Which of California's beaches are the worst? Come get surprised!
The New York Times published a story this morning titled California Today: Surf, Sun and Bacteria which mostly seems like a rude and unnecessary east coast stone throw especially since there was no real new information inside.
Nearly half of California beaches earned grades of C to F during the wet weather, 12 percent more than the five-year average.
Sarah Sikich, Heal the Bay’s chief scientist, said solutions lie in programs known to mitigate runoff pollution such as increased urban green cover and projects to capture, clean and reuse storm water.
“It’s indicative of a water mismanagement issue in California,” she said. “If we were doing a better job of rethinking that runoff we could turn it from a nuisance into a resource.”
Blah blah blah. Am I right?
The fun part, though, comes when it is revealed which of California’s beaches are the worst according to Heal the Bay‘s annual report card. And guess which beaches were bad bad. Like the worst bad. Can you?
Wrong!
The worst worst is in Humboldt County!
Humboldt County’s Clam Beach, which is fed by two creeks, was named California’s most polluted beach by Heal the Bay.
The problem there has vexed local environmentalists who cite a panoply of possible causes: bird poop, campground toilets, old septic systems, livestock and more.
“There’s no shortage of theories,” said Jennifer Kalt, the director of Humboldt Baykeeper, an environmental group.
Bird poop, campground toilets, old septic systems, livestock and more! That’ll keep the crowds down, I bet. Which other beaches are in the bottom 10? Ladies and gentlemen without further ado I give you…
10) Salt Creek!
9) Mother’s in Marina del Rey!
8) Luffenholtz Beach in Humboldt!
7) Capitola!
6) Santa Monica pier!
5) La Jolla Cove!
4) Lakeshore park in San Mateo!
3) Cowell Beach!
2) San Clemente pier!
With Clam Beach, as previously noted, taking the top slot. I will say, it surprised me how many northern California beaches were shitty. Does that surprise you too?
Viva the San Clemente pier!
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…Lakeshore is inside of the San Francisco Bay….da fuq kind of list is this?
“Fake news “
More good news.. you think California beaches are pooey?? Check out the guy surfing a giant toilet-bore in India on a surfboard powered by a weedeater(jetsurf)!!!!! It’s on http://www.theinertia.com….. the wave looks like a roiling-eruption of diarrhea….A river in India! I bet my turds would crawl back into my ass if I tried to shit there…:BONUS : the smoky two-stroke motor on the “jetsurf” can’t possibly pollute the place since it is already so dag-nasty
“Local humboldt county environmentalists vexed??: think patchouli and white-dreadlock gel… the bad news:: California beaches are polluted from orange to hunboldt …..the good news ,, none of the top ten polluted are decent surf spots…. BONUS: 40 million people have to poop somewheres
But… did they test the Slater Wave Ranch park-pool-lake thing? Mr. Dump, It is not PC to test the water at Imperial Beach. Waste from Mexico, and there were tons of it this winter (143 Million Gallons of Raw Sewage Slowly Leak Into Tijuana River*), is granted a pass from environmentalists due to a protected class status. (This does not rank as high on the fake news list as some of the Beach Grit stuff, but well worth the effort).
*Link to Story: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/…
yeah, but rain= winter = NW swells and current pulling that junk their way, not ours.
Southern California Bight Counter Current. Catalina Eddy.
yeah, but that’s how far offshore? you jump in at Sloughs and I’ll wait for ya to get washed back to LJ.
La Jolla? nah, but maybe scrape my body off the Zuniga rocks during a good El Nino WSW swell. IB is still hosed after a good estuary blowout.
Tell us now, who granted that spill a pass? Environmentalists? Regulators? Scientists?
Something something something maybe that’s why Kolohe does so well in Brazil, etc…
The Cowell’s thing has been going on forever. It’s birds and other animals at the Santa Cruz wharf, next to Cowell’s. Dozens of people surf Cowell’s daily and don’t get sick. Meanwhile tons of SoCal beaches are closed after any decent rain, yet they’re off the list. The list is kind of stupid. Heal The Bay’s heart is in the right place but their head is in the clouds.
People that surf cowells on a daily basis are already sick….
I can’t wait for my maiden trip to Cali!
Lots more ag and cattle and sheep in NorCal than Soal. Their shit eventually gets into even the most pristine-looking of rivers.
Camped at Clam Beach once while passing through late at night. Woke up surrounded by homeless people who choose to shit in the dunes rather than use the facilities. Horrible.
How the fuck did Imperial Beach luck it’s way off this list?! Were these studies conducted mid-winter when the currents primarily run north-south? Are there too many variables at play to merit any of these findings? Me thinks so
You re-thinking how far out the border wall needs to go?
Yeah, that seems super weird. I would have thought that place would be pretty close to the top — though Cowells is famous for its bird shit situation.
I’m sure Serge Dedina could weigh in on this with some choice words. For anyone that’s interested, the Tijuana River runs through Ciudad Tijuana with a zillion ineffective “septic systems” and a terrible municipal treatment plant (that had some huge, probably intentional releases late last winter), crosses the border, filters through the estuary and discharges to the ocean a little south of Imperial Beach and the legendary break of Tijuana Sloughs. A bi-national treatment plant on the U.S. side can handle dry-weather flows with adequate treatment, but wet weather flows are a nightmare. I have personal experience assessing the stream invertebrates on the U.S. side (I’m an aquatic entomologist!) and I guarantee it’s the most polluted water body on the west coast north of Mexico.
…and there you have it. Tostiloco for president!
Kemm Nunn was just a blow n go. Never saw Baby Doll Wash. So many TJ teddy bears coming out of Goat Canyon during a good storm.
92154 for life (a past one and maybe a future one, if things don’t work out, I guess)!
Yeah. Same with OB rivermouth.
Yet Mission is one of the cleanest places in the county after a rain…
That’s because the jetty/current drags the SD River outflow south after it pours out of the rivermouth. And the Tourmaline river outflow goes out to shore before it gets to the MB area.
Oh I know the river situation in South County, I spent more than a decade getting familiar with the TJ River plume tracker and I test Hepatitis A positive. Musta been the river, because I swear I haven’t been licking no buttholes.
Covefe
Oh, and City of IB tickets you now if you go in when pooey! https://uploads.disquscdn.c…