Beach Pollution Is Worst During New And Full Moon

[Desertrose]

I never thought of this...pretty interesting.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050802064144.htm

Beach Pollution Is Worst During New And Full Moon

A new study of 60 beaches in Southern California suggests that water pollution varies with the lunar cycle, reaching the highest levels when tides are ebbing during the new and full moon. The findings could help beachgoers and managers better assess the potential risk of swimming.


The report appears in the Aug. 1 issue of the American Chemical Society's journal Environmental Science & Technology. ACS is the world's largest scientific society.

Coastal water quality is controlled by a number of complex physical and biological factors, including tidal cycles and seasonal rainfall. This complexity makes beach water monitoring difficult, with levels of bacteria in a certain area changing in just a few minutes.

For the new study, the researchers examined monitoring data compiled for beaches throughout Southern California, keeping track of tidal patterns and analyzing them for concentrations of enterococci -- bacteria that allow scientists to estimate the risk of illness from swimming in marine waters. "This is the largest array of beaches examined at the same time for a similar pattern," says Alexandria Boehm, Ph.D., an environmental engineer at Stanford University and lead author of the study.


snip

The results are of immediate practical use to swimmers and beach managers alike, according to Boehm. "The general public can use the phase of the moon and the tide stage to assess the relative risk of illness," she says. "It is riskier to swim during spring-ebb tides compared to all other tidal conditions."

more at link


Original link:
http://acswebapplications.acs.org/applications/ccs/application/index.cfm?PressReleaseID=2511&categoryid=2

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Celebration]

2. Moon Phases

I like the practical aspect of this. I rarely think about or know the moon phases unless I happen to see a full or new moon outside. Someone gave me an atomic clock with the moon phases on it and I just checked it. Unfortunately I am more in the middle of the country and can't use this good information for beach swimming. If anyone sees anything about moon phases having to do with bacteria in rivers let me know (yes I occasionally swim in rivers). Rivers aren't affected much by tidal forces though, so I think this may only help me with vacation planning. Anyone try to correlate this with shark attacks?

[Desertrose]

4. don't know about shark attacks....that would be interesting...

it is an esy way to be aware of the pollution levels...if you look at the moon that is.


Polluted Beach Closures Influenced By Full Moons And Sunlight, Surfer-Engineer Discovers

"But a recent study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) is raising questions about the reliability of water monitoring programs now in use at most U.S. beaches. The study also has uncovered a surprisingly strong correlation between beach pollution and the forces of nature - including rainfall, sunlight and the gravitational pull of the moon.

Rain, tides and sunlight

Nature also plays an important role in determining beach quality. The ES&T study revealed that, on average, bacterial levels at Huntington Beach were three times higher in the rainy months of January, February and March than during the dry summer months of June, July and August when beach use is at its peak. The apparent cause of this seasonal disparity is sewer system failures and stormwater runoff that occur during heavy winter rains.

More surprising was the discovery of a direct relationship between beach contamination and the lunar cycle. Tides on Earth are determined by the gravitational pull of the moon, and the range between high and low tides is greatest during full and new moons. At the other extreme, tidal range is minimal during neap tides, which occur in the first and third quarters of the moon.

''In our study, we found that, at certain locations, water quality was worse during full and new moons than during neap tides,'' Boehm explained. ''I'm currently trying to see if there is some oceanographic pattern that can account for it. Perhaps polluted ground water is pumped into the surf zone during full and new moons when the tide range is bigger.''

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021113071715.htm

[Lefty48197]

3. I KNEW it!

The moon causes water pollution, just like the trees cause air pollution. I KNEW IT!

[beam me up scottie]

5. ROFLMAO!

:rofl:

[Desertrose]

6. this is your conclusion after reading the article or just the headline?

...doubt the ACS would agree with your assessment of their study.




Maybe you should read the whole thing a bit slower....then you can take in the actual facts before posting. Just a thought. :)

[arwalden]

10. Oh, Lighten Up... Laugh A Little Bit!

Lefty was just joking around... I thought it was funny.

[Beetwasher]

7. Makes Sense If You Think About It Actually

"Because we found tidal signals in enterococci densities at beaches with no obvious point source, like storm drains and creeks, this suggests that there is a widespread tidally forced source of enterococci at beaches."

Tide goes out, less water near the shore, bacterial densities near the shore increase. The bacteria probably aggregate in the shallow waters near the shore, so they would stay near the shore when the tide goes out, thus, the density increases.

[arwalden]

8. Why Was The Headline Focused On The MOON Rather Than The TIDE?

Am I missing something? Am I being too suspicious?

[Beetwasher]

9. Bad Headline?

Yeah, I noticed that too...Though I guess that since the moon phase correlates w/ the tidal phase, the moon phase is the most notable, immediate and apparent signal that there will be a either more or less bacteria (and/or pollution) near the shore (at least according to these data).