file-20230112-34767-8nyu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504139/original/file-20230112-34767-8nyu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504139/original/file-20230112-34767-8nyu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A blue-ringed octopus in a shallow tide pool.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Be careful exploring rock pools, cracks or crevices, or picking up empty shells or bottles at the beach, where the octopus may make a home or den, or even when retrieving fishing gear, such as octopus pots or lobster pots.</p>
<p>Curious, young children may also be at risk of an encounter as they explore the beach environment – I know my own toddler would seek out the ideal octopus habitat if given a chance. </p>
<p>This month also, many dead blue-ringed octopus were found on the beach after a mass death event of marine critters in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-06/carnage-of-dead-marine-life-on-beaches-near-murray-mouth/101831330">South Australia</a>. It’s best not to pick them up as they could be dying and stressed. Please also keep pets and young children well away as ingestion could lead to poisoning. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-could-octopuses-evolve-until-they-take-over-the-world-and-travel-to-space-156493">Curious Kids: could octopuses evolve until they take over the world and travel to space?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What to do if bitten, and symptoms to watch for</h2>
<p>All three blue-ringed octopus species in Australia <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/6526/">have killed people</a>, but cases are extremely rare. The severity of symptoms <a href="http://www.toxinology.com/generic_static_files/A%20Clinician's%20Guide%20to%20Venomous%20Bites%20&%20Stings%202013.pdf">depends on</a> how much venom someone receives.</p>
<p>A mild case of envenomation may result in tingling around the mouth and mild weakness. A <a href="http://www.toxinology.com/generic_static_files/A%20Clinician's%20Guide%20to%20Venomous%20Bites%20&%20Stings%202013.pdf">severe case</a> may lead to flaccid paralysis (weak or limp muscles), including respiratory paralysis and the inability to breathe. </p>
<p>A tricky thing with blue-ringed octopus is that bites may be painless, so people can be unaware they have been bitten. But the onset of symptoms can be rapid (within minutes) and so an equally rapid first-aid response is crucial.</p>
<p>If you believe someone has been bitten by a blue-ringed octopus, remove them from water immediately and seek urgent medical care. You do not need to put anything on the bite, such as vinegar or hot water. Rather, pressure bandaging and immobilisation is <a href="http://www.toxinology.com/generic_static_files/A%20Clinician's%20Guide%20to%20Venomous%20Bites%20&%20Stings%202013.pdf">recommended, as for snake bites</a>.</p>
<p>If the envenomation is severe, first aid is also focused on providing basic life support, particularly breathing support. <strong>Full first aid response details <a href="http://www.toxinology.com/fusebox.cfm?fuseaction=main.first_aid.firstaid&id=FAD-14">can be found here</a> and <a href="http://www.toxinology.com/generic_static_files/A%20Clinician's%20Guide%20to%20Venomous%20Bites%20&%20Stings%202013.pdf">here</a>.</strong></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-hidden-world-of-octopus-cities-and-culture-shows-why-its-wrong-to-farm-them-180536">The hidden world of octopus cities and culture shows why it’s wrong to farm them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Importantly, undertaking a first-aid course may help equip you with some of the skills to support a person who has been bitten before medical help arrives. </p>
<p>While there is no antivenom available for a blue-ringed octopus bite, the venom has <a href="http://www.toxinology.com/generic_static_files/A%20Clinician's%20Guide%20to%20Venomous%20Bites%20&%20Stings%202013.pdf">short-lived effects</a> (usually hours). </p>
<p>At the end of the day, enjoy the ocean. But if you see any small octopus, whatever you do, do not pick it up. </p>
<p><em>The author gratefully acknowledges clinical toxinologist, Professor Julian White AM (Women’s & Children’s Hospital, Adelaide), who provided advice on this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196051/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zoe Doubleday receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Australian Academy of Science, and Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. </span></em></p>Ranging from 12 to 22 centimetres, these tiny octopus are extremely venomous and found all over Australia. Here’s what to do if you see someone get bitten.Zoe Doubleday, Marine Ecologist and ARC Future Fellow, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1963902023-01-10T23:51:05Z2023-01-10T23:51:05ZAre stingrays actually dangerous? 3 reasons you shouldn’t fear these sea pancakes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503565/original/file-20230109-12-nqjvs0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5751%2C3837&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>To beat the summer heat, many of us in the Southern Hemisphere are hitting the beach – and this raises our chances of encountering potentially dangerous marine life beneath the waves. </p>
<p>So should we be worried about stingrays? You might still think so, even if it’s been 16 years since the death of wildlife icon Steve Irwin.</p>
<p>Irwin wrangled some of the world’s most dangerous animals, from crocodiles to venomous snakes, yet it was a stingray that tragically took his life. When I tell others I study stingrays, they usually respond with shock, followed by a quick reminder about this. In fact, I am surprised when an Australian <em>doesn’t</em> mention it. </p>
<p>Despite their reputation as being dangerous, stingray-caused deaths are actually rare. Accidental injuries do happen, but understanding how and why “barbings” occur could help prevent them and help beachgoers overcome the stingray stigma. </p>
<h2>The stingray stigma</h2>
<p>The existence of a “stingray stigma” became obvious to me after I recently posted an Instagram reel demonstrating the proper technique for picking up a stingray. Despite the fact I’m well trained in this procedure, multiple commenters were flabbergasted I would attempt something so dangerous. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjNEeC1r_dO","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>A few more suggested I should fling the stingray out of my hands to avenge Steve Irwin. We can assume these comments are jokes, but weeks after his death <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/leave-rays-alone-irwin-fans-told-20060913-gdodj3.html">news reports</a> showed Irwin fans may have sought retribution when a handful of stingrays on Queensland’s beaches were found with their tails cut off.</p>
<p>Antipathy towards stingrays is likely influenced by <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/stingray-stab-wound-collapses-mans-lung-experts-warn-increasing-danger-climate-change/95af8ffb-3109-432b-9fbb-68baa4d460c7">media headlines</a> which often paint the animals in a negative light. Many reports about stingrays are coupled with terms such as “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-46252112">stingray attack</a>” but, in fact, they rarely act aggressively. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501672/original/file-20221218-37196-6y2iv3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501672/original/file-20221218-37196-6y2iv3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501672/original/file-20221218-37196-6y2iv3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501672/original/file-20221218-37196-6y2iv3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501672/original/file-20221218-37196-6y2iv3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501672/original/file-20221218-37196-6y2iv3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501672/original/file-20221218-37196-6y2iv3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A rather docile cowtail stingray resting in the ankle-deep water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jaelen Myers, 2022</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-will-miss-them-if-they-are-gone-stingrays-are-underrated-sharks-we-dont-know-enough-about-186214">'I will miss them if they are gone': stingrays are underrated sharks we don't know enough about</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3 crucial facts about stingrays</h2>
<p>So which rays should we watch out for and how do barbings happen? Here are three key facts: </p>
<p><strong>1. More people die falling out of bed than from stingrays</strong></p>
<p>Thousands of stingray injuries are reported worldwide each year but, interestingly, only five recorded deaths have been reported in Australia since 1945, and fewer than 20 worldwide. </p>
<p>Actually, more people die each year from falling out of bed – 73 people in Australia in 2021 alone, according to <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/causes-death-australia/latest-release#data-downloads">data</a> from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. </p>
<p><strong>2. Not all rays sting</strong></p>
<p>I have been using the term stingray so far, but there are many types of rays. To clarify, all stingrays are rays, but not all rays are stingrays. </p>
<p>The term “ray” includes everything from skates, guitarfish, manta rays, devil rays, to true stingrays. Only the latter is characterised by a venomous barb, which it developed as a defence tool against larger aquatic predators such as sharks.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501674/original/file-20221218-7450-jbw4y5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501674/original/file-20221218-7450-jbw4y5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501674/original/file-20221218-7450-jbw4y5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501674/original/file-20221218-7450-jbw4y5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501674/original/file-20221218-7450-jbw4y5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501674/original/file-20221218-7450-jbw4y5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501674/original/file-20221218-7450-jbw4y5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Common shovelnose ray - one of the many barb-less rays.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jaelen Myers, 2022</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>3. A stingray’s body is harmless - but it is slimy</strong></p>
<p>The barb is the only part of a stingray you should be wary of. Since it is located close to the base of the tail on most species, the rest of the tail and the body are harmless to touch. </p>
<p>You’re only in barbing range if you stand nearly on top of their bodies, but they usually shuffle away long before you get that close. </p>
<p>When they feel threatened or are stepped on, rays may react defensively by jerking their tail. That’s why injuries are usually on <a href="https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/podiatry/blogged/treating-stingray-envenomation-and-injury-lower-extremity">the foot or ankle</a>. Injuries to extremities vary in severity and pain degree, but they aren’t usually life threatening. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501675/original/file-20221218-27-czad33.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501675/original/file-20221218-27-czad33.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501675/original/file-20221218-27-czad33.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501675/original/file-20221218-27-czad33.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501675/original/file-20221218-27-czad33.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501675/original/file-20221218-27-czad33.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501675/original/file-20221218-27-czad33.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Location of the venemous barb on a stingray’s tail. As they grow, they commonly grow a second barb.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jaelen Myers, 2022</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reef-manta-rays-are-in-decline-globally-but-new-research-finds-one-place-in-indonesia-where-these-charismatic-rays-are-thriving-194366">Reef manta rays are in decline globally – but new research finds one place in Indonesia where these charismatic rays are thriving</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Love your local stingray</h2>
<p>Knowing these facts hopefully eliminates some of the mystery and underlying fear about stingray strikes. Based on my experiences, I find stingrays to be gentle natured. My hope is to alter the general perception of them from dangerous to cute and gentle. </p>
<p>Fortunately, the growth of ecotourism is helping by providing people with memorable stingray interactions. Many aquariums around the world, such as the Georgia Aquarium in the United States, allow adults and children to pet and feed stingrays in <a href="https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/story/get-up-close-and-personal-with-georgia-aquarium/">touch tanks</a>.</p>
<p>You may have also heard of <a href="https://www.stingraycitycaymanislands.com/">Stingray City</a> in the Cayman Islands, which is famous for letting you snorkel with rays. At the <a href="https://www.daydreamisland.com/experience/reef-experience/stingray-splash">DayDream Island resort</a> in Queensland, Australia, you can even feed them on your lap. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502788/original/file-20221231-3468-kj9pgy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502788/original/file-20221231-3468-kj9pgy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502788/original/file-20221231-3468-kj9pgy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502788/original/file-20221231-3468-kj9pgy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502788/original/file-20221231-3468-kj9pgy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502788/original/file-20221231-3468-kj9pgy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502788/original/file-20221231-3468-kj9pgy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A group of kids learn how to feed stingrays at Daydream Island Resort.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jaelen Myers, 2022</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Positive interactions with these animals can replace the stingray stigma with fascination and curiosity, which is important for promoting their conservation.
A hefty portion of ray species worldwide are vulnerable to localised extinctions and declining population sizes under current levels of <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/00590#abstract">overfishing</a>, including eagle and manta rays. </p>
<p>Increasing evidence also suggests <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/too-cute-to-die-experts-say-were-too-selective-about-species-we-choose-to-protect">more conservation efforts</a> are directed to popular, beloved species. Is there any doubt that we care more for panda bears than a slimy fish? Thus, learning to appreciate our ocean’s “sea pancakes” could be good for them in the long run. </p>
<p>My advice is to seek out a memorable stingray experience. If you see one at the beach, observe it from a safe distance. If you’re landlocked, take the family to the aquarium and touch one. Then you can decide whether it’s worth being afraid of them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503566/original/file-20230109-15-jgrqpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503566/original/file-20230109-15-jgrqpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503566/original/file-20230109-15-jgrqpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503566/original/file-20230109-15-jgrqpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503566/original/file-20230109-15-jgrqpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503566/original/file-20230109-15-jgrqpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503566/original/file-20230109-15-jgrqpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stingray City, Cayman Islands is a tourist hotspot where people can get up close and personal with the resident stingrays.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">George Wauchope, 2023</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-might-be-the-worlds-biggest-ocean-but-the-mighty-pacific-is-in-peril-150745">It might be the world's biggest ocean, but the mighty Pacific is in peril</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196390/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jaelen Nicole Myers receives funding from James Cook University and the Ecological Society of Australia,. </span></em></p>The tragic death of Steve Irwin in 2006 gave stingrays a reputation for being dangerous. But stingray-caused deaths are incredibly rare.Jaelen Nicole Myers, PhD Candidate, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1920922022-12-27T19:20:06Z2022-12-27T19:20:06Z4 facts about seagulls that will make you love these relentless chip thieves<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496355/original/file-20221121-6248-x18m8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C0%2C3700%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether they’re stealing your chips or screeching at your picnic table, seagulls are a hallmark of Australian summers. But how much do you really know about them? </p>
<p>In Australia, the most common species of seagull is the <a href="https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/Silver-Gull">silver gull</a> (<em>Larus novaehollandiae</em>), which is found throughout the continent. People in southern Australia may have also seen its larger, dark-winged cousin, <a href="https://ebird.org/species/pacgul1?siteLanguage=en_AU">the Pacific gull</a> (<em>Larus pacificus</em>). </p>
<p>And in fierce competition with the Pacific gull is the <a href="https://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Larus-dominicanus">kelp gull</a> (<em>Larus dominicanus</em>), which established itself in Australia in the 1940s and is found in all states.</p>
<p>Here are four fascinating facts about seagulls that might make you see them a little differently.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C5991%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Seagull stealing a chip" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C5991%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seagulls are a hallmark of Australian summers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Seagulls thrive in cities</h2>
<p>Gulls are part of “Laridae” family of seabirds and are found worldwide. While they’re synonymous with the sea, they can also thrive inland, particularly in urban areas. </p>
<p>Life in urban areas can be hard for birds. Without natural habitat, birds must learn to live among human-made infrastructure. However, gulls have adapted well to our highly modified landscape.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.12012">research has found</a> gulls are highly tolerant to urban disturbances, such as loud traffic and industrial noise as well as pedestrian and vehicle traffic. They have even adapted their nesting behaviour to use, for instance, ovals and flat roofs on buildings.</p>
<p>Gulls have <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.00058/full">a large brain</a> relative to their body. <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070110090918.htm">Research suggests</a> birds with larger brains can more successfully adapt to changing habitats and colonise new environments. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Seagull in Rome" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seagulls thrive in cities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An <a href="https://theconversation.com/seagulls-songbirds-and-parrots-what-new-research-tells-us-about-their-cognitive-ability-173954">interesting study</a> last year tested the intelligence of ring-billed gulls, which are predominately found in Canada and northern United States. </p>
<p>Researchers attached a piece of sausage to a string, and placed it inside a clear box. Some 75% of the 138 gulls tested attempted to solve the task by pulling the string to bring the food closer, and 25% were successful. </p>
<p>This study shows gulls are curious and try to solve problems - both skills that serve them well in the urban jungle. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/seagulls-songbirds-and-parrots-what-new-research-tells-us-about-their-cognitive-ability-173954">Seagulls, songbirds and parrots: what new research tells us about their cognitive ability</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. They are expert food thieves</h2>
<p>Gulls are opportunistic feeders, meaning they will try almost any food they encounter. They’re renowned for stealing food from other gulls and even from us, a behaviour called “kleptoparasitism”. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0405">2019 study</a> showed herring gulls, found along the shores of western Europe and the UK, are aware of the direction of the human gaze. The herring gulls in the study more quickly snatched up food placed near a person, when the person was looking away from the gull.</p>
<p><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.191959">Other research</a> looked at how herring gulls interacted with food after they watched a person handle it. It found the gulls were much more likely to peck at food a human had handled, rather than food that hadn’t been touched. </p>
<p>Silver gulls in Australia have a <a href="https://www.nhbs.com/handbook-of-australian-new-zealand-and-antarctic-birds-7-volume-set-book">diverse range</a> of natural prey. This includes cnidarians (such as jellyfish), squids, insects, fish, frogs, small birds such as sparrows and wrens, plants and, when possible, small rodents.</p>
<p>Gulls, especially silver gulls, are also expert scavengers, and often exploit landfills. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1521551">A study from 1993</a> recorded 6,000 silver gulls per hour leaving a single urban landfill site in Wollongong in Australia. </p>
<p>A more <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/MU/MU11031">recent study</a> in 2012 found a kelp gull breeding colony in the De La Guardia Islands of Patagonia, Chile, is sustained by food from an inland rubbish tip.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Sn4i9I2uS8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Seagulls snatching a sandwich in the UK | BBC.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-should-have-more-sympathy-for-seagulls-and-how-to-stop-them-stealing-your-chips-186979">Why you should have more sympathy for seagulls – and how to stop them stealing your chips</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>3. They can nest almost anywhere, anytime</h2>
<p>When conditions are right and food is plentiful, gulls can breed all year around. Peak breeding season for silver gulls is roughly between August and November and they lay one to four eggs.</p>
<p>Seagulls are traditionally found sleeping and nesting on flat beaches. Some gull species, including Australia’s silver gull, may create “nest scrapes” – shallow depressions in the the ground lined with, for instance, leaves and other vegetation. </p>
<p>Silver gulls prefer to nest in islands. But as urban development encroaches into their habitat, seagulls <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10336-019-01657-8">have adapted to</a> roost and nest in a range of places. Their simple nest design means they can nest in grass cricket pitches, ovals, car parks, low shrubs between rocks and even flat roofs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Seagulls nesting in gutter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seagulls nesting in a gutter in the UK.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The downside for ground-nesting birds such as gulls is that they’re especially vulnerable to human disturbances, such as lawnmowers, pedestrians and their dogs, and even footy games.</p>
<p>Still, gulls seem to make it work. The abundance of human food seems to benefit breeding birds – a <a href="https://bioone.org/journals/waterbirds/volume-31/issue-1/1524-4695_2008_31_122_SMDAFC_2.0.CO_2/Supersize-Me--Does-Anthropogenic-Food-Change-the-Body-Condition/10.1675/1524-4695(2008)31%5B122:SMDAFC%5D2.0.CO;2.short">Tasmanian study</a> on silver gulls in 2008 found urban males were heavier and had greater body condition then non-urban male gulls. Interestingly no difference were detected between females. </p>
<p>Further research is need to see how successful urban silver gulls are at breeding and raising young on human food. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/birds-on-beaches-are-under-attack-from-dogs-photographers-and-four-wheel-drives-heres-how-you-can-help-them-155962">Birds on beaches are under attack from dogs, photographers and four-wheel drives. Here's how you can help them</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>4. They use teamwork to harass enemies</h2>
<p>Cats (both pet and feral) are a downside to urban life for gulls. Foxes and wild dogs can also pose a significant threat.</p>
<p>This is where team works come in. When silver gulls detect a predator, they <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/7/445">work together</a> using aerial group defence tactics to drive away the threat.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Black-headed gulls mobbing a crane.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One anti-predator strategy is called <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/birdwatching/bird-behaviour/what-is-mobbing/">social mobbing</a>. This is where a group of gulls unite to harass a potential enemy – such as a cat or fox – by flying towards it and making alarm calls, until it goes away. </p>
<p>Some gulls might even vomit or defecate on the predator, with startling accuracy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grainne Cleary does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For one, they’ll work as a team to dive bomb potential enemies, even vomiting or defecating on them.Grainne Cleary, Researcher, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1886502022-09-08T00:39:34Z2022-09-08T00:39:34ZCurious Kids: why do seashells sound like the ocean when you put them to your ear?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483119/original/file-20220907-26-v8ztoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C1911%2C1276&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/DUgf336dgi4">pixmike/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>Why do seashells make a sound like the ocean when you put them to your ear? – Remy, age 9, Wangaratta, Victoria</p>
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<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291898/original/file-20190911-190031-enlxbk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=1" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Thanks for the great question Remy! </p>
<p>My kids and I have collected a lot of seashells and we love listening to them to remind us of the sea. </p>
<p>But the seashells are not actually making any sounds themselves. So what’s going on?</p>
<h2>Seashells ‘catch’ sounds</h2>
<p>Each seashell is a unique shape. Hollow and curved ones can “catch” some of the sounds around you. That’s when sound enters the opening of the shell.</p>
<p>Once in the shell, these sounds bounce around. This makes the sounds get slightly louder (or amplified) before they leave the shell.</p>
<p>The sounds seashells “catch” <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10208-021-09509-9">tend to be</a> what scientists call lower-frequency sounds. Think of these as deeper, or more rumbling sounds.</p>
<p>The sound of the ocean is also a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-brown-noise-can-this-latest-tiktok-trend-really-help-you-sleep-188528">low-frequency sound</a>. That’s why it sounds similar to the sounds caught in a shell.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-do-shells-get-made-111072">Curious Kids: how do shells get made?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>But why can I hear it?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/lessons/sound-travels">sound you hear</a> when you put a shell against your ear is actually parts of the background noise around you, just turned up a little by the shell.</p>
<p>So if you’re next to the ocean, the shell picks up the sounds of the ocean. If you’re nowhere near the ocean, the shell picks up other deep and rumbling sounds, such as the wind or the fridge. </p>
<p>There is nearly always some kind of background noise around us the shell can pick up, even when it is very quiet.</p>
