A day may be sunny and the water beautiful, but high surf and/or strong currents can create a dangerous time to go into the Gulf of Mexico. When you visit the beach, you don’t want to take unnecessary risks. Yes, playing in those big waves can be fun, but be aware of the warnings. Take a few moments to learn about each color of the flag warning system. A yellow flag indicates a medium hazard. Proceed, but with caution. A [...]
If you’re out and about on the beach, you may run into someone who shares the rules of the beach. Don’t be alarmed. There’s a good chance you are meeting a member of the city’s beach patrol. Lisa Graham of Orange Beach has been involved with the Leave Only Footprints beach patrol program since its inception in July 2015. She had patrolled the beach for 15 years as a Share The Beach sea turtle volunteer, and in that capacity she witnessed local [...]
When you get to the Alabama coast, you want to get out to the beach as quickly as possible. We understand that. One of the things you can do to make your trip smoother and more enjoyable is to leave the beach chairs and umbrellas at home. They just take up a lot of room in your vehicle. When you get to the beach, use a service such as Ike’s or Perdido Beach Services. You can rent chairs, umbrellas, and even kayaks [...]
Visitors to the Alabama coast love to watch dolphins and other marine life in the wild. It is truly an amazing, breathtaking sight to experience. Often, dolphins can be admired from the beach. But when we venture out on a boat, we humans can be too much for them. When we approach wild dolphins too closely, move too fast or make too much noise, we risk disturbing their natural behaviors such as migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding and sheltering. No [...]
Are you a beachcomber? Are you always on the lookout for a unique shell, sand dollar or piece of driftwood? There is some cool stuff along our beaches, no doubt about it. But just how do you protect and preserve those little treasures you pick up on your morning walk? Glad you asked! The first step is to keep them clean. Soak a sand dollar in fresh water and change the water frequently until it stays clear. Then soak the [...]
Do you enjoy watching wildlife? Do you carry binoculars in your car and keep a notebook of the birds you see along the way? The Alabama Coastal Birding Trail offers avid birdwatchers the opportunity to view an abundance of birds, including those pelicans that fly in formation over the water and the great blue herons that feed at the water’s edge. Starting in northern Baldwin County, the trail includes the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta Loop where birders may spot yellow-crowned night herons, [...]
Did you know there is really no such thing as a seagull? Sounds crazy, right? We have all seen them at the beach. And even the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a seagull as a “gull frequenting the sea.” But technically, those birds you see can encompass a range of species - at least 28 types in North America. In birding circles, they are just referred to as “gulls,” part of the species family Laridae. The ones we often catch sight of [...]
There are few things as relaxing as flying a kite. And a kite is a common sight on the beautiful Alabama beaches. March and April provide ideal wind conditions for this activity that entertains kids of all ages. (And by that, we mean adults, too!) Kite-flying equipment is pretty simple. You need a kite with a tail, some string, and a handle. That’s pretty much it - you are good to go! First thing you need to do is make [...]
Restoring sugary-white sand dunes that cover the equivalent of 50 football fields is part of a $135 million project announced in July 2016 for Gulf State Park. Several internationally renowned experts collaborated on developing the environmentally sensitive projects at the park. The state will use 2010 oil spill funds from BP - not taxes - for the project. Part of the restoration project requires creating openings in the existing berm so sand dunes can form naturally. Other strategies include the [...]
If you have visited our Alabama Gulf Coast, you have most likely seen a great blue heron, a wading bird that stands as tall as four feet and has a wingspan of nearly six feet. They are loners, so it’s not unusual to see a solitary, thin silhouette of one close to the shoreline at sunrise or sunset. No doubt about it: Herons are built to catch fish. Those stately, majestic, great blue herons stand perfectly still while stalking their [...]
