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Welcome to Beachapedia
Your coastal knowledge resource
Your coastal knowledge resource
Featured Article
Red Tides - Red tide is a phenomenon when phytoplankton, a single-celled plant, grow very fast or “bloom” and accumulate into dense, visible patches near the water surface. Red tides are naturally occurring, but nutrient pollution and warming waters can fuel blooms, making them last longer and cover larger areas. Unfortunately, some phytoplankton are extremely harmful and toxic to humans and marine wildlife when they reach high concentrations. For instance, the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis (K. brevis), that makes up red tides off the coast of Florida, can release harmful brevetoxins into the ocean and air, causing massive kills of fish, marine mammals, and sea turtles; and painful burning of the eyes and lungs for beach goers.
Today's Coastal Factoid
Deep oceans provided refuge during extreme climatic conditions
- "Why did the first big, complex organisms spring to life in deep, dark oceans where food was scarce? A new study finds great depths provided a stable, life-sustaining refuge from wild temperature swings in the shallows." - Excerpt from Stanford University.
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State of the Beach
The Surfrider Foundation State of the Beach report is our continually-updated assessment of the health of our nation’s beaches. It is intended to empower concerned citizens and coastal managers by giving them the information needed to take action. For over ten years we have been collecting information on beach access, surf zone water quality, beach erosion, beach fill, shoreline structures, beach ecology and surfing areas to get an understanding of the condition of our nation’s beaches and the effectiveness of programs and policies designed to protect them.
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Latest Articles
Why Beachapedia?
Beachapedia captures decades of experience and knowledge gained by Surfrider Foundation activists, scientists and staff through hundreds of environmental and educational campaigns on our coasts. By sharing this resource with the public we hope to provide tools and information to help communities make a positive impact on their local beaches. If you would like to contribute please visit this page.
All articles
A
- Access Point
- Accretion
- Administrative Procedure
- Aeolian Transport
- Aquaculture
- Aquapedia
- Armoring
- Army Corps of Engineers
- Army Corps of Engineers - Working with the Corps
- Artificial Surfing Reefs
- Artificial Turf
- Atoll
B
- Backshore
- Backwash
- Bacteria
- Bacteria in Sand
- Bacterial Pollution, Tracking the Sources
- Bar
- Barrier Beach
- Barrier Island
- Beach
- Beach Access
- Beach Cleanups
- Beach Cusp
- Beach Driving
- Beach Ecology
- Beach Fill
- Beach Grooming
- Beach Is Alive
- Beach Loss
- Beach Manifesto
- Beach Monitoring
- Beach Narrowing
- Beach Profile
- Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act of 2000
- Benthic Zone
- Berm
- Bioaccumulation
- Biomagnification
- Bioplastic Glossary
- Bioplastics
- Bitou Bush
- Blowout
- Blue Carbon
- Blue Water Task Force
- Blue-Green Algae
- Bluff
- Borrow Site
- Brackish Water
- Breakwater
- Building Setback
- Bulkheads
C
- California State Lands Commission
- Cesspools
- Cigarette Butt Litter
- Clean Water Act
- Clean Water Initiative
- Climate Change
- Climate Change Adaptation
- Closure Depth
- Coastal Access in California
- Coastal Act and the California Coastal Commission
- Coastal Barrier Resources Act
- Coastal Compartment
- Coastal ISFSI for Nuclear Waste
- Coastal Plain
- Coastal Resilience
- Coastal Zone Management Act
- Combined Sewer Overflows
- Composting Toilets
- Contaminated Sediments
- Coral Bleaching
- Cruise Ship Pollution
- Cyanobacteria
D
- Dam Removal in Coastal Watersheds
- Dead Zones
- Deflation
- Desalination
- Dispersants
- Domoic Acid and Sea Lions
- Downdrift
- Drugs in the Water
- Dry Weather Diversions
- Dry Weather Diversions in California - Diverted by Diversions?
- Dune
- Dune Profile
- Dune Restoration
- Dune Walkover
E
- Ebb Current
- Ebb Tidal Delta
- Economic Impact of Beaches
- Ecosystem Services Valuation
- Ecosystem-Based Management
- Entrainment
- Environment Effects Act 1978 (Victoria, Australia)
- Environmentally Friendly Surfboards
- Epidemiology Studies
- Erosion
- Erosion Hot Spots
- Erosion Response
- Erosion Watchspots
- Erosion and Coastal Management in Florida
- Erosion, Passive
- Estuary
- Eustatic Sea-Level Rise
F
G
G cont.
- Golf Courses: Friend or Foe?