<p>As the shell turns up the sound, this means you can hear it over the other background noise around you.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LVy0vfl5cOQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Here’s why you can hear the sound of the ocean.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It’s not just seashells</h2>
<p>Sounds are turned up all the time in nature. It’s not just with seashells.</p>
<p>In fact, our own ears <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/how-the-ear-works">are shaped</a> to make important sounds around louder for us.</p>
<p>If you hold an empty cup to your ear, you might also hear a sound like the sea. But there is something special about holding a seashell in your hand, knowing it is from the beach. Sometimes the shell even smells like the beach.</p>
<p>Even though it is not actually the sound of the sea you are hearing, if you close your eyes and listen closely it can almost feel like you are back sitting by the water.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-are-there-waves-112015">Curious Kids: why are there waves?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188650/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Brennan-Jones receives funding for research from the NHMRC and the Western Australian Department of Health. </span></em></p>Seashells don’t make the noise of the ocean. Here’s what’s really going on.Chris Brennan-Jones, Head of Ear Health, Telethon Kids Institute, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1882082022-08-19T12:41:18Z2022-08-19T12:41:18ZSandcastle engineering – a geotechnical engineer explains how water, air and sand create solid structures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479726/original/file-20220817-11-akqy8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C16%2C2685%2C1923&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's a lot of science behind the natural forces that let this guy work his magic at the beach.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vpickering/3780119874/">Victoria Pickering/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you want to understand why some sandcastles are tall and have intricate structures while others are nearly shapeless lumps of sand, it helps to have a background in geotechnical engineering.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=UXVFmqIAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">geotechnical engineering educator</a> myself, I use sandcastles in the classroom to explain how interactions of soil, water and air make it possible to <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0374933">rebuild landscapes after mining</a> metals critical to the energy transition.</p>
<p>Building a sandcastle comes down to the right mix of those three ingredients. Sand provides the structure, but it’s water between the sand grains that provides the force – in this case, suction – that holds the sand together. And without the right amount of air the water would just push the sand grains apart.</p>
<h2>Not just any sand</h2>
<p>Sand grains, according to the standards body ASTM International’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1520/D2487-17">Unified Soil Classification System</a>, are soil particles having a diameter of 0.003 inches (0.075 mm) to 0.187 inches (4.75 mm). Sands, by definition, have at least half their particles in that range. Silt or clay is soil with particles smaller than sand size. And soil with particles larger than sand size is gravel.</p>
<p>The size of particles, or grains, also determines the way sand looks and feels. The smallest sand grains have a texture almost like powdered sugar. The largest grains are more like the size of small dry lentils.</p>
<p>Most sand will work for building a sandcastle, but the best sand has two characteristics: grains of sand in several different sizes and grains with angular or rough edges. Variation in grain size allows smaller sand grains to fill the pockets, or pores, between the larger sand grains. The result is increased sand strength.</p>
<p>Sand grains that are more angular, with sharp corners on them, lock together better, making the sandcastle stronger. It’s the same reason a pile of angular wooden blocks will stay in a pile, but a pile of marbles will go everywhere.</p>
<p>This is also why, surprisingly, the best sand for sandcastles is not typically found on an island or a coastal beach. More angular grains of sand are usually found closer to mountains, their geologic source. These sand grains have not yet had their edges rounded off by wind and water. Professional sandcastle builders will go so far as to <a href="https://physicsworld.com/a/top-tips-for-super-sandcastles-explore-the-weird-world-of-sand/">import river sand for their creations</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, the closer together the sand grains are, the stronger the sand will be. Pressing wet sand together tightly, by compaction or tamping, squeezes sand grains together, decreasing the size of pores and increasing the effect water can have. Compaction also increases grain interlocking and, consequently, sand strength. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477696/original/file-20220804-15-ea3gvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="On a sandy beach, with a plastic green bucket and yellow shovel in the foreground, a blue sky and bluer water in the background, a colorfully swimsuited girl stands with one hand on her hip and the other on a sand castle as tall as she is." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477696/original/file-20220804-15-ea3gvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477696/original/file-20220804-15-ea3gvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477696/original/file-20220804-15-ea3gvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477696/original/file-20220804-15-ea3gvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477696/original/file-20220804-15-ea3gvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477696/original/file-20220804-15-ea3gvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477696/original/file-20220804-15-ea3gvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Building a sandcastle calls for finding the right mix of air, water and sand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/kids-beach-royalty-free-image/91886579">Tony Garcia/Stone via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Water is key</h2>
<p>Without water, sand just forms a pile. Too much water and sand flows like liquid. But between dry sand and saturated sand lies a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2117">wide range of moisture levels</a> that enable sandcastle construction.</p>
<p>Water is cohesive, meaning that water likes to stick to water. But water also sticks to or climbs up certain surfaces. Look at a half-full glass of water and you will see the water going up the insides of the glass a little. Gravity still holds the water in the glass, but the water is trying to climb up and wet the surface. This tiny power struggle is what makes sandcastles possible.</p>
<p>Right where the air and water meet, there’s surface tension. The air-water interface pulls downward, trying to hold the water together against the competing forces of surface wetting, cohesion and gravity. Surface tension pulls the water together like the taut skin of a balloon. And surface tension also pulls sand grains together.</p>
<p>If the glass were much skinnier, like a straw, the water would rise higher and have more surface tension. The narrower the straw, the higher the water would rise. This phenomenon is called <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/capillarity">capillarity</a>.</p>
<p>Water behaves the same way in wet sand. The pores, or spaces, between the sand grains are like a bunch of very tiny straws. Water forms tiny bridges between the grains. The water in these bridges is under tension, pulling the grains together by a force we geotechnical engineers call <a href="https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2006)132:2(131)">suction stress</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479731/original/file-20220817-9126-myzq1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Greco-Roman style sand sculpture of three bearded men wearing robes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479731/original/file-20220817-9126-myzq1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479731/original/file-20220817-9126-myzq1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479731/original/file-20220817-9126-myzq1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479731/original/file-20220817-9126-myzq1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479731/original/file-20220817-9126-myzq1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479731/original/file-20220817-9126-myzq1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479731/original/file-20220817-9126-myzq1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Did you know that suction is one of the forces holding this sand sculpture together?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/azuaje/13829838454/">El Coleccionista de Instantes Fotografía & Video/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Just enough water</h2>
<p>The quantity of water in the sand controls the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EM.1943-7889.0000054">size and strength of the water bridges</a>. Too little water equals little bridges between the sand grains. More water, and the size and number of bridges grows, increasing the suction holding the sand grains together. The result is perfect sandcastle sand.</p>
<p>Too much water, though, and the suction is too weak to hold the sand together. </p>
<p>A general rule of thumb for building great sandcastles is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys106">one part water for every eight parts dry sand</a>. Under ideal conditions in a laboratory, though, with dense sand and zero evaporation, one part water for every <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00549">one hundred parts dry sand</a> can produce wonders. At a beach, sand with the right moisture level is near the high tide line when the tide is low.</p>
<p>Incidentally, salt from seawater can also be a boon for sandcastle stability. Capillary forces hold sand grains together initially, but capillary water will eventually evaporate, particularly on a windy day. When sea water dries up, salt is left behind. Since the seawater was forming bridges between the grains, the salt crystallizes at these points of contact. In this way, salt can keep a sandcastle standing long after the sand has dried. But be careful not to disturb the salt-bonded sand; it’s brittle and collapsible.</p>
<p>To build a strong sandcastle, compact sand and a little water as tightly as you can. I prefer to create a dense mound and then scoop and carve away to reveal the art within. You can also compact the sand into buckets, cups or other molds, and build from the ground up. Just be sure to get the sand dense, and place the mold on a compacted foundation. Hands make for both a great compaction and carving tool, but a shovel or a seashell will allow for more precision. Have fun, and don’t be afraid to get sandy!</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478599/original/file-20220810-667-8spnjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Light brown sand with windblown ripples in a panoramic view of desert landscape in Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado, USA" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478599/original/file-20220810-667-8spnjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478599/original/file-20220810-667-8spnjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478599/original/file-20220810-667-8spnjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478599/original/file-20220810-667-8spnjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478599/original/file-20220810-667-8spnjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478599/original/file-20220810-667-8spnjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478599/original/file-20220810-667-8spnjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The best sand for sandcastles is closer to mountain areas like Colorado than the beach. Wind and water haven’t yet rounded the ends and edges of the sand grains.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/great-sand-dunes-national-park-colorado-usa-royalty-free-image">Patrick Lienin/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Scalia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From capillary forces to sand grain shape, the simple mix of sand and water hides the complexity within.Joseph Scalia, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1869792022-08-19T09:12:15Z2022-08-19T09:12:15ZWhy you should have more sympathy for seagulls – and how to stop them stealing your chips<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478115/original/file-20220808-1720-j2btt6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C6%2C4299%2C2876&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/calling-adult-herring-gull-by-sea-1753811702">LGieger/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On a summer’s day at the beach, the sound of seagulls is part of the ambience. But what about when they’re in the middle of a city, or when they’ve just taken your lunch? Not a lot of people like seagulls. They’re loud, messy and quite partial to whatever you’re eating. As annoying as they may be, their reputation for brash behaviour masks a different story.</p>
<p>There are many different species of gulls. The birds most people think of as seagulls, the ones with silver backs and pink legs, are herring gulls. </p>
<p>They’re the species most likely to nest on houses and steal your chips. Because these gulls are increasingly nesting in <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210615-why-sea-gulls-are-making-their-homes-in-our-cities">urban areas</a>, people see them more often. Although it might seem like there are plenty of them, the population is <a href="https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/herring-gull-larus-argentatus/">decreasing</a>. Gulls that nest in natural places rather than manmade structures are in dire straits. </p>
<p>All seven gull species that breed in the UK are of conservation concern. Herring gulls are on the <a href="https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/publications/bocc-5-a5-4pp-single-pages.pdf">UK red list</a>, the highest level of concern. </p>
<p>Some people believe the availability of food from landfills had artificially boosted the number of gulls in previous years, but in reality food poisoning from feeding at landfills as well as culling <a href="https://bioone.org/journals/waterbirds/volume-38/issue-4/063.038.0411/Re-Evaluation-of-the-Role-of-Landfills-and-Culling-in/10.1675/063.038.0411.full">has contributed to their decline</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Herring gull feeds its fluffy chick" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478116/original/file-20220808-20-1zyl7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478116/original/file-20220808-20-1zyl7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478116/original/file-20220808-20-1zyl7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478116/original/file-20220808-20-1zyl7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478116/original/file-20220808-20-1zyl7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478116/original/file-20220808-20-1zyl7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478116/original/file-20220808-20-1zyl7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Herring gulls are devoted parents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/herring-gull-chick-feeding-on-nest-669321766">Dan Bagur/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A different view</h2>
<p>Gulls get a lot of hate for swooping at people, either to get food or when protecting their chicks. Sometimes I think people would be more understanding if they imagined themselves in the position of a gull. Most of us were pretty lucky to be born human, and we sometimes take things like food and safety for granted. Gulls can’t rely on a steady supply of food from the supermarket, or know that you aren’t going to hurt their chicks, which both parents diligently care for. </p>
<p>When a female and male pair up, they tend to do so until death. Each pair defends a nesting and foraging territory. The loud calls they make might seem annoying and pointless, but it is the gulls’ way of telling others where their territories lie.</p>
<p>Gulls are what is known as kleptoparasites. They steal food from each other and from other species. This is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.04.031">not unusual in birds</a> but gulls are unusual in that they take food from humans. This is risky behaviour. An animal the weight of a bag of sugar is massively disadvantaged against a human. In fact, only a small minority of gulls are bold enough to do it. </p>
<p>People perceive gulls as greedy. They seem to gobble up anything they can find in one big gulp. But what they’re actually doing is storing food in their crop, a pouch that functions in a similar way to a shopping bag, from which food can be eaten later. From a gull’s point of view, if you don’t take the food that’s in front of you, you might go hungry. It is a result of need, not greed.</p>
<p>They don’t have it in for you, they are trying to find enough food to survive. A study found these clever birds have <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2019/05/clever-seagulls.page">learned a complicated process</a> to make sea squirts safe to eat. A herring gull has even been observed <a href="https://www.academia.edu/13233157/Tool_use_in_Charadrii_Active_Bait_Fishing_by_a_Herring_Gull">using bread to bait</a> fish.</p>
<h2>Making sense of gulls</h2>
<p>Gulls living in towns are very adaptable and savvy. They even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12892">learn patterns of human activity</a> to decide where and when to forage. A few years ago I started a research project to understand gulls’ food-related interactions with humans. I had noticed gulls would often snatch food from people by catching them unaware. Previous <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13420-015-0204-z">research</a> showed several bird species are attentive to human gaze. I wondered if gulls pay attention to where people are looking and prefer to approach food when they aren’t being watched. </p>
<p>I <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0405">designed a study</a> to test this idea, and timed how long it took gulls to peck at a sealed bag of chips I had placed on the ground in front of me - once when I was looking at them and once when I was looking away. I found gulls took longer to peck at the chips when I was watching them. I also found gulls are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.191959">attracted to food</a> they have seen humans handling, probably because they have learned we often leave food waste lying around.</p>
<p>What does this mean for our interactions with gulls? Well, we can reduce unwanted encounters by disposing of our food waste properly. If we choose to eat our food in a gull hotspot being vigilant will help: look for where gulls are and watch them. Check behind you, sit under an umbrella or by a high wall so that gulls can’t swoop in from out of your sight. </p>
<p>Gulls’ behaviour may seem bad, but we have a lot of scope to change it without resorting to extreme measures. Gulls are making the best of a bad situation caused by our own activities, and our towns may be their last refuge.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186979/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madeleine Goumas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Gulls have a reputation for being the bad boys of the seaside.Madeleine Goumas, Postdoctoral research associate, University of ExeterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1875782022-08-09T12:18:14Z2022-08-09T12:18:14ZSafety in and near the water – a pediatric emergency medicine physician offers tips<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475685/original/file-20220722-12-37mm15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C609%2C8024%2C5146&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many beaches are short lifeguards this summer. Properly supervising children and weaker swimmers is key to making sure everyone has a safe trip to the pool or beach. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/lifeguard-float-royalty-free-image/1320358093">Roc Canals/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>A lifeguard shortage in many parts of the U.S. means an increased drowning risk at pools and beaches this summer. Earlier this summer, <a href="https://www.sciline.org/public-health/water-safety/">SciLine</a> interviewed <a href="https://www.peds.uw.edu/user/1487">Linda Quan</a>, a pediatric emergency medicine physician and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, about drowning risks and what people should know to keep themselves and their children safe.</em></p>
<iframe title="vimeo-player" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/725831085?h=7bd52b0d55" width="100%" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<p><em>The Conversation has collaborated with SciLine to bring you highlights from the discussion.</em></p>
<p><strong>Can you share some statistics about drowning in the United States?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Linda Quan:</strong> About <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/drowning/facts/index.html">4,000 people</a> die every year from drowning in the United States. It’s one of the three leading causes of unintentional injury and death of those <a href="https://wisqars.cdc.gov/data/lcd/home">under 29 in this country</a>. Toddlers, those 1 to 4 years of age, have the <a href="https://wisqars.cdc.gov/data/lcd/drill-down?causeLabel=Unintentional%20Injury&agegrp=1-4">highest drowning rates</a> of all age groups. And that’s true throughout the world. The recurring scenario in our country is that these toddlers fall into their home pool, to which they’ve gotten unsupervised access.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://wisqars.cdc.gov/data/lcd/drill-down?causeLabel=Unintentional%20Injury&agegrp=15-19">second-highest drowning rate</a> is among teenagers in most states. This age group, and adults, drown mostly in open water – that means lakes or rivers, the ocean or ponds, and usually they’ve been swimming or boating in those settings. </p>
<p>We’re also seeing an <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip.9.2.163">emerging epidemic of drowning among adults</a> over age 45. And this hasn’t been well studied, but it’s mostly men, when they’re fishing or boating or swimming and not wearing life jackets. About 50% of the time, <a href="https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/10/2/107">they’re drinking alcohol</a>.</p>
<p><strong>This summer, some pools and beaches will not have lifeguards on duty. How can people stay safe?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Linda Quan:</strong> You have to choose the site that you swim in wisely. You should put in extra effort to find that beach that does have a lifeguard. </p>
<p>You must provide adequate supervision. Put away the cellphone or the book and not chat while the kids or teenagers are in the water. You also need to be within arm’s reach of the child or novice swimmer. </p>
<p>The other thing you can do to help is to put your weak swimmers in life jackets. And get those people who can’t swim well – and again that could include your teenager – into swim lessons so they can learn the skills they need. </p>
<p><strong>Are there differences along racial, socioeconomic or gender lines when it comes to drowning risks?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Linda Quan:</strong> Drowning is not a fair injury. Drowning risk varies among races and cultures and sexes in our country. White people have the lowest drowning rates overall, but they have the highest drowning rates in <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7024a1.htm?s_cid=mm7024a1_w">1-to-4-year-olds</a>. In our country, Native Americans and Alaskan Natives have the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7024a1.htm?s_cid=mm7024a1_w">highest drowning rates</a> in all <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6319a2.htm?s_cid=mm6319a2_w">age groups</a> and in all settings. </p>
<p>Nationally, Black people have <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6319a2.htm?s_cid=mm6319a2_w">higher drowning rates</a> than white people. And these disparities between Black people and white people become really pronounced in swimming pool drownings involving kids; Black school-age children <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7024a1.htm?s_cid=mm7024a1_w">have higher drowning rates</a>. These disparities are due to what we call social determinants of health, which include the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-forgotten-history-of-segregated-swimming-pools-and-amusement-parks-119586">history of involvement these families have with water activities</a>, lack of access to swim lessons in their communities and lower swim ability rates. </p>
<p><strong>What is the right age to start swim lessons, and how long should children stay enrolled in them?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Linda Quan:</strong> Swim lessons is a vague term and can be used in different ways with different goals at different ages. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends swim lessons can be started at <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/health--safety-tips/following-pandemic-shutdowns-aap-recommends-swim-lessons-for-children-to-prevent-drowning/">age 1</a>. And that’s really more an effort to have the child learn to be comfortable in the water, to enjoy the water and have a fun time with their parents. Later, when the child is comfortable and developmentally ready, they’ll start gaining physical psychomotor skills, which includes control of all four extremities and breathing.</p>
<p>We know that kids can most efficiently put it all together at age 5. But it takes a long time to achieve swim competency. It’s not easy, and parents should be aware of where their kid is at in the process. We know many parents are taking their kids out of swim lessons before they acquire all the skills we’d like them to have. And so parents need to understand it’s not a matter of one session. It’s really multiple sessions, maybe even 20. You have to be in it for the long haul.</p>
<p><strong>What should people know about what it looks like or sounds like when someone is in trouble in the water?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Linda Quan:</strong> If people look like they’re in trouble, assume they’re in trouble. The other thing is never assume that you’re going to hear someone who’s in trouble. Once you get into trouble, you are struggling to breathe, you are literally aware you are dying, and your only mission is to try to breathe. You can’t talk and you can’t shout. So do not expect to be able to hear someone drown. Instead, watch carefully and with constant attention. </p>
<p><strong>What should you do if someone is in trouble?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Linda Quan:</strong> Unless you’ve taken a lifeguard class, you’re limited. Don’t go into the water. You should throw something at them that floats. Some beaches have those round ring buoys or even lifeguard rescue tubes, like you see on “Baywatch.” Use anything that floats – it could be a Styrofoam cooler, even sneakers or Crocs that float. If the person in trouble can grab onto it and just float a little bit, it might help them. You can also reach out with something long, like a tree branch or a shepherd hook from the pool area. So reach, throw and don’t go in unless you’ve been trained how because we see too many people dying during a rescue – usually fathers who are trying to save their child.</p>
