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Message from the President

When the Clean Beaches Council was founded in 1998, our mission included increasing public awareness of and literacy about the fragile coastal ecosystem. This would help ensure a legacy of clean and healthy beaches for future generations. Today, both of these goals continue to be the driving force behind the Council’s campaigns and have motivated our efforts to produce the 2005 State of the Beach Report: Bacteria and Sand.

This report is meant to enhance the science literacy of the beach going public about the state of our beaches today. The report examines the scientific evidence bacteria contamination in beach sands. Bacteria and Sand is designed to actively educate the public about potential environmental contamination at the beach while emphasizing that these conditions are often affected by human actions. In fact, sand contamination may often be the result of careless human litter. Consider the following scenario:

A beachgoer leaves food waste on the beach, which attracts birds/wildlife. The birds/wildlife defecates on the beach, resulting in sand contamination. As the tide interacts with the sand, bacteria are released into the water, causing water contamination. Human exposure to these contaminated waters creates a health risk.

In this scenario, sand contamination is preventable. Bacteria and Sand aims to curb this type of behavior through public science literacy, recommending the “Leave No Trace” principle for the beach. Beachgoers need to understand that the only “footprint” they leave should be an imprint in the sand.

However, solving the problems raised in Bacteria and Sand will require more than a public awareness and literacy campaign about litter. Scientists believe that there may be many unknown routes of sand contamination that have yet to be addressed. Hence, this is just the start of a journey to better understand the nature of bacteria and sand.

We hope you will join us.

Sincerely,

 

Walter L. McLeod

President

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