- Gradient
- Graywater Systems
- Great Pacific Garbage Patch
- Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development
- Green Streets
- Groin
- Groundwater
- Grunion
- Gully
- Gyre
H
- Hands Across the Sand
- Hard Stabilization
- Harmful Algal Blooms
- Health Threats from Polluted Coastal Waters
- Healthy Soils
- High Water Line
- Historic Preservation and Surf Resources
- Hold On To Your Butt
- Hurricane Sandy - The Response
- Hurricanes
- Hydrography
- Hydromodification
I
- Illicit Connections and Illicit Discharges
- Impervious Surface
- Impingement
- Indirect Potable Reuse
- Infiltration Capacity
- Integrated Water Management
- International Surfing Day
- Intertidal Zone
- Isostatic
J
K
L
- LNG (Liquified Natural Gas)
- Lake
- Levee
- Littoral Cell
- Littoral Drift
- Littoral System
- Living Shorelines
- Longshore Current
- Longshore Sediment Transport
- Low Impact Surf Contests
M
- Making Waves
- Managed Retreat
- Mangroves
- Marine Debris
- Marine Layer
- Marine Life Protection Act (California)
- Marine Protected Areas
- Marine Resource Committees (Washington)
- Marine Spatial Planning
- Maritime Transport Pollution
- Mean Sea Level
- Meander
- Microbeads
- Microfibers
- Mitigation Through Surf Enhancement
- Montauk 8 - A Legal Perspective
N
- NEPA, CEQA, and EISs
- NPDES: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
- National Ocean Policy
- Neap Tide
- Nearshore
- Nodal Point
- Nonpoint Source Pollution
- Nor’easters
- Not the Answer
- Nurdle
O
- Oblique Wave Approach
- Ocean Acidification
- Ocean Currents
- Ocean Friendly Gardens
- Ocean Friendly Gardens Activist Toolkit
- Ocean Friendly Gardens Criteria
- Ocean Health Index
- Ocean Planning
- Ocean Preservation: A Historical Perspective
- Ocean Reports
- Offshore
- Offshore Oil Drilling
- Oil Pollution Act of 1990
- Once-through Cooling
- Opportunistic Beach Fill
- Overwash
P
- Peat
- Pelagic Zone
- Perigean
- Perigean Spring Tides
- Personal Watercraft
- Pet Waste
- Placement Loss
- Plastic Bags
- Plastic Bottles
- Plastic Pollution Facts and Figures
- Plunge Pool
- Pocket Beach
- Pollution Source Tracking
- Polystyrene
- Pratte's Reef
- Predictive Modeling for Beach Water Quality
- Pulp Mills
R
R cont.
- Ridge
- Riffle
- Rigs to Reefs
- Rill
- Rip Currents
- Riparian
- Riprap
- Rise Above Plastics
- River
- River mouth
- Riverbank
- Riverbed
- Rolling Easements
- Runnel
- Runoff
S
- Sand
- Sand Bags
- Sand Compatibility
- Sand Mining
- Sand Waves
- Sanitary Surveys
- Scarp
- Scarping
- Scour
- Sea
- Sea Breeze
- Sea Foam
- Sea Level Rise
- Seafloor Mining
- Seamounts
- Seawalls
- Seawalls/Photo Gallery
- Sediment
- Sediment Load
- Seismic Surveys
- Semi-Hard Stabilization
- Septic Systems
- Sewer Laterals
- Sewer Systems and Sewage Treatment
- Shadow Effect
- Sharks
- Sharks - White Sharks in California
- Sheetflow
- Shifting Baselines
- Shifting Baselines in the Surf
- Shoal
- Shoreline
- Shoreline Structures
- Single Use Plastics
- Slough
- Soft Stabilization
- Soil Carbon Sequestration & Storage
- Sort
- Spoil
- Spring Tide
- Staph Infections
- State of the Beach
- Storm Drain
- Storm Surge
- Stormwater
- Stream
- Stream Terrace
- Sunscreens and Skin Damage from Sun Exposure
- Surf Zone Water Quality
- Surfer Health Study
- Surferpedia
- Surfing Area Protection
- Surfing Etiquette
- Surfing is Not a Crime
- Surfonomics
- Swale
- Swash
- Swell
T
- TMDLs and Impaired Water Bodies
- Terminal Groin
- Texas Open Beaches Act
- Tidal Bore
- Tidal Inlet
- Tidal Prism
- Tidal range
- Tidepool
- Tides
- Tombolo
- Transpiration
- Tributary
- Tsunami
- Tsunami Marine Debris
U
V
W
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