<p><em>Watch the <a href="https://www.sciline.org/public-health/water-safety/">full interview</a> to hear more about water safety.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.sciline.org/">SciLine</a> is a free service based at the nonprofit American Association for the Advancement of Science that helps journalists include scientific evidence and experts in their news stories.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187578/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Quan has received funding from the CDC, Emergency Medical Services for Children and private foundations. She is a member of American Academy of Pediatrics.</span></em></p>Many beaches are short on lifeguards this summer. An expert explains how to keep your loved ones safe in the water.Linda Quan, Professor of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1806262022-05-19T13:18:33Z2022-05-19T13:18:33ZSummer ‘revenge travel’ could raise drowning risk at beaches, but new tech might help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464012/original/file-20220518-23-ttmw40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=80%2C80%2C5910%2C3880&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People often underestimate the risks of swimming in the Great Lakes, and neglect rough surf and nearshore currents.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many North Americans plan to travel this summer to catch up on lost experiences, following two years of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions. This so-called <a href="https://www.adn.com/alaska-life/travel/2022/04/20/the-summer-of-revenge-travel-is-coming-but-who-can-afford-it">revenge travel</a> has the potential to raise the number of drownings, as more people choose to enter the water, even when the conditions aren’t ideal. </p>
<p>Recent history shows that every time government lockdowns were lifted across North America, people flocked to the <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-premier-shocked-by-packed-toronto-beaches-warns-covid-19-fight-is-not-over-1.4995033">nearest beach</a>, often their only opportunity for an impromptu vacation. Despite travel restrictions, the Great Lakes region had a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105570">greater-than-expected</a> number of fatal drownings in 2020. </p>
<p>A combination of reduced funding to lifeguarding programs, cancelled swimming lessons, large beach crowds, warm weather, high-water levels and self-isolation fatigue all contributed to the increased number of fatalities. </p>
<p>A new <a href="https://www.nuclearinnovationinstitute.ca/smart-beach">Smart Beach</a> pilot program on Lake Huron, in Kincardine, Ont., will help beachgoers stay safe. Smart Beach uses innovative technologies to collect and analyze water and weather conditions to provide beachgoers with real-time information on local water conditions, including rough surf and rip currents.</p>
<h2>The cost of drownings</h2>
<p>Rough surf and nearshore currents are associated with approximately <a href="https://glsrp.org/">50 drowning fatalities per year</a> in the Great Lakes. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-18-00027.1">Boys and men under the age of 24</a> make up a disproportionate number of those fatalities, and most occur on unsupervised beaches or during periods where lifeguards and other active warning systems are absent. </p>
<p>While the loss to family and friends is immeasurable, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105847">there are also direct and indirect economic costs</a>, which range from $4,500 per hour to operate a local search and rescue vessel to $16,000 per hour for a Coast Guard helicopter for search and rescue operations over a larger area. Survivors may accrue additional costs from a visit to an emergency room or from lifelong care in specialized facilities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Boy jumping off jetty despite warning signs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460605/original/file-20220429-27-pm0014.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460605/original/file-20220429-27-pm0014.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460605/original/file-20220429-27-pm0014.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460605/original/file-20220429-27-pm0014.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460605/original/file-20220429-27-pm0014.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460605/original/file-20220429-27-pm0014.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460605/original/file-20220429-27-pm0014.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rough surf and nearshore currents are associated with about 50 drowning fatalities annually, mostly among boys and men under the age of 24.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Chris Houser)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fatal drownings have far greater economic costs. Economists use a calculation called the value of a statistical life to estimate the monetary value of reducing the risk to one statistical death. My colleagues and I used this value along with the average life expectancy of a drowning victim, to estimate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105847">the annual average economic burden of all drowning fatalities in the Great Lakes region is about US$105 million</a>. </p>
<p>Between 2011 and 2020, the total economic cost of drownings in this region alone was over US$1.1 billion. The costs of drowning fatalities, whether on a personal, social or economic basis, are severe — and could increase with revenge travel. </p>
<p>It is important to note that the economic impact for drowning fatalities in the Great Lakes region does not consider the significant emotional impact and personal loss associated with drowning events.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460604/original/file-20220429-26-ern9fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="graphic showing the cost of drowning fatalities in the Great Lakes region" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460604/original/file-20220429-26-ern9fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460604/original/file-20220429-26-ern9fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460604/original/file-20220429-26-ern9fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460604/original/file-20220429-26-ern9fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460604/original/file-20220429-26-ern9fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460604/original/file-20220429-26-ern9fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460604/original/file-20220429-26-ern9fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Economic burden of surf-related drowning fatalities in the Great Lakes region between 2010 and 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Chris Houser)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Revenge of the tourist brain</h2>
<p>With the return to travel, drowning risk increases with a simple cognitive error referred to as <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-your-tourist-brain-may-try-to-drown-you-111709">tourist brain</a>. Tourists tend to think beach access points and resorts are located next to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58304-4_24">safe swimming areas</a>, particularly when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-018-3424-7">visual cues</a> such as manicured paths, promotional posters and other beach users’ behaviour appear inviting.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-your-tourist-brain-may-try-to-drown-you-111709">Why your tourist brain may try to drown you</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Beachgoers may also be unaware of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.10.011">safety strategies</a>, such as <a href="http://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-17-1003-2017">what they should do if they’re caught in a rip current</a>. Many people simply <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08920753.2021.1967561">don’t pay attention to warnings</a> and those tired of COVID-19 restrictions may further ignore warnings or safety controls, especially if they think lifeguards are being <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-2541-2019">overly cautious</a>. Peer pressure and the behaviour of others also play important roles. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People sit on a beach directly in front of a rip current." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460607/original/file-20220429-16-urxxx4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460607/original/file-20220429-16-urxxx4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460607/original/file-20220429-16-urxxx4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460607/original/file-20220429-16-urxxx4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460607/original/file-20220429-16-urxxx4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460607/original/file-20220429-16-urxxx4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460607/original/file-20220429-16-urxxx4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The presence of other beach users suggests that conditions are safe, despite the presence of a rip current.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Chris Houser)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Record inflation and high gas prices mean that local and non-holiday beaches, many of which are not patrolled by lifeguards, may see larger crowds, which could put swimmers and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212349">bystanders who attempt rescues</a> at greater risk.</p>
<p>Revenge travel will only exacerbate our tourist brain tendencies to make unsafe decisions at the beach. Considering the direct costs and economic burden of drowning fatalities now is the time for governments to investment in education programs, lifeguard programs and warning systems that people trust and will follow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180626/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Houser receives funding from MITACS in support the Smart Beach project. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Smith's post-doctoral position is funded through the MITACS Accelerate Fellowship in support of the Smart Beach project.</span></em></p>Rough surf and nearshore currents lead to about 50 drowning fatalities annually in the Great Lakes.Chris Houser, Professor in the School of the Environment, and Dean of Science, University of WindsorAlex Smith, Post-Doctoral Fellow, earth and environmental sciences, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1752132022-01-19T13:45:12Z2022-01-19T13:45:12ZWhat causes a tsunami? An ocean scientist explains the physics of these destructive waves<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441419/original/file-20220118-13-7mtrbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=132%2C101%2C5052%2C3357&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On Jan. 15, 2022, coastal areas across California were placed under a tsunami warning. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sign-reading-tsunami-hazard-zone-and-with-a-graphic-of-a-news-photo/1341481367?adppopup=true">Gado via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Jan. 15, 2022, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga erupted, sending a tsunami racing across the Pacific Ocean in all directions.</p>
<p>As word of the eruption spread, government agencies on surrounding islands and in places as far away as New Zealand, Japan and even the U.S. West Coast issued tsunami warnings. Only about 12 hours after the initial eruption, tsunami waves a few feet tall <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/15/asia/tsunami-warning-tonga-volcano-intl-hnk/index.html">hit California shorelines</a> – more than 5,000 miles away from the eruption.</p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=kAGkuGgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">physical oceanographer</a> who studies waves and turbulent mixing in the ocean. Tsunamis are one of my favorite topics to teach my students because the physics of how they move through oceans is so simple and elegant.</p>
<p>Waves that are a few feet tall hitting a beach in California might not sound like the destructive waves the term calls to mind, nor what you see in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhdSbCUn-oE">footage of tragic tsunamis from the past</a>. But tsunamis are not normal waves, no matter the size. So how are tsunamis different from other ocean waves? What generates them? How do they travel so fast? And why are they so destructive?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441389/original/file-20220118-17-1wdrep5.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A satellite view a large ash cloud and shockwave." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441389/original/file-20220118-17-1wdrep5.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441389/original/file-20220118-17-1wdrep5.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441389/original/file-20220118-17-1wdrep5.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441389/original/file-20220118-17-1wdrep5.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441389/original/file-20220118-17-1wdrep5.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441389/original/file-20220118-17-1wdrep5.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441389/original/file-20220118-17-1wdrep5.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted, it launched ash into the atmosphere, created a powerful shock wave and displaced a huge amount of water, generating a tsunami that raced across the ocean.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tonga_Volcano_Eruption_2022-01-15_0410Z_to_0550Z.gif#/media/File:Tonga_Volcano_Eruption_2022-01-15_0410Z_to_0550Z.gif">Japan Meteorological Agency via WikimediaCommons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Deep displacement</h2>
<p>Most waves are <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-makes-the-worlds-biggest-surfable-waves-150600">generated by wind</a> as it blows over the ocean’s surface, transferring energy to and displacing the water. This process creates the waves you see at the beach every day. </p>
<p>Tsunamis are created by an entirely different mechanism. When an underwater earthquake, volcanic eruption or landslide displaces a large amount of water, that energy has to go somewhere – so it generates a series of waves. Unlike wind-driven waves where the energy is confined to the upper layer of the ocean, the energy in a series of tsunami waves extends throughout the entire depth of the ocean. Additionally, a lot more water is displaced than in a wind-driven wave. </p>
<p>Imagine the difference in the waves that are created if you were to blow on the surface of a swimming pool compared to the waves that are created when someone jumps in with a big cannonball dive. The cannonball dive displaces a lot more water than blowing on the surface, so it creates a much bigger set of waves.</p>
<p>Earthquakes can easily move huge amounts of water and cause dangerous tsunamis. Same with large undersea landslides. In the case of the Tonga tsunami, the massive explosion of the volcano displaced the water. Some scientists are speculating that the eruption <a href="https://youtu.be/B54HbfqDbK4">also caused an undersea landslide</a> that contributed to the large amount of displaced water. Future research will help confirm whether this is true or not. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/etVdMBjAVm0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">This simulation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows how tsunami waves propagated away from an earthquake that occurred about 600 miles from Tonga in 2021.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tsunami waves travel fast</h2>
<p>No matter the cause of a tsunami, after the water is displaced, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3BDBAAAA7D4EB2DA">waves propagate outward</a> in all directions – similarly to when a stone is thrown into a serene pond. </p>
<p>Because the energy in tsunami waves reaches all the way to the bottom of the ocean, the depth of the sea floor is the primary factor that determines how fast they move. Calculating the speed of a tsunami is actually quite simple. You just multiply the depth of the ocean – 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) on average – by gravity and take the square root. Doing this, you get an average speed of about 440 miles per hour (700 kilometers per hour). This is much faster than the speed of typical waves, which can <a href="https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/fast-swell-travel/87799">range from about 10 to 30 mph</a> (15 to 50 kph).</p>
<p>This equation is what oceanographers use to estimate when a tsunami will reach faraway shores. The tsunami on Jan. 15 hit Santa Cruz, California, 12 hours and 12 minutes after the initial eruption in Tonga. Santa Cruz is 5,280 miles (8,528 kilometers) from Tonga, which means that the tsunami traveled at 433 mph (697 kph) – nearly identical to the speed estimate calculated using the ocean’s average depth.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441392/original/file-20220118-17-oocmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A flooded airport runway covered in debris." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441392/original/file-20220118-17-oocmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441392/original/file-20220118-17-oocmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441392/original/file-20220118-17-oocmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441392/original/file-20220118-17-oocmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441392/original/file-20220118-17-oocmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441392/original/file-20220118-17-oocmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441392/original/file-20220118-17-oocmnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many tsunamis, including the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, move inland and can flood areas far from the coast.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SendaiAirportMarch16.jpg#/media/File:SendaiAirportMarch16.jpg">U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Samuel Morse via WikimediaCommons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Destruction on land</h2>
<p>Tsunamis are rare compared to ubiquitous wind-driven waves, but they are often much more destructive. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Indian-Ocean-tsunami-of-2004">2004 Indian Ocean tsunami</a> killed 225,000 people. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2188%2Fjea.JE20120114">More than 20,000 lost their lives</a> in the 2011 Japan tsunami.</p>
<p>What makes tsunamis so much more destructive than normal waves?</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441394/original/file-20220118-19-v4uwmj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An animation showing waves approaching a shoreline." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441394/original/file-20220118-19-v4uwmj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441394/original/file-20220118-19-v4uwmj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441394/original/file-20220118-19-v4uwmj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441394/original/file-20220118-19-v4uwmj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441394/original/file-20220118-19-v4uwmj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441394/original/file-20220118-19-v4uwmj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441394/original/file-20220118-19-v4uwmj.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As waves approach shore, they get pushed upward by the rising seafloor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Propagation_du_tsunami_en_profondeur_variable.gif#/media/File:Propagation_du_tsunami_en_profondeur_variable.gif">Régis Lachaume via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the open ocean, tsunami waves can be small and may even be undetectable by a boat at the surface. But as the tsunami approaches land, the ocean gets progressively shallower and all the wave energy that extended thousands of feet to the bottom of the deep ocean gets compressed. The displaced water needs to go somewhere. The only place to go is up, so the waves get taller and taller as they approach shore.</p>
<p>When tsunamis get to shore, they often do not crest and break like a typical ocean wave. Instead, they are more like a large wall of water that can inundate land near the coast. It is as if sea level were to suddenly rise by a few feet or more. This can cause <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/tsunamis-and-tsunami-hazards">flooding and very strong currents</a> that can easily sweep people, cars and buildings away.</p>
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<p>Luckily, tsunamis are rare and not nearly as much of a surprise as they once were. There is now an extensive array of bottom pressure sensors, called <a href="https://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/Dart/">DART buoys</a>, that can sense a tsunami wave and allow government agencies to <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/explainers/us-tsunami-warning-system">send warnings</a> prior to the arrival of the tsunami.</p>
<p>If you live near a coast – especially on the Pacific Ocean where the vast majority of tsunamis occur – be sure to <a href="https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/tsunami-information-sheet.pdf">know your tsunami escape route</a> for getting to higher ground, and listen to tsunami warnings if you receive one. </p>
<p>The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano severed the main communication cable that connects the people of Tonga to the rest of the world. While the science of tsunamis can be fascinating, these are serious natural disasters. Only a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60039617">few deaths have been reported</a> so far from Tonga, but many people are missing and the true extent of the damage from the tsunami is still unknown.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175213/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally Warner has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.</span></em></p>Tsunamis aren’t just bigger-than-average waves. Triggered by undersea earthquakes or volcanic eruptions like the one in Tonga, they are fast, massive and potentially destructive. Here’s why.Sally Warner, Assistant Professor of Climate Science, Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1717442022-01-03T19:14:00Z2022-01-03T19:14:00ZHitting the beach this summer? Here are some of our top animal picks to look out for<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436585/original/file-20211209-140267-x87e8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C6%2C2020%2C1143&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Turnbull</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia has one of the longest coastlines in the world. And it’s packed with life of all shapes and sizes – from lively dolphins leaping offshore, to tiny crabs scurrying into their holes. </p>
<p>Here is just some of the diverse coastal life you might expect to see this summer, if you <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320720307722">spend some</a> time at the water’s edge. </p>
<h2>Dolphins and turtles</h2>
<p>We’re fortunate to have 15 species of dolphin (and one porpoise!) living in Australian waters. The large <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/bottlenose-dolphin/">bottlenose dolphins</a> (<em>Tursiops spp.</em>) are relatively common and can be spotted all the way around our coast. </p>
<p>You might see them playing in the waves, jumping out of the water, or even surfing among humans.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436606/original/file-20211209-133881-1px5omu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bottlenose dolphin mother and cals" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436606/original/file-20211209-133881-1px5omu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436606/original/file-20211209-133881-1px5omu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436606/original/file-20211209-133881-1px5omu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436606/original/file-20211209-133881-1px5omu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436606/original/file-20211209-133881-1px5omu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436606/original/file-20211209-133881-1px5omu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436606/original/file-20211209-133881-1px5omu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bottlenose dolphins are generally grey with a lighter underside and have a pronounced, curved dorsal (upper) fin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Turtles are less obvious, but can be spotted as they bob their heads out of the water to breathe. Australia’s coasts are home to six of the world’s seven sea turtles (all <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=fauna">listed as either vulnerable or endangered</a>). </p>
<p>The more common green turtle (<em>Chelonia mydas</em>) can be found everywhere except in the coldest southern waters. In summer, the turtles travel north to the tropical waters of QLD, NT and WA to reproduce – laying their eggs in the warm sand. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436586/original/file-20211209-19-1u2t59m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436586/original/file-20211209-19-1u2t59m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436586/original/file-20211209-19-1u2t59m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436586/original/file-20211209-19-1u2t59m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436586/original/file-20211209-19-1u2t59m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436586/original/file-20211209-19-1u2t59m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436586/original/file-20211209-19-1u2t59m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436586/original/file-20211209-19-1u2t59m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Green turtles often get tangled in discarded fishing gear and nets and can die from ingesting plastics, so don’t litter!</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Turnbull/Flickr</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another reptile you might encounter in the eastern coastal areas is the water dragon (<em>Intellagama lesueurii</em>). You’ll find them hovering around beach-side picnic areas, looking for tasty treats such as flies, ants, bugs, native fruits and flowers. As with all native animals, it’s important not to feed them.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436590/original/file-20211209-25-1e71enk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436590/original/file-20211209-25-1e71enk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436590/original/file-20211209-25-1e71enk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436590/original/file-20211209-25-1e71enk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436590/original/file-20211209-25-1e71enk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436590/original/file-20211209-25-1e71enk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436590/original/file-20211209-25-1e71enk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436590/original/file-20211209-25-1e71enk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Water dragons are good swimmers and stay near the water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Turnbull/Flickr</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Heads in the clouds</h2>
<p>If you cast your eyes up, you’ll see many coastal bird species soaring above. </p>
<p>Two of our favourites are the protected white-bellied sea eagle (<em>Haliaeetus leucogaster</em>) and the sooty oystercatcher (<em>Haematopus fuliginosus</em>). Both rely on marine animals for food, and nest in coastal areas right around Australia. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436592/original/file-20211209-140109-1c0pnm4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436592/original/file-20211209-140109-1c0pnm4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436592/original/file-20211209-140109-1c0pnm4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436592/original/file-20211209-140109-1c0pnm4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436592/original/file-20211209-140109-1c0pnm4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436592/original/file-20211209-140109-1c0pnm4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1008&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436592/original/file-20211209-140109-1c0pnm4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1008&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436592/original/file-20211209-140109-1c0pnm4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1008&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With a wingspan of up to 2m, you can find white-bellied sea eagles soaring above headlands.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WikiCommons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sea eagle mostly feeds on fish, turtles and sea snakes. It was recently <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=943">listed as either threatened, endangered, or vulnerable in four states</a>, largely as a result of coastal developments. </p>
<p>Meanwhile the sooty oystercatcher is, well, all black. It has distinctive bright-orange eyes and a long beak. Sooties can be found strutting among the seaweed and sea squirts on rocky shores. </p>
<p>As the name suggests, these birds enjoy eating molluscs and other invertebrates.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436593/original/file-20211209-21-1h1czbf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436593/original/file-20211209-21-1h1czbf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436593/original/file-20211209-21-1h1czbf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436593/original/file-20211209-21-1h1czbf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436593/original/file-20211209-21-1h1czbf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436593/original/file-20211209-21-1h1czbf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436593/original/file-20211209-21-1h1czbf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436593/original/file-20211209-21-1h1czbf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The sooty gives a loud whistling call before taking flight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Turnbull/Flickr</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Crawling coastal critters</h2>
<p>Many a critter will run for cover as sooties (and humans) approach, including the swift-footed crab (<em>Leptograpsus variegatus</em>). This crab’s mostly purple body is sprinkled with flecks of olive, and sometimes orange.</p>
<p>The species lives among the rocky shores around southern Australia, from WA to QLD, and even Tasmania.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436594/original/file-20211209-137612-4uld1f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436594/original/file-20211209-137612-4uld1f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436594/original/file-20211209-137612-4uld1f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436594/original/file-20211209-137612-4uld1f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436594/original/file-20211209-137612-4uld1f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436594/original/file-20211209-137612-4uld1f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436594/original/file-20211209-137612-4uld1f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436594/original/file-20211209-137612-4uld1f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The swift-footed crab can grow to about 5cm in shell width.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Turnbull/Flickr</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You’re much less likely to see another common crab, the sand bubbler. But you might see the results of its industrious activity on flat, wet and sandy areas. </p>
<p>Sand bubblers live in underground burrows, emerging during the low tide to filter sand through their mouthparts looking for food.</p>
<p>In this process, they end up making little pea-sized sand balls. When the tide starts to rise again, they return to their burrows and wait in a bubble of air, which they use to breathe, until the tide recedes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436596/original/file-20211209-27-ft1len.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436596/original/file-20211209-27-ft1len.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436596/original/file-20211209-27-ft1len.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436596/original/file-20211209-27-ft1len.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436596/original/file-20211209-27-ft1len.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436596/original/file-20211209-27-ft1len.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436596/original/file-20211209-27-ft1len.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436596/original/file-20211209-27-ft1len.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sand bubblers, from the family Dotillidae, are tiny and will quickly hide if they sense danger.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Turnbull/Flickr</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Magnificent molluscs</h2>
<p>Molluscs are another diverse group of marine animals on our shores, and one of the best known molluscs is the octopus. Along with squid and cuttlefish, this trio of cephalopods is considered to be among the most intelligent invertebrates on Earth.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436598/original/file-20211209-142574-atsquu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Octopus in a glass jar" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436598/original/file-20211209-142574-atsquu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436598/original/file-20211209-142574-atsquu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436598/original/file-20211209-142574-atsquu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436598/original/file-20211209-142574-atsquu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436598/original/file-20211209-142574-atsquu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436598/original/file-20211209-142574-atsquu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436598/original/file-20211209-142574-atsquu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Near urban areas, octopuses have been known to make homes of bottles, jars and even discarded coffee cups.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnwturnbull/19733728835/">John Turnbull</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the case of the octopus, this may be due to having nine “brains”, including a donut-shaped brain in the head and a mini brain in each tentacle, which allow the tentacles to operate somewhat independently. </p>
<p>Australia has several octopus species, from the gloomy octopus (<em>Octopus tetricus</em>) on the east coast, to the Maori octopus (<em>O. maorum</em>) in the south. The potentially deadly blue-ringed octopus (<em>Hapalochlaena sp.</em>) is found right around Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436599/original/file-20211209-137612-1dryfc0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Octopus reaches for camera" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436599/original/file-20211209-137612-1dryfc0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436599/original/file-20211209-137612-1dryfc0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436599/original/file-20211209-137612-1dryfc0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436599/original/file-20211209-137612-1dryfc0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436599/original/file-20211209-137612-1dryfc0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436599/original/file-20211209-137612-1dryfc0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436599/original/file-20211209-137612-1dryfc0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This gloomy octopus made a move for my camera as I took its photo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnwturnbull/27746924942/">John Turnbull/Flickr</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Octopus forage at night, in shallow waters and to depths exceeding 500 metres. During the day they’ll return to their lair, which may be a hole, a ledge or a crack in a rock. They’ll often decorate their home with the discarded shells of their prey. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-super-rare-squid-is-a-deep-sea-mystery-we-recently-spotted-not-1-but-5-in-the-great-australian-bight-149831">This super rare squid is a deep-sea mystery. We recently spotted not 1, but 5, in the Great Australian Bight</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>(Sometimes) stingers</h2>
<p>You’ve probably seen jellyfish at the beach before, too. Species such as the moon jelly (<em>Aurelia aurita</em>) are harmless. But others can deliver a painful sting; bluebottles (<em>Physalia utriculus</em>) might come to mind here, also called the Pacific man-of-war.</p>
<p>Bluebottles and their relatives, blue buttons (<em>P. porpita</em>) and by-the-wind sailors (<em>V. velella</em>) don’t swim. They float at the ocean’s surface and go where the winds blow, which is how they sometimes get washed onto the beach.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436600/original/file-20211209-17-rr2j1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Jellyfish on sand" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436600/original/file-20211209-17-rr2j1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436600/original/file-20211209-17-rr2j1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436600/original/file-20211209-17-rr2j1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436600/original/file-20211209-17-rr2j1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436600/original/file-20211209-17-rr2j1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436600/original/file-20211209-17-rr2j1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436600/original/file-20211209-17-rr2j1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">By-the-wind sailors have an angled ‘sail’ which takes advantage of the wind, moving them large distances to catch prey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Turnbull/Flickr</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rather than being one animal, they are made of many polyps or “zooids” living together in a floating colony. Each polyp has a specialised role such as flotation, stinging, catching prey, digestion or reproduction. </p>
<p>Anemones are also related to jellyfish, and come in many shapes and colours – from the bright red waratah anemone (<em>Actinia tenebrosa</em>) found in all states, to the multi-coloured shellgrit anemone (<em>Oulactis muscosa</em>) found from SA to QLD. They use their tentacles to sting and catch prey, but have no impact on humans.</p>
<p>Many anemones live among the rocks and rock pools in the intertidal area, although some species, such as the swimming anemone (<em>Phlyctenactis tuberculosa</em>), live as deep as 40m underwater. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436602/original/file-20211209-23-1h831bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Grid of four anemone photos." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436602/original/file-20211209-23-1h831bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436602/original/file-20211209-23-1h831bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436602/original/file-20211209-23-1h831bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436602/original/file-20211209-23-1h831bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436602/original/file-20211209-23-1h831bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436602/original/file-20211209-23-1h831bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436602/original/file-20211209-23-1h831bi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Top left: shellgrit anemone, top right: swimming anemone, bottom left: red waratah anemone, bottom right: green snakelock anemone (<em>Aulactinia veratra</em>)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Turnbull/Flickr</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fancy fishes</h2>
<p>Of course there are many fish to be seen along our shores – more than we could possibly mention here! In the shallows, we particularly like to find big-eyed <a href="https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/family/259">gobies</a>.</p>
<p>Some of the most colourful fish in this zone are young damselfish. These are most diverse in tropical Australia, but still found in temperate waters. Their juvenile forms can be striped and spotted, with colours ranging from bright yellow to iridescent blue.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436605/original/file-20211209-140109-vifrk0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Juvenile immaculate damselfish." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436605/original/file-20211209-140109-vifrk0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436605/original/file-20211209-140109-vifrk0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436605/original/file-20211209-140109-vifrk0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436605/original/file-20211209-140109-vifrk0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436605/original/file-20211209-140109-vifrk0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436605/original/file-20211209-140109-vifrk0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436605/original/file-20211209-140109-vifrk0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Immaculate damsels are endemic to Australian waters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Turnbull/Flickr</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s best to photograph any fish you want to identify. Resources such as <a href="https://reeflifesurvey.com/species/search/">Reef Life Survey</a> and <a href="https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/">Fishes of Australia</a> can help with this. </p>
<p>If you upload your photos to the <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/">iNaturalist</a> website, other users can help you ID them too. Uploading is also a big help to scientists, who then have a record of each sighting.</p>
<p>Finally, the diversity of marine life on our coast isn’t something we can afford to take for granted. So if you hit the beach this summer, make sure you:</p>
<ul>
<li>do not bring any single-use plastics</li>
<li>never leave anything behind (and preferably pick up any litter you see) </li>
<li>and keep pets and cars away from sensitive habitats, such as dunes and bird nesting areas.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/humpback-whales-have-been-spotted-bubble-net-feeding-for-the-first-time-in-australia-and-we-have-it-on-camera-157355">Humpback whales have been spotted 'bubble-net feeding' for the first time in Australia (and we have it on camera)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171744/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australia’s coastline spans more than 33,000km – and there are myriad marvellous marine animals we share this space with.John Turnbull, Postdoctoral Research Associate, UNSW SydneyEmma Johnston, Professor and Dean of Science, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1691552021-12-26T20:27:14Z2021-12-26T20:27:14ZSlip, slop, slurp! The surprising science of sunscreen, sand and ice cream<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435198/original/file-20211202-25-12jv98a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C8%2C1976%2C1320&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ahh, summer at the beach! The sun on your face, sand between your toes, an ice cream in your hand. </p>
<p>For scientists young and old, a trip to the beach is also a perfect opportunity to explore the peculiar properties of some fascinating fluids. </p>
<h2>Through thick and thin</h2>
<p>Take sunscreen. When you first squeeze sunscreen from the bottle, it spreads easily over your skin, providing an even protective layer against the Sun’s rays. But once on your skin, sunscreen gains a thicker consistency – it has higher <em>viscosity</em> – preventing it from dripping off. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-does-sunscreen-work-what-is-spf-and-can-i-still-tan-with-it-on-88869">Explainer: how does sunscreen work, what is SPF and can I still tan with it on?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Viscosity is the ability of a fluid to keep its shape when a force is applied. Sunscreen is what’s called a <em>shear-thinning fluid</em>, which means rubbing it makes its viscosity decrease so it flows more freely.</p>
<p>This effect typically occurs in fluids containing chain-like molecules called polymers. At rest, the polymers are tangled up in an irregular pattern; but when they are pushed around, they rearrange themselves into layers that slide past each other more easily. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435199/original/file-20211202-23-klmz1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435199/original/file-20211202-23-klmz1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435199/original/file-20211202-23-klmz1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435199/original/file-20211202-23-klmz1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435199/original/file-20211202-23-klmz1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435199/original/file-20211202-23-klmz1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435199/original/file-20211202-23-klmz1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sunscreen is a ‘shear-thinning fluid’, which means it flows more easily under pressure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Shear-thinning fluids are quite common. Ketchup is a classic example: it has high viscosity at rest, making it stick to the sides of the bottle until you shake it so its viscosity decreases and it flows out the nozzle. </p>
<p>When the ketchup lands on your plate, its viscosity increases again so it forms a satisfying dollop. (If this is starting to make your mouth water, you’ll be interested to know that saliva is also a shear-thinning fluid.)</p>
<h2>Footprints in the sand</h2>
<p>The opposite of a shear-thinning fluid is a <em>shear-thickening fluid</em>, a material whose viscosity increases with applied force. </p>
<p>A familiar example is very wet sand: if you pick up a handful, it will flow between your fingers like grainy custard. When you squeeze it, however, the sand becomes firm and, counter-intuitively, appears dry. </p>
<p>This behaviour, called the <em>wet-sand effect</em>, occurs because the compressive force of your hand pushes apart tiny grains of sand, creating space that lets water drain away from the surface. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435201/original/file-20211202-19-wox09w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435201/original/file-20211202-19-wox09w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435201/original/file-20211202-19-wox09w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435201/original/file-20211202-19-wox09w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435201/original/file-20211202-19-wox09w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435201/original/file-20211202-19-wox09w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435201/original/file-20211202-19-wox09w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wet sand is a ‘shear-thickening fluid’: under pressure (like from a footstep) it becomes firmer and less runny.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The same effect allows you to run on wet sand, producing firm and dry patches where your feet land. But if you stand still and gently wiggle your toes, the wet sand reverts to a liquid state, allowing your feet to sink in – and make a pleasing slurp when you pull them out. </p>
<h2>Newton on the beach</h2>
<p>Simpler fluids, such as water, have a more or less constant viscosity. These are called <em>Newtonian fluids</em>, after Isaac Newton, who first wrote down the mathematical law to describe them in his famous 1687 book Principia. </p>
<p>To understand viscosity, imagine drinking water through a straw. When you suck, you create lower pressure at the top of the straw than the bottom, drawing water upwards.</p>
<p>The fluid near the walls of the straw experiences friction, so it flows more slowly than fluid near the centre. Newton reasoned the fluid separates into thin layers that slide over each other with a relative speed that depends on the applied force. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kitchen-science-the-many-wonders-of-humble-flour-59310">Kitchen Science: the many wonders of humble flour</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The viscosity measures the amount of friction between these different layers. The greater the viscosity (think of a milkshake), the more force you must apply to suck the fluid up the straw. </p>
<p>Newton’s law of viscosity, as it is known, is a mathematical ideal. No real fluid behaves exactly this way, but common fluids like water, alcohol, and vegetable oil come pretty close. </p>
<p>By contrast, <em>non-Newtonian fluids</em> — including shear-thinning and shear-thickening fluids — do not obey Newton’s law of viscosity: their viscosity changes depending on how much force is applied to them. </p>
<h2>The scoop on ice cream</h2>
<p>Time for some ice cream. Ice cream is a frozen mixture of cream, milk, sugar, and flavourings, but it is the unique behaviour of cream that is responsible for the dribbly joy of really good ice cream. </p>
<p>Cream is peculiar stuff. It is the fat-enriched portion of milk, separated from its watery base. </p>
<p>The resulting <em>emulsion</em> of fat globules and a small amount of liquid gives cream its silkiness. When cream is whisked, the applied force breaks the membranes of the fat globules, which glom together around trapped air, producing a suspension of bubbles and cream: whipped cream. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435202/original/file-20211202-15-7eey1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435202/original/file-20211202-15-7eey1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435202/original/file-20211202-15-7eey1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435202/original/file-20211202-15-7eey1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435202/original/file-20211202-15-7eey1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435202/original/file-20211202-15-7eey1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435202/original/file-20211202-15-7eey1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The light, silky texture of ice cream is all due to tiny air bubbles trapped inside little globules of cream.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whipped cream is a type of non-Newtonian fluid called a <em>Bingham plastic</em>: at rest, it is semi-solid, forming stiff peaks that are perfect for spooning onto strawberries or scones. But under sufficient force, it can flow like a liquid: through the nozzle of a can of instant whipped cream, for example. </p>
<p>As anyone who has made whipped cream by hand knows, the key ingredient is <em>time</em>. The transformation from liquid to semi-solid is caused by applying force over a period of time.</p>
<p>Air bubbles trapped in the cream give ice cream its pillowy softness. In fact, air can make up to 50% of the total volume of ice cream, which explains why it is less dense than water – and why you can use it to make an ice cream float. </p>
<h2>Fantastic fluids</h2>
<p>Non-Newtonian fluids are found in all sorts of useful substances from biofuels to body armour to blood plasma, and there is still much about them to discover. As Isaac Newton said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>To myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What better way to spend a summer day? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-story-of-a-wave-from-wind-blown-ripples-to-breaking-on-the-beach-128458">The story of a wave: from wind-blown ripples to breaking on the beach</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shane Keating does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A trip to the beach is a perfect opportunity to explore the peculiar properties of some fascinating fluids.Shane Keating, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics and Oceanography, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1713862021-12-16T19:10:42Z2021-12-16T19:10:42ZFriday essay: morning thalassa – the calm, salt therapy of Sydney’s women’s pool<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434966/original/file-20211201-15-1gah9y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C181%2C2983%2C3816&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jane Messer</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>You need thalassa therapy</em>, the woman said to me, knowing I was ever so anxious and sad about too many things. These included my mother’s months in hospital and decline from Alzheimer’s, made worse by all the stops and starts to any of us being able to visit her at the aged-care home during COVID.</p>
<p>I would weep in short sobs or just tears streaming, any hour of the day. There was also the fraught health of one of my children. I’d wake in the middle of the night, with a ping of fright flowering in a burst in my sternum. At the university where I worked, we were suffering endless rounds of workplace change, redundancies and the ominous morning emails from our Dean and Vice Chancellor. I was waking each day with a feeling of dread.</p>
<p>To put it simply, there was a lot going on and it all involved uncertainty, worry and rarely, hope.</p>
<p>“In the early morning before the day has told you what it is going to be like, take yourself into the sea. Give yourself your <em>thalassa</em>,” the kind woman told me.</p>
<p>To give yourself <em>thalassa</em> therapy, is simple. You walk into the sea, and immerse yourself, all of your body, from head to toe. The ancient Greek word <em>thalassa</em> simply means the sea. The Greek sea was a she, and Thales was its primeval spirit, and like the sea, her body was strong. She spawned both fish and storm gods. In some Greco-Roman mosaics she has the sharp horns of the crab claw. She is fish-tailed, her hair is black and thick. Dolphins, sea horses, octopus and fish swim with her.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435234/original/file-20211202-25-on0j60.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435234/original/file-20211202-25-on0j60.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435234/original/file-20211202-25-on0j60.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435234/original/file-20211202-25-on0j60.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435234/original/file-20211202-25-on0j60.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435234/original/file-20211202-25-on0j60.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435234/original/file-20211202-25-on0j60.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 5th century CE mosaic representing the sea-goddess Thalassa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was to <a href="https://www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/facilities-and-recreation/beaches-and-coast/ocean-pools/mcivers-ladies-baths">McIver’s</a> pool that I began to go for my morning thalassa. I wanted the calm waters of the pool, not the turbulent exuberance of the surf. I would arrive long after dawn on a weekday, but still early enough that the sun was slanting brightly along the pool’s moving, shimmery surface. A friend came with me, a woman who has swum there countless times. She is sun-browned, creviced and wrinkled, lean and strong. She has walked up and down the steep steps to the sea pool many times. She’d slide into the water ahead of me, then lap easily, for she’s long been an ocean swimmer.</p>
<p>I didn’t lap, not to begin with. I’d dip myself down, my toes feeling-out the serrations of rock and shell, the silk of the weeds. I’d feel the sea water loosen and slide through my hair. I’d feel the change from air to water, from warm to cool, from busyness to simply being, under the sea. Submerged, I’d open my eyes to look up through the water to the sky, my breath bubbling to the surface in pockets of light. The sea-pool made my body my friend again. I felt then that it had always been thus, for a few moments, lithe and buoyant, and almost joyful.</p>
<p>Over on the undersea rockface, live purple and black-spined sea anemones, barnacles, cockles, crabs, and sea urchins. Sometimes there have been octopus. Small fish dart about, Maori wrasse and Old Wives, fish that are plain grey and short-finned, or colourfully striped with fins that undulate. From the northern rock’s overhang, water falls in precise droplets to the tiny rock pools below, each droplet arriving with a startlingly bright miniature splash.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434968/original/file-20211201-15-j2pty1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434968/original/file-20211201-15-j2pty1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434968/original/file-20211201-15-j2pty1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434968/original/file-20211201-15-j2pty1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434968/original/file-20211201-15-j2pty1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434968/original/file-20211201-15-j2pty1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434968/original/file-20211201-15-j2pty1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434968/original/file-20211201-15-j2pty1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On the undersea rockface, live sea anemones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I would take a deep breath, dive, and swim across the rocky floor, then swivel with a twirl and lie on my back gazing, not breathing, letting the sea do its therapy.</p>
<p>Sometimes if it was early there was just myself and my friend, or another swimmer or two lapping, or a woman simply floating. There is a pool-net for sweeping up any blue-bottles that have swept in over seawall. One day my friend and I removed six. A woman in a floppy red hat was treading water slowly, gazing at the water, the mosses, at us at our task, at nothing in particular. On a small square of concrete on the ocean side of the pool, a woman moved gracefully in a slow tai chi dance, her face towards the sun. </p>
<p>A dimpled Rubenesque woman stepped down the stairs holding her loose bare breasts in her hands, then let go when she reached the water. A young woman stepped out, water streaming as she shook her long hair. She climbed the stairs and sat above us, crossed-legged, facing the early morning sun to dry, like a cormorant.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435238/original/file-20211202-27-66k9wo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435238/original/file-20211202-27-66k9wo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435238/original/file-20211202-27-66k9wo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435238/original/file-20211202-27-66k9wo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435238/original/file-20211202-27-66k9wo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435238/original/file-20211202-27-66k9wo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435238/original/file-20211202-27-66k9wo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435238/original/file-20211202-27-66k9wo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ceres and two nymphs by Peter Paul Rubens, 1624.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sometimes the women on the rocky points remind me of basking seals, round and gleaming with oil or water, or of sea birds drying their wings before the next dive. I have seen so many bodies here: wrinkle-bummed, wobbly-bummed, long breasted, with shell-white skin, and skin that is mottled from a lifetime of use.</p>
<p>You can tell who the ocean swimmers are if they’re a bit older because they have lean arses and strong shoulders and invariably wear Speedos. When I shower, peeling off my swimmers, rinsing my hair and skin in the cold water, then walking to one of the benches where my clothes lie in a tumble, I feel a little embarrassed that I have almost no pubic hair now, whereas my friend, who is much older than me, still has hers. Is she still, after all these years, naturally brown? I could dress in the privacy of one of the change rooms, but that would be missing the point. I seem to have become like my late godmother. I saw her sparse white hairs once when she’d accidentally left a button undone on her “housedress”. I now remind myself of her, or of an old dog’s grey snout.</p>
<p>On sunny weekends, groups of women in twos and threes track across the rock platforms looking for an untaken space to sun-bake. Out come the towels, the cool drinks and fruit, the sunblock, books and hats. One time I watched a black-haired woman reveal herself as a toned athlete in an apple-green G-string. Then she folded her hijab away into her beach bag and lay back.</p>
<p>At the pool, a woman can be as (non)attractive as she likes, and nothing bad will happen. No military general, media commentator, or politician will warn her that she’s being provocative. She can dry herself off with long leisurely strokes of her towel, or give herself a brisk rubdown. She will not be followed, touched, slurred or victim-blamed. She can stretch her arms out to the sun and laugh out-loud, or curl up with a book on the grass in shorts and singlet. No one will film her unawares.</p>
<p>For those who swim at the women’s pool, how fortunate we are to have this safe place, open almost every day of the year from sunrise to sunset. Though even here, there are the histories of violence toward and dispossession of the Eora coastal women. Let us not forget, nor not know.</p>
<h2>At the pool there are no mirrors</h2>
<p>The Women’s Baths welcomes us to its shelves of stone and grass for drying off, to doze, to talk, to preen, to gaze into the aqua green, ivory and midnight blue pool, to the rocks and outcrops either side, and the Pacific Ocean beyond.</p>
<p>I wish I could bring my mother here. The minutes of joy and refreshment that I experience now in my morning swims, I wish my mother could have too. Not that she likes cold water, or wind coming off the ocean. She was always confident in her body, walking about unabashed from bathroom to bedroom, stopping on the way to say something to her cringing daughter. </p>
<p>As a girl unwillingly becoming a young woman, I was horrified by the ever-so-slight sag of her stomach and gnarly brown nipples and the unapologetic lack of shame. The pool is the great leveller, welcoming the agile and the infirm, the exceptional and the ordinary. Much of the time I now gladly inhabit my body, that has born children, braved surgeries, and most grievously, lost its beautiful, saucy oestrogen after menopause. I’m well aware that all-in-all, my body has done me remarkably well so far.</p>
<p>At the pool there are no mirrors to see oneself in, other than the dappled water. There is much to feel about oneself though – your own salty skin and dripping hair, the ancient sandstone beneath your feet, the frisky embrace of the tidal sea water and ocean breezes. Swimming in the water I feel myself whole, from head to toe.</p>
<p>Rubbing my hair dry one time, feeling the sun-warmed towel on my cold scalp, I remembered a terrible moment a few months ago, when my mother was still in the hospital. She asked me, “Where is my head?”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435239/original/file-20211202-25-1o698b4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435239/original/file-20211202-25-1o698b4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435239/original/file-20211202-25-1o698b4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435239/original/file-20211202-25-1o698b4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435239/original/file-20211202-25-1o698b4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435239/original/file-20211202-25-1o698b4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1086&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435239/original/file-20211202-25-1o698b4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1086&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435239/original/file-20211202-25-1o698b4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1086&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Your head? Your head is here</em>, I said, touching her hair gently, expecting that once she felt the contact, she’d know it again. “But, <em>where</em> is it?” she insisted. </p>
<p>She has always been a conceptual person, interested in systems and relations.</p>
<p><em>It’s at the top of your body, here where it always is, at the end of your neck</em>, I said. I felt her confusion like a small, contained explosion within me. Another part of her mind had disassembled, fallen off like a loose rock might. </p>
<p>Only when I crouched down in front of her, held her hands to anchor us both, and looked at her did she begin to reorient herself. <em>You’re looking at me from your head, Mum</em>, I said. </p>
<p>“That’s right,” she said, nodding. Everything was back in place again.</p>
<p>There are times in your life when you need help and nurture, and to feel safe. And so, I take my morning <em>thalassa</em> therapy, arriving before the day has told me what it is going to be like.</p>
<p><em>This is an extract from <a href="https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781925950458">The Women’s Pool edited by Lynne Spender</a> (Spinifex Press).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171386/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Messer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The sea-pool made my body my friend again. I felt then that it had always been thus, for a few moments, lithe and buoyant, and almost joyful.Jane Messer, Honorary Associate Professor in Creative Writing and Literature, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1559622021-03-01T19:11:20Z2021-03-01T19:11:20ZBirds on beaches are under attack from dogs, photographers and four-wheel drives. Here’s how you can help them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386927/original/file-20210301-17-vtykgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C1800%2C1007&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An adult fairy tern feeding a chick</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Environmental scientists see flora, fauna and phenomena the rest of us rarely do. In this new series, we’ve invited them to share their unique <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/photos-from-the-field-92499">photos from the field</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Each year, oystercatchers, plovers and terns flock to beaches all over Australia’s coastline to lay eggs in a shallow scrape in the sand. They typically nest through spring and summer until the chicks are ready to take flight. </p>
<p>Spring and summer, however, are also when most people visit the beach. And human disturbances have increased breeding failure, contributing to the local contraction and decline of many beach-nesting bird <a href="https://doi.org/10.1675/1524-4695(2007)030%5b0093:CSITCB%5d2.0.CO;2">populations</a>.</p>
<p>Take Australian fairy terns (<em>Sternula nereis nereis</em>) in Western Australia, the primary focus of my research and photography, as an example. Their 2020-21 breeding season is coming to an end, and has been relatively poor. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Courting pair of Fairy Terns on the beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian fairy tern pair. Males feed female mates, helping to supplement nutrients and energy for egg production.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fox predation and flooding from tidal inundation wiped out several colonies. Unfathomably, a colony was also lost after a four-wheel drive performed <a href="https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/aus/word/map/search/word/bog%20lap/Perth%20Region/">bog-laps</a> in a sign-posted nesting area. Unleashed dogs chased incubating adults from their nests, and photographers entered restricted access sites and climbed fragile dunes to photograph nesting birds.</p>
<p>These human-related disturbances highlight the need for ongoing education. So let’s take a closer look at the issue, and how communities and individuals can make a big difference.</p>
<h2>Nesting on the open beach</h2>
<p>Beach-nesting birds typically breed, feed and rest in coastal habitats all year round. During the breeding season, which varies between species, they establish their nests above the high-water mark (high tide), just 20 to 30 millimetres deep in the sand. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fairy Tern sitting on eggs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eggs are sandy coloured and have a mottled appearance, which help them to blend in with the environment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two Fairy Tern chicks. Down feathers are lightly coloured and mottled to help increase camouflage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fairy tern chicks crouch close to the ground to hide from predatory birds. Down feathers are lightly coloured and mottled to help increase camouflage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some species, such as the fairy tern, incorporate <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/PC/PC20056">beach shells, small stones and organic material</a> like seaweed in and around the nest to help camouflage their eggs and chicks so predators, such as gulls and ravens, don’t detect them easily.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An adult Fairy Tern moving shell material around the nest site to increase camouflage of the eggs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An adult fairy tern moving shell material around the nest site to increase the camouflage of its eggs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While nests are exposed and vulnerable on the open beach, it allows the birds to spot predators early and to remain close to productive foraging areas.</p>
<p>Still, beach-nesting birds live a harsh lifestyle. Breeding efforts are often characterised by low reproductive success and multiple nesting attempts may be undertaken each season. </p>
<p>Eggs and chicks remain vulnerable until chicks can fly. This takes around 43 days for <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/PC/PC20056">fairy terns</a> and about 63 days for <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/6477361?keyword=Handbook%20of%20Australian,%20New%20Zealand%20%20and%20%20Antarctic%20%20Birds.%20%20Volume%20%202.%20%20Raptors%20%20to%20%20Lapwings.">hooded plovers</a> (<em>Thinornis rubricollis rubricollis</em>).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Adult Fairy Tern feeding a chick" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eggs and chicks are vulnerable until chicks are capable of flight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Disturbances: one of their biggest threats</h2>
<p>Many historically important sites are now so heavily disturbed they’re unable to support a successful breeding attempt. This includes the Leschenault Inlet in Bunbury, Western Australia, where fairy tern colonies regularly fail from <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ccwa/pages/863/attachments/original/1463545867/FT_Strategy_SW_Coast_Fin.pdf?1463545867">disturbance and destruction</a> by four-wheel drives. </p>
<p>Species like the eastern <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=90381">hooded plover</a> and <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=82950">fairy tern</a> have declined so much they’re now listed as “vulnerable” under <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/about">national environment law</a>. It lists human disturbance as a key threatening process.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-cat-one-year-110-native-animals-lock-up-your-pet-its-a-killing-machine-138412">One cat, one year, 110 native animals: lock up your pet, it's a killing machine</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Birds see people and <a href="https://birdlife.org.au/documents/Dogs_and_Beach-nesting_Birds_Management_Solutions_Nov2018.pdf">dogs</a> as <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/30717960?keyword=Wildlife%20and%20Recreationists">predators</a>. When they approach, nesting adult birds distance themselves from the nest and chicks. For example, terns typically take flight, while plovers run ahead of the threat, “leading” it away from the area. </p>
<p>When eggs and chicks are left unattended, they’re vulnerable to predation by other birds, they can suffer thermal stress (overheating or cooling) or be trampled as their cryptic colouration makes them difficult to spot. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Silver Gull carrying away a Fairy Tern chick" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Natural predators such as silver gulls readily take eggs and chicks when left unattended.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unlike plovers and oystercatchers, fairy terns nest in groups, or “colonies”, which may contain up to <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/PC/PC20056">several hundred breeding pairs</a>. Breeding in colonies has its advantages. For example, collective group defence behaviour can drive off predatory birds such as silver gulls (<em>Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae</em>). </p>
<p>However, this breeding strategy can also result in mass nesting failure. For example, in 2018, a cat visiting a colony at night in <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/7/445">Mandurah</a>, about 70 km south of Perth, killed six adults, at least 40 chicks and led to 220 adult birds abandoning the site. In other instances, entire colonies have been lost during storm surges.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Adult Fairy Terns mobbing a juvenile Crested Tern" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adult fairy terns engaged in group defence or ‘mobbing’ to drive away a juvenile crested tern from a colony.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Small changes can make a big difference</h2>
<p>Land and wildlife managers are becoming increasingly aware of fairy terns and the threats they face. Proactive and adaptive management combined with a good understanding of early breeding behaviour is helping to improve outcomes for these vulnerable birds.</p>
<p>Point Walter, in Bicton, WA, provides an excellent example of how recreational users and beach-nesting birds can coexist. </p>
<p>Point Walter, 18 km from Perth city, is a popular spot for picnicking, fishing, kite surfing, boating and kayaking. It’s also an important site for coastal birds, including three beach-nesting species: fairy terns, red-capped plovers and Australian pied oystercatchers (<em>Haematopus longirostris</em>).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Point Walter, Bicton with kite surfers and kayakers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Point Walter is a popular recreational site in Perth. Recent effective management, including seasonal closures, have enabled fairy terns, red-capped plovers and Australian pied oystercatchers to nest at the end of the sand bar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The end of the sand bar is fenced off seasonally, and as a result the past six years has seen the number of terns increase steadily. For the 2020-2021 season, the sand bar supported at least 150 pairs. </p>
<p>The closure also benefits the local population of red-capped plovers and Australian pied oystercatchers, who nest at the site each year. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fairy Tern chick being brooded by its parent." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fairy tern brooding (sitting on) its chick.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An adult Australian Pied Oystercatcher teaching its offspring to hunt for prey." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An adult Australian pied oystercatcher teaching its offspring to hunt for prey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What’s more, strong community stewardship and management interventions by the City of Mandurah to protect a fairy tern colony meant this season saw the most successful breeding event in more than a decade — around 110 pairs at its peak.</p>
<p>Interventions included temporary fencing, signs, community education and increased ranger patrols. Several pairs of red-capped plovers also managed to raise chicks, adding to the success.</p>
<p>These examples highlight the potential for positive outcomes across their breeding range. But intervention during the early colony formation stage is critical. Temporary fencing, signage and community support are some of our most important tools to protect tern colonies. </p>
<h2>So what can you do to protect beach-nesting birds?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fairy Tern chick" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A fairy tern chick at a site dedicated to fairy tern breeding.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li><p>share the space and be respectful of signage and fencing. These temporary measures help protect birds and increase their chance of breeding success</p></li>
<li><p>keep dogs leashed and away from known feeding and breeding areas</p></li>
<li><p>avoid driving four-wheel drive vehicles on the beach, particularly at high tide</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-let-them-out-15-ways-to-keep-your-indoor-cat-happy-138716">keep cats indoors</a> or in a cat run (enclosure)</p></li>
<li><p>if you see a bird nesting on the beach, report it to local authorities and maintain your distance</p></li>
<li><p>avoid walking through flocks of birds or causing them to take flight. Disturbance burns energy, which could have implications for breeding and migration.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-let-them-out-15-ways-to-keep-your-indoor-cat-happy-138716">Don't let them out: 15 ways to keep your indoor cat happy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155962/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Greenwell has received funding from Birdlife Australia, Stuart Leslie Award, Fremantle Ports, and the Ecological Society of Australia, Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment. Claire gratefully acknowledges the contributions of Grainne Maguire from Birdlife Australia in preparing this article.</span></em></p>Researcher and photographer Claire Greenwell explains why people are the biggest threat to nesting shorebirds, and the simple ways you can help keep them safe next time you’re at the beach.Claire Greenwell, PhD Candidate, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1541582021-02-10T18:13:47Z2021-02-10T18:13:47ZWe need beach access for everyone, and that includes people with a disability<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382959/original/file-20210208-17-c13196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2620%2C2136&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/myphotobank</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Beach trips are a traditional part of our summers, but for some Kiwis and their family members living with a disability it can be a <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/community-beach-wheelchair-option-explored-by-central-hawkes-bay-district-council/RQ3H4JMJ52IKOHCHH7ESX56KKM/">limiting experience</a>.</p>
<p>Around <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/disability-survey-2013">1 in 4</a> New Zealanders have a disability. Their <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/assets/New-Zealand-Disability-Strategy-files/pdf-nz-disability-strategy-2016.pdf">disability</a> arises not from their impairments but from having to live in world designed by people who think everyone is the same.</p>
<p>It is society, not the individual’s impairment, that is disabling. Thus, it is society that should be enabling.</p>
<p>Examples of enabling measures are seen in efforts to provide beach access for those with disabilities with the installation of <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/12/takapuna-beach-installs-auckland-s-first-wheelchair-access-mat.html">beach mats</a> for wheelchairs, or the provision of <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/waihi-beach-has-its-first-beach-wheelchair/G35J5G6ZVKMON7PXZNZVAMZSUY/">beach wheelchairs</a>.</p>
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<p>But after an able-bodied woman suffered a significant leg injury on a beach mat, there are now <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300205955/woman-calls-for-removal-of-disability-beach-mat-after-injuring-foot-advocates-defend-it">concerns</a> that Auckland City Council, and other councils across the country, might review the provision of such such mats.</p>
<h2>Disabled rights</h2>
<p>Any such decisions must take the rights of people with disabilities into account. These rights are to be found in international human rights law, and New Zealand’s own law.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bilingual-road-signs-in-aotearoa-new-zealand-would-tell-us-where-we-are-as-a-nation-150438">Bilingual road signs in Aotearoa New Zealand would tell us where we are as a nation</a>
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<p>The rights of people with disabilities are protected by international human rights law <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/documents/publications/factsheet2rev.1en.pdf">generally</a>, which recognises that everyone is born equal and all have to the right to be free from discrimination.</p>
<p>More dedicated protection is found in the United Nations <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/read-the-convention/">Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006</a>, which New Zealand accepted in 2008. </p>
<p>The convention prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, which it describes as the interaction of people with disabilities and attitudinal and environmental barriers.</p>
<p>It also requires countries should take action to ensure accessibility to a range of spaces and services for people with disabilities on an equal basis with those of non-disabled people.</p>
<h2>Let’s be reasonable</h2>
<p>These rights, like most other rights, must be weighed up with other considerations. A key concept here is <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/read-the-convention/">reasonable accommodation</a>.</p>
<p>This means that necessary and appropriate changes should be made that allow people with disabilities to enjoy their rights on an equal basis with others. But such changes should not impose a disproportionate or undue burden.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/optional-protocol/read-the-optional-protocol/">Optional Protocol</a> to the convention was also adopted in 2006, which means complaints can be made by individuals to the UN. New Zealand accepted this agreement in 2016.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/Peace-Rights-and-Security/Human-rights/NZ-Human-Rights-Action-Plan.pdf">New Zealand International Human Rights Action Plan 2019-2023</a> also prioritises the country’s leadership role in advocacy for the rights of people with disabilities. </p>
<p>At the domestic level, the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0109/latest/DLM225519.html">New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990</a> says everyone has the right to be free from discrimination and the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0082/latest/DLM304475.html">Human Rights Act 1993</a> prohibits discrimination on the grounds of disability.</p>
<p>Domestic law also includes the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0088/49.0/DLM333584.html">Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994</a>, which established both the role of the Health and Disability Commissioner and a <a href="https://www.hdc.org.nz/your-rights/about-the-code/code-of-health-and-disability-services-consumers-rights/">Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights</a>.</p>
<p>One of the purposes of the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2000/0091/latest/DLM80057.html">New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000</a> is to promote the inclusion, societal participation and independence of people with disabilities. The <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2008/0064/latest/DLM1404012.html">Disability (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Act 2008</a> was passed with the aim of giving effect to New Zealand’s obligations under the UN Convention. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/assets/New-Zealand-Disability-Strategy-files/pdf-nz-disability-strategy-2016.pdf">New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016-2026</a> guides the work of government agencies on disability issues.</p>
<p>The strategy is informed by the the UN Convention. It is also informed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi, reflecting the cultural importance of whānau and a whānau-centred approach of concepts of family and disability.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/disability-action-plan-2/">Disability Action Plan 2019-2023</a> seeks to implement the Disability Strategy and the UN Convention.</p>
<h2>Design public spaces for all</h2>
<p>These legal obligations and policy measures also extend to local authorities. The decisions of such authorities regarding access to public spaces can have a profound impact on the rights of people with disabilities.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A long pathway mat on a beach with a disabled access sign." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A typical beach mat to help with wheelchair access to the beach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Tabatha Del Fabbro</span></span>
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<p>The provision of beach mats and/or wheelchairs is one practical example that provides people with disabilities with access to the sand and the sea.</p>
<p>But councils can think bigger by also providing mobility spaces that fits all users, appropriately designed footpaths and kerb ramps that lead to accessible seating, shade areas and picnic areas, as well as public toilets that can be used by those with disabilities and their carers.</p>
<p>There is particular room for improvement with the latter and calls for councils to build <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/01/hamilton-mother-takes-on-mission-to-roll-out-fully-accessible-bathrooms-across-country.html">fully accessible bathrooms</a> to cater to people with multiple or complex disabilities. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-aotearoa-new-zealands-early-polynesian-settlement-should-be-recognised-with-world-heritage-site-status-149981">Why Aotearoa New Zealand's early Polynesian settlement should be recognised with World Heritage Site status</a>
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<p>Cost may well be a concern but access to the beach for people with disabilities should not be presented as an optional extra. Ensuring the safety of all beach users will be a paramount consideration, as will the protection of the natural environment.</p>
<p>A diverse and inclusive society means everyone should be treated with dignity and respect at all times. A failure to do so brings its own costs.</p>
<p>New Zealand Herald readers just voted <a href="https://www.whakatane.com/discover/destinations/ohope-beach">Ōhope beach</a> as New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-zealands-best-beach-2021-winner-revealed-ohope-bay-of-plenty/H666CKN4P3E4DFDM2I7PGMJXUA/">best beach</a> in 2021. One of the reasons given was that everyone — from paddleboarders to kitesurfers to those in wheelchairs — is welcome at Ōhope. </p>
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<p>For many New Zealanders, a dip in the ocean on summer days is a simple pleasure but for some, it is simply <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/12/takapuna-beach-installs-auckland-s-first-wheelchair-access-mat.html">life-changing</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154158/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Breen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A trip to the beach is off limits for some people with a disability. We need to change that, and the law supports it.Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1502812020-12-31T00:15:07Z2020-12-31T00:15:07ZWhy going for a swim in the ocean can be good for you, and for nature<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371465/original/file-20201126-15-1h1jzzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=654%2C353%2C2915%2C2063&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Iakov Kalinin/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Summer is the season when we like to cool off with a plunge into water. For some it’s in the local or backyard swimming pool, but others prefer the salt water of the ocean. </p>
<p>Sometimes referred to as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/29/swimming-wild-trend-social-media-cliche">wild swimming</a>”, it is happening at many of the beaches, coves, bays or estuaries in Australia.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-should-my-child-take-swimming-lessons-and-what-do-they-need-to-know-131136">Why should my child take swimming lessons? And what do they need to know?</a>
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<p>But wild swimming is not only good for our health, it can also be good for ocean and beach ecologies too.</p>
<h2>A healthy ocean plunge</h2>
<p>Annual competitive ocean swims, such as the <a href="http://www.byronbayoceanswimclassic.com.au/index.php">Byron Bay Winter Whales</a> and the <a href="http://www.bonditobronte.com.au/">Bondi to Bronte</a>, are a mainstay of many Australian coastal towns and city suburbs. Daily and weekly recreational swimming groups are also well established at many of our beaches.</p>
<p>In European cultures, immersion in salt water has long been believed to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-why-swimming-in-the-sea-is-good-for-you-68583">good for human health</a> and seaside resorts there remain popular.</p>
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<p>Ocean swimmers often wax lyrical about the health and wellbeing benefits they get from their regular ocean swims. And research from both the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0193723520950549" title="Understanding Blue Spaces: Sport, Bodies, Wellbeing, and the Sea">humanities</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935120310665" title="Blue space, health and well-being: A narrative overview and synthesis of potential benefits">sciences</a> backs up these claims.</p>
<p>It’s common to hear swimmers describe their troubles and anxieties washing away in the water. Like a daily cleansing, they emerge from their swim feeling energised, calm and ready to face their days.</p>
<p>Journalist and broadcaster Julia Baird has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/06/opinion/julia-baird-australia-sea-swimming.html">written</a> about how her daily swims in Sydney inspire a sense of awe that shifts how she navigates other challenges in her life.</p>
<p>Other <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755458615300591" title="Swimming as an accretive practice in healthy blue space">research</a> talks about swimming as a process of “therapeutic accretion” whereby the pleasures of our regular short dips and longer swims in the ocean layer onto us and “build to develop a resilient wellbeing”.</p>
<p>In the UK, online movements such as <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/risefierce/">#risefierce</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mentalhealthswims/">Mental Health Swims</a> promote regular swimming as a positive practice for our health and wellbeing.</p>
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<p>Part of this is accepting that ocean conditions can change day to day. Some days are calm and clear, others are wild with waves and winds. If we want to swim, we have to learn to navigate the conditions we are dealt.</p>
<p>This capacity for decision-making in the face of challenge is helpful for a sense of confidence and resilience – <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-54243762">something that has been clear</a> during COVID-19 lockdowns around the world.</p>
<h2>Encounters with the wild</h2>
<p>For swimmers, the water offers <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615300630" title="Seeking everyday wellbeing: The coast as a therapeutic landscape">other rewards</a>.</p>
<p>Swimming, like other ocean sports like surfing and diving, is a way of immersing us in ecologies and bringing us into contact with animals, plants, weather, waves and rocks in a way that we cannot control.</p>
<p>We may encounter fish, birds, rays, turtles, cephalopods and other animals. All are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615300630" title="Seeking everyday wellbeing: The coast as a therapeutic landscape">reported</a> to help with a sense of wellbeing. This highlights how we are part of these ecologies too.</p>
<p>The recent film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12888462/">My Octopus Teacher</a> resonated with many people who swim and who regularly encounter the same animals.</p>
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<p>Some swimmers even relate the effect of swimming to animals that live in oceans. In a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1057/fr.2012.23" title="Marathon Swimming and the Unexpected Pleasures of Being a Body in Water">study</a> on swimming in the UK, one swimmer explained how they “went in like a cranky sea lion and came out like a smiling dolphin”.</p>
<h2>Care for the oceans</h2>
<p>Being part of an ecology means we have responsibilities too. In Australia, we need to take a lead from Indigenous Australian people to care for the sea country we swim in.</p>
<p>Ocean plastics, sewage and the antibiotics in agricultural run-off are a potential <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135420302360" title="A cross-sectional study on the prevalence of illness in coastal bathers compared to non-bathers in England and Wales: Findings from the Beach User Health Survey">problem for our health</a> as we swim in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01490400.2019.1627963" title="Polluted Leisure">polluted oceans</a>.</p>
<p>Our encounters with animals that live close to shore can <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/02/close-encounter-mother-and-calf-humpback-whales-stun-surfers-at-sydneys-manly-beach">impact their health</a> too, so we need to remember to respect their space.</p>
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<span class="caption">We need to be careful in our encounters with wild animals as we swim in ocean waters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cmichel67/12389601793/">Christopher Michel/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Many cultures are aware of the interconnections between people and the environments they live in. For example, Native Hawaiian and Māori researchers <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=gfI0DQAAQBAJ" title="Waves of Knowing: A Seascape Epistemology">write</a> about their links to oceans, and the Ama women in Japan connect with underwater soundscapes as they <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/radioeye/waiting-for-the-tide---abalone-diving-in-japan/3064720">dive for abalone</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/swimming-with-whales-you-must-know-the-risks-and-when-its-best-to-keep-your-distance-145614">Swimming with whales: you must know the risks and when it's best to keep your distance</a>
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<p>In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are deeply aware of the connections between the health of people and the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962629818304086" title="Dukarr lakarama: Listening to Guwak, talking back to space colonization">land, sea and sky countries</a> they live on.</p>
<p>People <a href="http://www7.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/IndigLawB/2005/27.html" title="Seeing the Light: Aboriginal Law, Learning and Sustainable Living in Country">cannot be healthy if Country is not healthy</a>, nor can Country be healthy if people are not.</p>
<p>And that’s why wild swimming could be good for ocean and beach ecologies too. The more we learn about the health and wellbeing impacts of ocean and coastal ecologies, the more we should feel invested in taking care of them. </p>
<h2>Let’s swim together</h2>
<p>The lack of control we have over conditions in ocean waters can be frightening, and the same encounters that thrill some people are terrifying for others.</p>
<p>Even for experienced swimmers, drowning is a very real risk. Between July 2019 and June 2020, <a href="https://sls.com.au/med-most-risk-of-drowning/">248 people drowned</a> in Australia, with 125 of those coastal drowning deaths. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/shark-nets-are-destructive-and-dont-keep-you-safe-lets-invest-in-lifeguards-127453">Shark nets are destructive and don't keep you safe – let's invest in lifeguards</a>
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<p>For others their <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/01/sharks-attack-fear-science-psychology-spd/">fear of shark attacks</a> and encounters is enough to keep them out of ocean water. </p>
<p>So if you want to give the ocean a try this summer, many people find comfort and safety by wild swimming with others. This is reflected in the growth of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0193723520928594" title="Swimming With the Bicheno Coffee Club: The Textured World of Wild Swimming">swimming groups</a>.</p>
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<p>Websites such as <a href="http://www.oceanswims.com/">oceanswims.com</a> and <a href="https://www.swimsisters.com.au">Swim Sisters</a> list ocean swimming groups and competition swims around Australia. It’s easy to find information through your local community too. </p>
<p>Swimming in the sea can be as simple as taking that first plunge in knee-deep water, or as challenging as an hours-long marathon along the coast. Whatever you prefer, take the time to enjoy being immersed in a watery world.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">You’re never too old (and it’s never too cold).</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150281/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Olive receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Ocean swimmers often wax lyrical about the benefits of a regular dip in the salt water.Rebecca Olive, ARC DECRA Fellow, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1508452020-11-30T05:09:16Z2020-11-30T05:09:16ZFatal shark attacks are at a record high. ‘Deterrent’ devices can help, but some may be nothing but snake oil<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371871/original/file-20201130-15-1ejab8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C2992%2C2002&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As summer descends, sharks may be at the forefront of the minds of many beach goers and reef adventurers.</p>
<p>Globally, the number of shark bites is <a href="https://research.bond.edu.au/en/publications/unprovoked-shark-bites-are-they-becoming-more-prevalent">on the rise</a>, with a threefold increase since 1982. White sharks, bull sharks and tiger sharks are most commonly responsible. </p>
<p>In Australia this year, there have been 20 unprovoked shark bites (when humans don’t initiate contact) — a similar number to <a href="https://taronga.org.au/conservation-and-science/australian-shark-attack-file#viewthereportstatistics">recent years</a>. However, we’ve had eight fatalities, the highest on record since 1929. The latest fatality was at <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-24/shark-warnings-before-broome-attack/12912226">Cable Beach</a> in Western Australia, a location not recognised as a shark bite hotspot.</p>
<p>Still, the risk of an unprovoked shark bite is still exceptionally low. You’re <a href="https://research.bond.edu.au/en/publications/unprovoked-shark-bites-are-they-becoming-more-prevalent">more likely</a> to drown at a beach than be killed by a shark. But there are things people can do to reduce the already low risk even further.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371872/original/file-20201130-13-tu2io8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Aerial shot of Cable Beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371872/original/file-20201130-13-tu2io8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371872/original/file-20201130-13-tu2io8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371872/original/file-20201130-13-tu2io8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371872/original/file-20201130-13-tu2io8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371872/original/file-20201130-13-tu2io8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371872/original/file-20201130-13-tu2io8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371872/original/file-20201130-13-tu2io8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Last week a 59-year-old man was killed by a shark in Cable Beach in Broome, the first fatal shark incident in almost 30 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s behind the shark bite trends?</h2>
<p>There is no single reason for the observed trends in unprovoked shark bite. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0964569116302058">A 2016 study</a> found more people in the water contributes to rising incidents, as populations around coastal cities and towns increase. But this doesn’t tell the whole story.</p>
<p>Another reason may be due to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0964569116302058">changes in the distribution</a> and an increasing abundance of key prey such as humpback whales (<em>Megaptera novaeangliae</em>) and New Zealand fur seal (<em>Arctocephalus forsteri</em>) along parts of the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3941575/">coast</a>. </p>
<p>For some sharks, weather conditions can also play a role. This is the case for bull sharks, which are commonly found in warm, shallow waters along coasts and rivers, such as in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0146911">Sydney Harbour</a> during summer and autumn when water temperatures are higher.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371875/original/file-20201130-18-1ll7gka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bull shark swims near smaller fish" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371875/original/file-20201130-18-1ll7gka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371875/original/file-20201130-18-1ll7gka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371875/original/file-20201130-18-1ll7gka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371875/original/file-20201130-18-1ll7gka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371875/original/file-20201130-18-1ll7gka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371875/original/file-20201130-18-1ll7gka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371875/original/file-20201130-18-1ll7gka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bull sharks are more active after heavy rainfall, especially near river mouths.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After flooding, there is a heightened risk of an unprovoked bite, as bull sharks prefer <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/02577619109504636">turbid water</a> in the coastal zone. In other words, more rain generally means more bull shark activity. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989418302476">Research in 2018</a> confirmed this. The authors found when total rainfall in a catchment near a beach was greater than or equal to 100 millimetres, the bull shark catch increased between one and eight days later. </p>
<p>And as we’re entering a summer with <a href="https://theconversation.com/la-nina-will-give-us-a-wet-summer-thats-great-weather-for-mozzies-147180">La Niña weather conditions</a> — which means we’ll see increased rainfall — the risk of encountering a bull shark will be higher, particularly near river mouths.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/la-nina-will-give-us-a-wet-summer-thats-great-weather-for-mozzies-147180">La Niña will give us a wet summer. That's great weather for mozzies</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Shark deterrent technology</h2>
<p>If you want to learn about safety and sharks, it’s a good idea to start at the Shark Smart websites for <a href="https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/sharksmart">Queensland</a> and <a href="https://www.sharksmart.nsw.gov.au/">NSW</a>, which provide simple ways to reduce your personal risk. </p>
<p>This includes identifying times, locations and conditions to avoid, such as not swimming at dawn and dusk, and avoiding swimming with schools of baitfish or diving birds. </p>
<p>For those wanting greater peace of mind, personal electric shark deterrents are commercially available, with products suitable for divers, surfers and swimmers.</p>
<p>Sharks have a set of sense organs called <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-shocking-facts-revealed-how-sharks-and-other-animals-evolved-electroreception-to-find-their-prey-91066">ampullae of Lorenzini</a> that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1749-4877.12095">can detect</a> very weak electric currents in the water. Deterrent devices produce a electric current strong enough to elicit an avoidance response by the sharks without hurting them. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-shocking-facts-revealed-how-sharks-and-other-animals-evolved-electroreception-to-find-their-prey-91066">The shocking facts revealed: how sharks and other animals evolved electroreception to find their prey</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>No shark deterrent is 100% effective, but independent testing has demonstrated several can significantly reduce the risk of a bite. Still, results are variable. </p>
<p>For white sharks, one electric deterrent reduced the percentage of bait taken from <a href="http://www.hwctf.org/Huveneers%20C%20et%20al%202018%20Effectiveness%20of%20five%20personal%20shark%20bite%20deterrents%20for%20surfers.pdf">96% to 40%</a>. And for bull sharks, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-74799-y?fbclid=IwAR2S_cT7i4LwzjsoM95qjPyZb7hbTrOfLQIoV1vbugZkDHs25VxFuw2KPXo">researchers</a> tested several different electric deterrents and found the best-performing device resulted in a 42.3% reduction in baits being consumed.</p>
<p>Electric devices aren’t the only type of deterrent. Chemical deterrents based on a necromone (dead shark smell!) have been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569113000161?casa_token=MQfFPYIv88wAAAAA:mb2yHpL5fIUkNF-F7XO2EZciUxOpjqXARkOY938RbVwhG0KUVq2ynhmaPt80jvUONUdMgtqyQDF4">effectively</a> tested on Caribbean reef and blacknose sharks. They may not be effective against large species, such as tiger or white sharks though.</p>
<p>And research from earlier <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/13/22/5065">this year</a> on reinforced neoprene wetsuits — fortified with composite fibres — shows promise for reducing the physical trauma of a shark bite, potentially reducing the chance of a fatality or serious injury. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NRyK6bA0-0U?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Freedom+ Surf is an electric shark deterrent that has been independently tested.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Know your deterrent from snake oil</h2>
<p>If you’re thinking of buying a deterrent, a challenge for consumers is that many on the market have little to no biological or ecological basis, and have not been independently tested, as CHOICE, Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group, <a href="https://www.choice.com.au/health-and-body/diet-and-fitness/surfing-and-snowboarding/articles/shark-repellents-review">pointed out in 2016</a>. </p>
<p>A shark deterrent is a safety device and as such should be the subject of an Australian Standard – similar to the way a life jacket must follow a standard – to ensure claims are valid. Currently no specific Australian Standard exists for shark deterrents.</p>
<p>No one can legally make a seat belt in their garage and sell it as an effective safety device. The same should apply to shark deterrents. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-shark-bites-seem-to-be-more-deadly-in-australia-than-elsewhere-85986">Why do shark bites seem to be more deadly in Australia than elsewhere?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There is a risk a person may place themselves in a more dangerous situation than they otherwise would have on the false belief the deterrent they have purchased has some level of effectiveness.</p>
<p>If you are looking to purchase a shark deterrent, look for those that have been independently tested in the field and found to have an actual deterrent effect. Don’t just rely on anecdotes and “the vibe”. In any case, the most effective deterrent is to make informed choices when entering the water this summer.</p>
<p>And we should never lose sight that an unprovoked shark attack is traumatic for surviving victims, first responders, and friends and families who lose a loved one. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-will-sharks-respond-to-climate-change-it-might-depend-on-where-they-grew-up-150460">How will sharks respond to climate change? It might depend on where they grew up</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150845/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daryl McPhee has previously received funding from the WA, NSW and Queensland governments to investigate unprovoked shark bite. </span></em></p>You’re more likely to drown at a beach than be killed by a shark. But there are things people can do to reduce the already low risk even further.Daryl McPhee, Associate Professor of Environmental Science, Bond UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1470882020-09-29T23:34:57Z2020-09-29T23:34:57ZHow to reduce COVID-19 risk at the beach or the pool<p>Australians are emerging from winter and, where possible, enjoying trips to beaches and public pools. Beach-side picnics, barbecues and get-togethers are <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/swimmers-lap-up-reopening-of-outdoor-pools-20200928-p5602o.html">back on the cards</a> for many of us. </p>
<p>While daily COVID-19 case numbers have been looking promising in most places lately, we are still very much in a pandemic; your spring and summertime social activities might look a little different this year.</p>
<p>Here’s how to stay safe if you’re planning a trip to the beach or public pool.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heading-back-to-the-gym-heres-how-you-can-protect-yourself-and-others-from-coronavirus-infection-139681">Heading back to the gym? Here's how you can protect yourself and others from coronavirus infection</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360450/original/file-20200929-24-djvsqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person swims laps in a pool." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360450/original/file-20200929-24-djvsqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360450/original/file-20200929-24-djvsqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360450/original/file-20200929-24-djvsqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360450/original/file-20200929-24-djvsqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360450/original/file-20200929-24-djvsqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360450/original/file-20200929-24-djvsqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360450/original/file-20200929-24-djvsqp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Your spring and summertime social activities might look a little different his year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The three golden rules</h2>
<p>Outdoor activities are associated with reduced COVID-19 transmission risk compared to indoor activities. That said, whatever your plans, the three golden rules still apply: stay home if you are sick, keep up the hand hygiene and maintain physical distancing from others.</p>
<p>If you’re sick, you shouldn’t be socialising at all. You should be getting a COVID-19 test and self-isolating while you wait for results. Even outdoors, one sick person can spread COVID-19 to a large number of people.</p>
<h2>Going to the beach</h2>
<p>Firstly, pick a quieter beach. The extra time it takes to research and travel to a more secluded beach may be a hassle, but it’s less risky than going to a crowded beach (and often nicer, too).</p>
<p>Consider driving or cycling to the beach (if possible) rather than taking public transport. If you do use public transport, pick an off-peak time of day and wear a mask — avoid rush hour.</p>
<p>When you arrive, put your towels down in a spot on the sand at least 1.5m away from others — more is better, if you can. You should still swim between the flags, but you don’t need to be sitting close to other people.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360440/original/file-20200929-22-xp8n6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An aerial shot of an ocean pool." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360440/original/file-20200929-22-xp8n6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360440/original/file-20200929-22-xp8n6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360440/original/file-20200929-22-xp8n6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360440/original/file-20200929-22-xp8n6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360440/original/file-20200929-22-xp8n6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360440/original/file-20200929-22-xp8n6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360440/original/file-20200929-22-xp8n6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pick a quieter swim spot or go at a less busy time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When swimming between the flags, it might feel crowded in the water during busy times or at busy beaches. If you are in that situation, think about reducing the time spent in the water — go in for five minutes, then come out for a bit, then go back in for another five, so you are not having prolonged contact next to another person.</p>
<p>If you see someone expelling mucus into a wave, try to avoid that wave and person if you can.</p>
<p>Remember to stay COVID-safe if you’re at a cafe for a post-swim snack or ice-block. Don’t bunch up in lines close to other people and maintain physical distance from others if you are sitting down for a meal. </p>
<p>In the past, it might have felt normal to share a plate of hot chips with mates or even offer a friend a sip of your drink — but we don’t do that anymore. If you’re having a beach-side picnic, make sure you’re not sharing utensils, double-dipping in the hummus or sticking your fingers into a shared bowl of olives.</p>
<p>Of course, all these general principles also apply to other outdoor swimming locations, such as rivers and dams.</p>
<h2>Going to the pool</h2>
<p>The ocean is probably less risky than going to the pool, because there’s more movement of water and a high level of dilution.</p>
<p>So you need to approach public pools with a degree of caution.</p>
<p>But if you have no choice, are living away from the coast and want a swim, it’s probably fine to go to an outdoor pool — especially if you are living in an area with a low level of community transmission. You can find out community transmission rates in your area from your state health department website. </p>
<p>Outdoor pools are less risky than indoor pools because of increased air flow. Confined spaces are associated with increased risk of COVID-19 transmission. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360444/original/file-20200929-20-1ihs71n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An outdoor pool in Sydney." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360444/original/file-20200929-20-1ihs71n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360444/original/file-20200929-20-1ihs71n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360444/original/file-20200929-20-1ihs71n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360444/original/file-20200929-20-1ihs71n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360444/original/file-20200929-20-1ihs71n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360444/original/file-20200929-20-1ihs71n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360444/original/file-20200929-20-1ihs71n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Outdoor pools are less risky than indoor pools,</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Choose the right time to go a pool. Transmission risk decreases with fewer people, so try to go at less busy times. In the morning, the pool water has likely had time to be well-filtered and well-chlorinated overnight and not many people have swum in it yet that day.</p>
<p>Chlorine <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-environmental-cleaning-and-disinfection-principles-for-health-and-residential-care-facilities">kills coronavirus</a>. The <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fphp%2Fwater.html#COVID-19-and-Water">CDC says</a> it is </p>
<blockquote>
<p>not aware of any scientific reports of the virus that causes COVID-19 spreading to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, or water playgrounds […] including saltwater pools.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The risk of transmission, albeit potentially low, would also depend on how chlorinated the pool is and how long any coronavirus that may be in the water is exposed to chlorine before coming into contact with another person. </p>
<p>Theoretically, if someone is carrying the virus and some mucus goes out of their mouth and into the pool, there might be a certain period of time before any virus in that mucus is inactivated by the chlorine. If it gets to you before that inactivation happens, then it is possibly a bit more risky.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360459/original/file-20200929-24-66bfjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People swim at a pool in Sydney." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360459/original/file-20200929-24-66bfjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360459/original/file-20200929-24-66bfjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360459/original/file-20200929-24-66bfjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360459/original/file-20200929-24-66bfjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360459/original/file-20200929-24-66bfjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360459/original/file-20200929-24-66bfjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360459/original/file-20200929-24-66bfjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Whatever you have planned this summer, think about the local risks and what you can do to reduce them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Avoiding the change-rooms is another way to reduce risk, as these rooms are often in a confined space. Being careful to maintain physical distancing in the pool, poolside and at the cafe are also important measures.</p>
<p>In general, it should be fine to take the kids to the pool but, if there was a degree of community transmission in your area, perhaps reconsider. There is <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2771181">growing evidence</a> kids are less susceptible to COVID-19 compared to adults but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are not transmitting it.</p>
<p>Whatever you have planned this summer, think about the local risks and what you can do to reduce them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-coronavirus-restrictions-ease-heres-how-you-can-navigate-public-transport-as-safely-as-possible-138845">As coronavirus restrictions ease, here's how you can navigate public transport as safely as possible</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147088/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brett Mitchell is affiliated with the University of Newcastle, Editor-in-Chief (Infection, Disease and Health), member of the Infection Control Expert Advisory Group (Advising AHHPC), member of the COVID Evidence Taskforce Leadership Group, Fellow of the Australian College of Nursing and Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control. Brett Mitchell has received funding from the NHMRC, HCF Foundation, Australian College of Nursing, Rosemary Norman Foundation, Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control, Cardinal Health, MSD, and the Commonwealth (Innovations Connections).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Russo is the President of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control. He is Deputy Chair of the Infection Control Expert Group to the Department of Health, a member of the COVID Evidence Taskforce Steering Committee, the Australian Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on AMR, the Healthcare Associated Infection Advisory Committee to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and a member of the Australian College of Nursing. He is also the recipient of a NHMRC Early Career Fellowship, and has received research funding from the Rosemary Norman Foundation, Cardinal Health, Australian College of Nursing and the Cabrini Institute</span></em></p>Australians are emerging from winter and, where possible, enjoying trips to beaches and public pools, beach-side picnics, barbecues and get-togethers. Here’s how to reduce your COVID-risk.Brett Mitchell, Professor of Nursing, University of NewcastlePhilip Russo, Associate Professor, Director Cabrini Monash University Department of Nursing Research, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1399392020-07-31T10:03:08Z2020-07-31T10:03:08ZSea level rise: three visions of a future summer holiday at the coast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350436/original/file-20200730-21-letoor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3888%2C2590&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sand-castle-on-beach-347251772">Sukhanova Daria/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic will ensure summer 2020 is a washout for most. With international travel restrictions limiting holidays abroad, many people in the UK have opted to stay somewhere closer to home. As a result, there have been <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53190209">remarkable increases</a> in the number of visitors to beaches across the UK. Thousands flocked to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-53176717">a beach in Bournemouth</a> on a single day in June, causing the local council to declare a major incident. </p>
<p>But far greater disruptions to our summer holidays lie ahead. About half of all tourism <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/178208-%202013April_New%20York_LC.pdf">takes place in coastal areas</a>, but with global warming set to <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/23/11195.short">raise sea levels by somewhere around two metres</a> over the next 80 years, how will our relationship with the coast change? </p>
<p>Will we commemorate the old coastal boundaries with forlorn sojourns above the sunken land? Will we recreate the beach in the heart of our cities? Or will we preserve the drowned coast as a nature reserve – a quiet memorial to what was lost?</p>
<p>We imagined <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21568316.2019.1667861">three different versions</a> of what a beach holiday might look like as climate change eclipses the coastline we once knew.</p>
<h2>1. Floating in place</h2>
<p>Sea level rise may seem a distant threat, but resorts and other tourism operators are already considering how they can stay near the coast and operate above the water. On the Caribbean island of <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/caribbean/antigua-and-barbuda/codrington/hotels/barbuda-belle-hotel/">Barbuda</a>, resort huts have been built on stilts.</p>
<p>The aim is to keep tourism viable in the same place it has thrived for decades, while minimising damage from higher water levels.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.seasteading.org/">Seasteading</a> is one answer to this conundrum. The idea to build settlements on platforms at sea originated with the hope of creating more sustainable and equal societies away from land. The technology is still being developed, while researchers consider the <a href="https://www.seasteading.org/overview/">engineering, legal and business</a> implications. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67736-6">New research</a> suggests that coastal flooding could threaten up to 20% of global GDP by 2100, with much of it tied to the tourism industry. Tourism could instead become a new source of income for seasteads. Given the dwindling coastal space for tourists, creating new spaces out at sea might be a way to meet the problem of sea level rise head on. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A cabin raised several feet above the sea water on stilts." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350433/original/file-20200730-25-mb7vfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350433/original/file-20200730-25-mb7vfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350433/original/file-20200730-25-mb7vfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350433/original/file-20200730-25-mb7vfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350433/original/file-20200730-25-mb7vfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350433/original/file-20200730-25-mb7vfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350433/original/file-20200730-25-mb7vfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Heavy engineering could keep some resorts afloat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cabin-still-stands-where-there-used-243645865">Serge Skiba/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Bringing the beach to you</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.redspottedhanky.com/destination-guides/adventure/best-uk-urban-beaches/">urban beach</a> is a concept that’s growing in popularity worldwide. It involves creating sandy areas in towns and cities by importing sand onto concrete. There may also be artificial pools and fairground rides. <a href="https://www.culturewhisper.com/r/things_to_do/best_urban_beaches_in_london_summer/7366">Each one has different features</a>. There are family-friendly options, and those catered to adults, with cocktail bars or restaurants. </p>
<p>The opportunities for hedonism are still there, but instead of travelling miles to enjoy it, it’s right on your doorstep. Less travel means less carbon emissions, and urban beaches might help ease pressure on the real coast.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most famous urban beach is the <a href="https://en.parisinfo.com/discovering-paris/major-events/paris-plages">Paris Plage</a>. Since its opening in 2002, Parisians and summer tourists have been able to lounge under palm trees on the banks of the river Seine. It cost over two million Euros to create and has since been extended due to its popularity. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The Paris Plage – a sandy beach with potted palms overlooking the River Seine." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350439/original/file-20200730-19-1efdcy6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350439/original/file-20200730-19-1efdcy6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350439/original/file-20200730-19-1efdcy6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350439/original/file-20200730-19-1efdcy6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350439/original/file-20200730-19-1efdcy6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350439/original/file-20200730-19-1efdcy6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350439/original/file-20200730-19-1efdcy6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Sous les pavés, la plage!’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/paris-france-august-13-2014-public-245349922">Efired/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://nottinghambeach.co.uk/">Nottingham Riviera</a> is an attempt to recreate this success in the UK. The landlocked beach in the middle of the city has sand and water, amusement arcades and beach bars.</p>
<p>The urban beach is becoming an industry in itself, with <a href="http://www.beach-events.co.uk/we-do-beach_builds/">companies</a> specialising in fake beaches that can be built as seasonal fixtures or permanent areas. If reaching the coast becomes too arduous in the future, these examples could provide everything needed for a seaside experience without the sea.</p>
<h2>3. Rewilding the coast</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most pragmatic solution is to accept nature taking its course and relinquish control as rising seas reshape the terrain. Allowing the new coastline to rewild could create millions of acres of new wetlands – habitats that are very good at <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-40763-8">storing carbon</a> and that have deteriorated by <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/10/1818">about 50% since 1900</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://rewildingeurope.com/news/the-european-rewilding-network-welcomes-the-uks-largest-coastal-wetland-creation-project/">Examples</a> from Hong Kong, Spain, and Wallasea Island in the UK demonstrate how turning heavily managed coastal areas into new habitats can create new opportunities for wildlife and people. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rising-seas-to-keep-humans-safe-let-nature-shape-the-coast-107837">Rising seas: to keep humans safe, let nature shape the coast</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So does the Mexican island, <a href="http://www.tourism4development2017.org/solutions/mayakoba-tourism-development/">Mayakoba</a>. Its unique mangrove forests were damaged and polluted by the building of numerous hotel chains on the seafront, but today, <a href="https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284419746">only 10% of these hotels remain</a> on the coast.</p>
<p>The local community abandoned their high-density model of tourism and protected the dunes and mangroves, which were being eroded by excessive development. New canal networks were dug to create an estuary, attracting birds and amphibians. This new wetland was designated as a nature reserve and visitors arrived to enjoy a new kind of tourist experience.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A floating jetty surrounding by mangrove swamp." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350458/original/file-20200730-27-z5oqsv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350458/original/file-20200730-27-z5oqsv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350458/original/file-20200730-27-z5oqsv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350458/original/file-20200730-27-z5oqsv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350458/original/file-20200730-27-z5oqsv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350458/original/file-20200730-27-z5oqsv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350458/original/file-20200730-27-z5oqsv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rewilding the coast would provide new wetland habitat for threatened species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/laradanielle/15239772257/in/photolist-pdFPm6-577Ag9-EBNh1H-HU3SYL-5ji1NG-5ji9p7-5ji8kE-7yTc1t-5je6kp-5jiw3s-7yX157-7yTczx-5je9Ep-5jitLu-5je2Sz-5jhKoG-5jimjQ-7yTceB-5jdtkz-7yTdyr-5jiyDu-5ji991-5jhXuu-7yTbt2-5ji6w1-7yWXYo-5jiCE5-7yWXTA-7yTcke-7yTdFM-7yTbmX-5jdCX4-7yTcCZ-5jdwWX-7yTd1c-7yWYzS-5jeici-5jiGSQ-5jdFQc-5jdDA2-5jiuwy-7yTdL8-7yTbCp-5jetwT-7yWYgs-5jizfW-7yWYSL-7yTbUT-7yTcSr-5jivuj">Lara Danielle/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Visitor capacity and beach activities were reduced to ensure sensitive coastal environments could remain protected. But allowing the sea back into reclaimed coastal territory allowed a more sustainable model of tourism to flourish – one which could be replicated elsewhere as sea levels rise.</p>
<p>But before that can happen, our views of the coast must change. Humans once saw land and sea as <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo14312647.html">a continuation of one another</a>, rather than two discrete entities. Reviving this concept could allow us to navigate a future in which once certain borders have blurred beyond recognition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139939/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sea levels could be two metres higher by 2100. How will our relationship to the drowned coast change?Nick Davies, Research Fellow in Sustainable Cities and Transport, University of SalfordDavid Jarratt, Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management, University of Central LancashireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1427212020-07-22T05:28:35Z2020-07-22T05:28:35ZLifeguards with drones keep us (and sharks) safe, and beach-goers agree<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348758/original/file-20200722-21-168xw69.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C34%2C3811%2C2121&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew Colefax</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/teenager-dies-after-shark-attack-on-mid-north-coast-of-nsw-20200711-p55b65.html">A teenager in New South Wales</a> recently died after a fatal shark bite, <a href="https://taronga.org.au/conservation-and-science/australian-shark-attack-file">adding to four</a> other unprovoked shark-related deaths this year. These tragic events send shockwaves through the community and re-ignite our fear of sharks. </p>
<p>They also fuel the debate around the best way to keep people safe in the water while minimising impacts on marine wildlife. This was the aim of a five-year trial of shark-mitigation technology – the <a href="https://www.sharksmart.nsw.gov.au/">Shark Management Strategy</a> – which finished recently. </p>
<p>The NSW government created this initiative in response to an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-09/record-number-of-shark-attacks-in-2015/7153046">unprecedented spike</a> in shark bites in 2015, particularly on the north coast of NSW. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348765/original/file-20200722-27-1h11moo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A red and white drone hovers by an empty beach." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348765/original/file-20200722-27-1h11moo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348765/original/file-20200722-27-1h11moo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348765/original/file-20200722-27-1h11moo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348765/original/file-20200722-27-1h11moo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348765/original/file-20200722-27-1h11moo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348765/original/file-20200722-27-1h11moo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348765/original/file-20200722-27-1h11moo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The beach community overwhelmingly prefers drone surveillance to lethal strategies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew Colefax</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among the various technology trials, drones were investigated for their potential to scan the surf for sharks and keep beach-goers safe. Increasingly, lifeguards are now operating drones. And our recent survey found this idea has public support, as it not only protects humans but helps keep sharks safe too.</p>
<h2>Lethal strategies are still in play, but not supported</h2>
<p>The media has in the past sensationalised calls for shark culling, but <a href="https://theconversation.com/tide-turned-surveys-show-the-public-has-lost-its-appetite-for-shark-culls-89163">public support has waned</a>. Yet the use of lethal strategies at various sections of the <a href="https://www.sharksmart.nsw.gov.au/shark-nets">NSW</a> and Queensland coastlines is ongoing. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tide-turned-surveys-show-the-public-has-lost-its-appetite-for-shark-culls-89163">Tide turned: surveys show the public has lost its appetite for shark culls</a>
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<p>For example, the <a href="https://www.sharksmart.nsw.gov.au/shark-nets">shark netting program</a> in NSW includes 51 beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong. In <a href="https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/shark-control-program/shark-control-equipment">Queensland</a>, more than 26 shark nets and 350 drumlines are stationed between the Gold Coast and Cairns.</p>
<p>Drumlines catch (and kill) sharks using baited shark hooks suspended from large plastic floats, whereas shark nets aim to catch and entangle passing sharks. Shark nets also often accidentally catch – and kill – other marine wildlife, such as rays, turtles and dolphins. </p>
<p>Shark nets were among the trials in the NSW Shark Management Strategy. But community support <a href="https://www.sharksmart.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/1237014/sms-factsheet-nets.pdf">was low</a> as they were considered ineffective, outdated and destructive. </p>
<h2>Low-impact technology</h2>
<p>The program predominately tested and promoted emerging technologies considered non-lethal. Alongside drones, this <a href="https://www.sharksmart.nsw.gov.au/technology-trials-and-research">included</a> SMART (non-lethal) drumlines, helicopter surveillance, shark listening stations, shark barriers, buoys that detect sharks through their movement patterns, and personal shark deterrent devices that people can add to their surfboards or other gear.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z007p-8e_QA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104127">Our recent research</a> found the NSW beach community mostly supported the use of drones. </p>
<p>Unlike other shark mitigation technologies, drones require little infrastructure. They can also provide other beach safety services, such as monitoring rips and assisting with search and rescue.</p>
<p>So far, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0964569118308135">shark surveillance drones</a> have operated on over 18 beaches, in collaboration with NSW Surf Life Saving. </p>
<p>Lifeguards manually fly drones throughout the day within their line-of-sight, and scan the live-streamed video feed for sharks. If they spot a shark, the pilots decide whether it threatens public safety, and whether sounding the drone’s alarm and evacuating the people from the water is required.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/shark-nets-and-culls-dont-necessarily-make-australian-beaches-safer-124156">Shark nets and culls don't necessarily make Australian beaches safer</a>
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<p>During the trials involving Surf Life Saving NSW between October 2018 and April 2019, <a href="https://www.sharksmart.nsw.gov.au/technology-trials-and-research/drones">350 sharks were spotted</a>, which led to 48 beach evacuations. </p>
<h2>Fitting drones with new tech</h2>
<p>Drones can also be further developed as new technology becomes available, such as customised sensors to improve detection reliability.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348814/original/file-20200722-35-jem86t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A turtle swims by a school of fish and coral." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348814/original/file-20200722-35-jem86t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348814/original/file-20200722-35-jem86t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348814/original/file-20200722-35-jem86t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348814/original/file-20200722-35-jem86t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348814/original/file-20200722-35-jem86t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348814/original/file-20200722-35-jem86t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348814/original/file-20200722-35-jem86t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Turtles are often unintended victims of shark nets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>And the latest scientific drone trial, which finished at the end of the Easter school holidays this year, saw <a href="https://www.surflifesaving.com.au/news/lifesavers-use-ai-technology-spot-sharks">artificial intelligence technology</a> tested on five beaches to improve shark detection rates and species identification. </p>
<p>Species identification is important because not all sharks are considered potentially dangerous to swimmers and surfers. Misidentification or uncertainty can also result in unnecessary beach closures and disruptions, which can reinforce our fears around sharks. AI could assist lifeguards with drone surveillance as early as next summer. </p>
<h2>Backed by beach-goers</h2>
<p>Of all the shark safety measures, drones were by far the most preferred option with NSW beach communities. The next most popular choice was “other aerial surveillance”. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104127">We surveyed</a> 439 people, and found 88% either support or strongly support the use of drones as a shark-bite mitigation measure. Many said they consider it an excellent, inexpensive tool for the safety of people and sharks. </p>
<p>However, 22% of respondents said they either weren’t sure or didn’t want to see drones on their beaches. Some had privacy concerns, and others (less than 10%) had issues around drone operational conduct and its ability to really “see” sharks. This illustrates the importance for drone surveillance operations to be transparent and particularly sensitive to privacy issues.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348768/original/file-20200722-37-yoemqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A tiger shark swims beside large rocks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348768/original/file-20200722-37-yoemqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348768/original/file-20200722-37-yoemqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348768/original/file-20200722-37-yoemqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348768/original/file-20200722-37-yoemqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348768/original/file-20200722-37-yoemqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348768/original/file-20200722-37-yoemqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348768/original/file-20200722-37-yoemqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Sharks are often killed in nets and drumlines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Interestingly, one in five people seemed more willing to accept personal risk when entering the ocean, selecting public education, “nothing” or the use of personal shark deterrents as their preferred options. </p>
<h2>The best available approach</h2>
<p>In facing an uncertain economic future and a growing ecological emergency, strategies to boost beach safety in NSW must be cost-effective, ecologically benign and acceptable to the beach community. </p>
<p>However, no strategy can claim to be 100% effective for keeping beach-goers safe from sharks. Drones too have their <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0964569118308135">limitations</a>. For example, the ability to see through the water is limited when its turbid or in low light.</p>
<p>Still, drones appear to provide the best available and most publicly acceptable approach as the NSW government moves beyond its five-year shark management program. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-just-nets-how-to-stop-shark-attacks-without-killing-sharks-69400">Not just nets: how to stop shark attacks without killing sharks</a>
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<p>For its long-term deployment, in NSW or elsewhere, we need continued community education, more research into improving detection and identification tools, and strong guidance and training for drone operators. </p>
<p>With this in place, drones can be a valuable asset to add to the beach-safety toolkit throughout Australia, and provide increasing safety from sharks with minimal impact.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142721/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Colefax had received funding from the NSW Department of Primary Industries (Shark Management Strategy) to investigate the use of drones for shark surveillance and beach safety as part of his PhD, which was submitted earlier this year. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Betty Weiler, Debra Stokes, and Kirin Apps do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Recent shark-related deaths fuel the debate around the best way to keep people safe in the water, without hurting marine wildlife.Debra Stokes, Lecturer in Environmental Science, Southern Cross UniversityAndrew Colefax, Postdoctoral research fellow, Southern Cross UniversityBetty Weiler, Professor, School of Business and Tourism, Southern Cross UniversityKirin Apps, Associate lecturer, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1414912020-07-02T20:14:21Z2020-07-02T20:14:21ZHow coronavirus self-isolation fatigue may lead to more beach drownings this summer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344846/original/file-20200630-103673-doz6x7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C58%2C2955%2C1899&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A lifeguard keeps watch over a packed beach in Huntington Beach, Calif., on June 28, when the number of new cases of COVID-19 in the state have been climbing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The easing of physical distancing restrictions can’t come soon enough for those tired of self-isolation, and for many the beach represents a welcome therapy after an extended time indoors and alone. </p>
<p>In Australia, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-26/coronavirus-crowds-sydney-beaches-again-despite-covid-19-risks/12185926">popular beaches in Sydney</a>, including the iconic Bondi Beach, were completely closed to public access during the government-imposed lockdown period. When they reopened under restricted conditions in late April (fall in the southern hemisphere), the unexpectedly large crowds led authorities to close them again. </p>
<p>More recently, crowded beaches in the <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-premier-shocked-by-packed-toronto-beaches-warns-covid-19-fight-is-not-over-1.4995033">Great Lakes</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coronavirus-comes-spring-break-locals-close-florida-beaches-after-governor-n1163741">Florida</a>, <a href="https://www.khou.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/galveston-beaches-see-uptick-in-crowds-as-city-takes-additional-measures-to-protect-visitors-from-covid-19/285-6bc76e6b-a076-40ac-8a22-a714e8ba0dfc">Texas</a>, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-05-26/crowds-masks-venice-beach-memorial-day-weekend">California</a> and the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/brits-flock-to-the-beach-amid-medics-warning-of-second-wave-20200625-p555y7.html">United Kingdom</a> show that people are eager to find their spot on the sand. </p>
<p>While going to the beach to bathe or swim is seen as an enjoyable recreational experience, aside from social distancing concerns, beaches can be dangerous environments and it is <a href="http://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-389-2019">not uncommon for drownings</a> to occur. Unfortunately, there are several COVID-19-related factors that have the potential to significantly increase the number of beach drownings and rescues.</p>
<h2>Beach hazards in a time of COVID-19</h2>
<p>First, many of those people seeking out beaches may be infrequent beachgoers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.10.011">unfamiliar with beach hazards, such as rip currents, and safety practices</a>, including strategies on how to react when caught in a rip current as recommended by the <a href="http://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-17-1003-2017">Break the Grip of the Rip campaign</a> in the United States. </p>
<p>Second, summer travel plans have been altered for many, meaning local and non-holiday beaches — many of which are not patrolled by lifeguards — may see larger crowds and could put <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212349">bystanders who attempt rescues</a> at greater risk. </p>
<p>Third, and most important, in normal years, lifeguard services would intervene to ensure that people don’t put themselves into dangerous situations. This year is different.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344844/original/file-20200630-103673-167tti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344844/original/file-20200630-103673-167tti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344844/original/file-20200630-103673-167tti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344844/original/file-20200630-103673-167tti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344844/original/file-20200630-103673-167tti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344844/original/file-20200630-103673-167tti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344844/original/file-20200630-103673-167tti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Los Angeles police officers patrol Venice Beach during the coronavirus outbreak on May 13, 2020. L.A. County beaches will be closed July 3-6 to prevent dangerous crowding and limit the spread of COVID-19.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)</span></span>
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<p>Several jurisdictions from the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-52038489">U.K.</a> and the <a href="https://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/20200608/covid-furloughs-meant-no-warning-flags-on-holland-beach-as-two-boys-drowned">Great Lakes</a> have cancelled their lifesaving programs due to COVID-19-related budget and health concern restraints. </p>
<p>Coronavirus-related staff cuts and furloughs prevented Holland State Park in Michigan from setting up the flags to warn swimmers of the daily hazard along that section of Lake Michigan. The <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/2020/06/double-drowning-tragedy-underscores-danger-of-great-lakes.html">lack of warning flags and lifeguards has already been blamed for the drownings</a> of a six-year-old and a 17-year-old on June 6. This is just but one example of how cutting funding to beach safety programs could cost lives.</p>
<h2>Masking the truth about the surf hazard</h2>
<p>There are interesting parallels between drowning prevention and efforts to flatten the COVID-19 curve. </p>
<p>Many people do not wear a mask in public despite evidence that masks reduce the <a href="https://today.tamu.edu/2020/06/12/texas-am-study-face-masks-critical-in-preventing-spread-of-covid-19/">potential for COVID-19 transmission</a>. For example, if you have gone grocery shopping and avoided infection, you may become complacent and feel that masks and hand-washing are unnecessary. Or you may bend to peer pressure if you meet up with friends who are not wearing masks or social distancing. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-your-tourist-brain-may-try-to-drown-you-111709">Why your tourist brain may try to drown you</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>These same behaviours come into play with drownings. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-018-3424-7">Evidence suggests</a> that if you didn’t drown on your last visit to the beach, you’ll be confident that you won’t drown on your next visit — despite changing waves, tides and other conditions. </p>
<p>Or if you are with a group of friends who are better swimmers, there is a greater chance that you will venture into deeper water to avoid the social cost of staying close to shore. You may also mirror the risky behaviours of other beachgoers. </p>
<h2>Ignoring the warning signs</h2>
<p>The time and financial investment made in travelling to the beach after being limited by stay-at-home orders for weeks and months means that more people may enter the water, even if the conditions aren’t ideal. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344842/original/file-20200630-103649-8gxtlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344842/original/file-20200630-103649-8gxtlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344842/original/file-20200630-103649-8gxtlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344842/original/file-20200630-103649-8gxtlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344842/original/file-20200630-103649-8gxtlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344842/original/file-20200630-103649-8gxtlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344842/original/file-20200630-103649-8gxtlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Large signs for COVID-19 beach safety are prominently displayed at the beach in Port Stanley, Ont., on June 22, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins</span></span>
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<p>Beach users escaping self-isolation at home may be tired of warnings and further restrictions on the beach and may ignore them, particularly if they believe that lifeguards are being <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-2541-2019">overly cautious</a>. This was the greatest concern expressed at a recent (virtual) conference to celebrate the creation of a legislated lifesaving program in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-1626-9">Costa Rica</a>. </p>
<p>In the Great Lakes, the problem is made worse by the high-water levels that have <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/environment/ct-lake-michigan-record-water-levels-20200619-ntztvazvynf7bgbro3cgkp2diy-story.html">limited the amount of beach available</a>. Even where lifeguard services are still provided, the limited beach width means that people will either crowd together on the beach or move away from others, increasing the lifeguard’s patrol area — and the risk that someone will need rescue or will drown. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/famous-sydney-beaches-closed-after-crowds-flout-coronavirus-restrictions">Restricting access to beaches</a> to limit crowds and the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/15/us/covid-19-second-shutdown/index.html">potential for a second wave of COVID-19 cases</a>, will in turn limit the number of drownings as long as people <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/lake-michigan-chicago-beach-beaches-open/6265505">heed those closures</a>. </p>
<p>COVID-19 has created a perfect storm that could make beaches more popular than ever before and raise the risk of drowning. So far, most of the concern has focused on the lack of social distancing and the looming threat of a second COVID-19 wave, but that focus may soon shift to drowning. Are we going to love our beaches to death?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After months of isolation, beaches could see a rising number of rescues and drownings.Chris Houser, Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, and Dean of Science, University of WindsorRob Brander, Professor, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1284582020-01-06T18:54:26Z2020-01-06T18:54:26ZThe story of a wave: from wind-blown ripples to breaking on the beach<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307332/original/file-20191217-123983-1kerwmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5439%2C3051&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">By the time a wave reaches shore, it may have travelled tens of thousands of kilometres.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Mitchinson / Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s a cliché, but <a href="https://youtu.be/j77S5hQPYBg">Aussies love the beach</a>. And little wonder: with 36,000 kilometres of coastline, Australia is blessed with some of the best beaches in the world. </p>
<p>Around 20 million Australians live within 50 kilometres of the coast. As summer temperatures soar, we flock to the ocean to splash, swim, surf, paddle, and plunge in the waves. </p>
<p>But where do those waves come from? How do they form, and why do they break? As it turns out, what we see at the shore is just the last few moments of an epic journey. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-women-of-history-isabel-letham-daring-australian-surfing-pioneer-111530">Hidden women of history: Isabel Letham, daring Australian surfing pioneer</a>
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<h2>Great waves from tiny ripples grow</h2>
<p>The waves we see crashing on the beach can begin their lives tens of thousands of kilometres away. <em>Surface waves</em>, as they are known, are born when the wind blows over the ocean, amplifying small ripples and transferring momentum from the atmosphere to the water. </p>
<p>The height of the wave depends on how long the wind is blowing and the distance – or <em>fetch</em> – over which it blows. The largest waves are created by distant storms, which churn up the surface of the ocean and radiate waves outwards like ripples in a pond. </p>
<p>Surface waves don’t move the water itself very far – each water molecule travels forward and back in a circle a few meters across and ends up back at its starting point. </p>
<p>As the wave crest rises, water molecules gather gravitational potential energy that is released as kinetic energy when the water descends into the trough of the wave. This energy is then passed onto the next crest in a see-saw of kinetic and potential energy that can propagate across an entire ocean basin. </p>
<h2>The mounting wave</h2>
<p>Once a wave leaves the open ocean and approaches land, the sea floor begins to exert its influence. Surface waves transmit their energy more slowly in shallow water than in deep water. This causes energy to pile up near the shore. Waves start to <em>shoal</em>, becoming taller, steeper, and more closely spaced. </p>
<p>Once a wave grows too steep to hold together, it breaks. Breaking waves come in different varieties. </p>
<p><em>Spilling breakers</em>, which crumble gently into white water, occur when the sea floor rises relatively slowly. </p>
<p>By contrast, <em>plunging breakers</em> – the classic rolling waves favoured by surfers – form when the sea floor rises sharply, particularly near reefs and rocky headlands. </p>
<p>Finally, <em>surging waves</em> occur when the shore is almost vertical. These waves don’t produce breakers but rather a rhythmic rise and fall of the sea surface. </p>
<h2>Bend it like bathymetry</h2>
<p>The shape or topography of the sea floor – called <em>bathymetry</em> – can have remarkable effects on breaking waves. If the depth of the sea floor changes parallel to the coast, incoming waves will <em>refract</em> or bend so their crests line up with the shoreline. </p>
<p>The effect can be clearly seen near headlands: waves close to the headland move slowly because the water is shallow, while waves further out move more quickly. This causes waves to curl around the headland like a marching band rounding a corner.</p>
<p>Bathymetry is also responsible for some of the biggest waves on Earth. Famous big wave surf spots like Mavericks in Northern California and Nazaré in Portugal benefit from undersea canyons that refract incoming waves and focus them into monsters. The Nazaré wave originates from an undersea canyon almost 5 kilometres deep to produce waves as tall as an eight-storey building. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-get-sucked-in-by-the-rip-this-summer-21207">Don't get sucked in by the rip this summer</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Don’t risk the rip</h2>
<p>The story of a wave doesn’t end when it breaks, however. Breaking waves push water towards the shore, raising the water level. This water will try to flow back offshore via the lowest point along the beach. The result is a <em>rip current</em>: a swift, narrow current that flows out to sea. </p>
<p>Rip currents are Australia’s number one coastal hazard, responsible for more fatalities per year than shark attacks, bush fires, floods, and cyclones combined. Inexperienced swimmers caught in a rip can panic and try to swim against the current, which is a dangerous recipe for exhaustion. Yet most Australians are unable to identify a rip current, and two-thirds of those who think they can get it wrong. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307330/original/file-20191217-123992-1tntqn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307330/original/file-20191217-123992-1tntqn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307330/original/file-20191217-123992-1tntqn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307330/original/file-20191217-123992-1tntqn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307330/original/file-20191217-123992-1tntqn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307330/original/file-20191217-123992-1tntqn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307330/original/file-20191217-123992-1tntqn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Purple dye traces the path of a rip current.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Brander</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To spot a rip, look for a gap in the waves, a dark channel, or ripples surrounded by smoother water. The safest thing to do is to stick to patrolled beaches and swim between the flags. If you do find yourself caught in a rip, Surf Lifesaving Australia advises you to stay calm and conserve your energy. </p>
<p>Rip currents are usually quite narrow, so swim at right angles to the current until you are outside the rip. If you are too tired to swim, tread water and let yourself go with the flow until the rip weakens and you can signal for help. </p>
<p>Above all, if you are unsure, <a href="https://beachsafe.org.au/surf-safety/ripcurrents">don’t risk the rip</a>. Sit back and enjoy the waves from a safe distance instead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128458/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shane Keating does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There’s much more to waves than the part you see at the beach.Shane Keating, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics and Oceanography, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1217852019-08-14T21:34:24Z2019-08-14T21:34:24ZA day at the beach: Deep learning for a child<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288069/original/file-20190814-136217-qej3jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Memories and the experiences gained through play are foundational to one's lifelong learning. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The beach offers a wide open playscape where children are fuelled by curiosity. Whether at the beach or elsewhere outdoors, it helps to take a moment to see the world through the lens of a child who is discovering the world anew, and slow down to be present. </p>
<p>Part of what happens through children’s play is the exhilaration of making choices. These choices, and their consequences, are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187704281403571X">part of the child’s emerging sense of agency and identity</a>.</p>
<p>Children’s inquisitive minds crave opportunities that allow them to become designers, builders, mathematicians and innovators of their world. </p>
<p>Sand sculptures crumble, but both memories and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/children1030280">experiences gained through play are foundational to one’s lifelong learning</a>. As a parent or guardian, you can support the deep learning that happens through play throughout your child’s day, and later when you revisit treasured memories. </p>
<h2>Wide-open choices</h2>
<p>The beach landscape is ever-changing, presenting challenges to overcome — and endless choices with which to experiment. Children’s author Douglas Wood beautifully narrates the precious thrill a child experiences in his book <em>No One But You</em>; he explores moments where children come to <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/HowLearningHappens.pdf">understand themselves and how they are uniquely connected to the world</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘No One But You’ by Douglas Wood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Candlewick Press)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Design choices stretch beyond the horizon. Pools that children dig in the sand are tubs for dollies, watering holes for dinosaurs or giant castle moats. For children, the goal isn’t always a finished project. A child may be challenging themselves to dig deeper, pile higher or make winding paths for water longer. </p>
<p>Experiencing setbacks is a natural part of life, and when children try again or try something in a new way, they build their perseverance in addition to developing self-regulation. Learning and life are all about overcoming challenges, so understanding <a href="https://www.pearsoncanadaschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PS1vM5">how to regulate oneself is foundational</a> for psychological, physical, behavioural and educational well-being. </p>
<p>Stuart Shanker, professor emeritus at York University in psychology and philosophy, and an expert in self-regulation, summarizes self-regulation as “<a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/shanker.pdf">the way in which people manage stresses in their lives</a>.” </p>
<p>When a child is filling and building, chasing seagulls and otherwise exploring the varied terrain of the beach, they are managing stresses that come into play. Sand castles may falter at an unanticipated time, waves may wash away a sandy message, wind and rain might dampen a plan and bridges may collapse. </p>
<p>The unpredictability of problem-solving lends itself to challenges, successes and failures. </p>
<h2>Multisensory pathways</h2>
<p>When children can run their fastest, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13502930701321733">managing the varied risks</a> and stressors of the terrain, they stumble, roll and recover, realizing their physical capabilities. They are developing <a href="https://sportforlife.ca/portfolio-view/developing-physical-literacy-a-guide-for-parents-of-children-ages-0-to-12/">physical literacy</a>, building their motivation, confidence, competence and disposition to pursue being active. </p>
<p>The beach is an an organic symphony of sound with the wind whistling, the waves lapping and the birds calling. The open sky, always changing, invites the clouds to be watched. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Wave’ by Suzy Lee.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Chronicle Books)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Suzy Lee’s wordless book <em>Wave</em> captures the rich drama and choreography of a child’s play day on the beach. </p>
<p>The beach presents a plethora of <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/cognitive_development_and_sensory_play">sensory choices</a> with which to contend. Through these sensory engagements a child <a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/">builds multisensory brain pathways</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2004.5.1.10">explores ways to live as part of the ecosystem</a>.</p>
<p>Imagination is ignited when children explore the variety of textures, shapes and sizes of nature’s gifts. Pebbles, shells, sand grains and sticks offer multiple possibilities for being <a href="https://activeforlife.com/making-use-of-loose-parts/">manipulated and moved</a>. Mixing in a little water adds even more choice of colour and texture to the malleable medium. </p>
<h2>Supporting learning with talk</h2>
<p>Undoubtedly there will be conversations carried by the breeze. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I did it! I DID IT! It’s flying!!!”</p>
<p>“Hey Wave! You can’t catch me!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-professor-james-britton-1428143.html">late great British language theorist</a> James Britton discussed how <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Language_and_Learning.html?id=YDgmAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">literacy floats on a sea of talk</a>.</p>
<p>As adults around children, we can listen to and observe children’s rich talk. In a play-based learning environment, educators of young children support learning through talk. For example, the adult can linger on the sidelines, and without interrupting children’s play, when the opportunity opens up, the adult can help name what the child is demonstrating. Or alternately, the adult can invite the child to talk about their ideas. For example: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“You’ve really worked hard to dig that deep hole! I see how you worked together to keep the water out. Your faces sure look proud and you didn’t give up even when it was tricky, you tried again.”</p>
<p>“This looks very exciting! Can you tell me about what you are building?!”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Picture the Sky’ by Barbara Reid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(North Winds Press)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Barbara Reid’s book <em>Picture the Sky</em> illustrates how the sky can evoke observation and conversation, and demonstrates how <a href="https://www.literacytoday.ca/primary/talk/the-role-of-talk-in-learning/">building on children’s talk leads to greater capacities to read the world</a>. </p>
<p>Adults may notice that children are engaging in early mathematics experiences in ways that matter to them. You can help to name the math that comes to the surface in moments that won’t disrupt the flow of children’s play. For example: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“That hole looks even bigger! I wonder how many buckets of water it might take to fill it? Shall we count them together?”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mucking around with a problem and making possible solution choices can lead to powerful learning.</p>
<h2>Leaving the beach and at home</h2>
<p>Even under the open sky, children are experiencing patterns as time passes and the sun’s position and shadows change.</p>
<p>Inevitably, the beach day must come to an end. This transition can be a stressor because <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/ResearchBriefs.pdf">the child is leaving something they have been enjoying</a>.</p>
<p>Letting the child know it will be <a href="https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/sep2018/reducing-challenging-behaviors-during-transitions">time to leave</a> - for example, by setting a stopwatch alarm with your child — and talking about what needs to be done to clean up, creates time to prepare for the transition and opportunity to take ownership of a tidying role.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Day at the Beach’ by Tom Booth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Simon and Schuster)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At home, in the days that follow, you can connect with your child as you revisit their play memories. </p>
<p>Tom Booths’ book <em>Day at the Beach</em> is sure to spark recollections of these shared moments. It explores how children find purpose and challenge themselves beyond what they know, learning along the way. </p>
<p>Making choices, encountering unexpected challenges and social experiences all help to build far more than sand castles! </p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121785/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Through a play day filled with choices at the beach with supportive adults, unexpected challenges and social experiences all help children to build far more than sand castles.Lotje Hives, Research Collaborator, Part-time Instructor, Schulich School of Education, Nipissing UniversityTara-Lynn Scheffel, Associate Professor, Schulich School of Education, Nipissing UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.