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Vilano Beach begins North of St. Augustine Inlet and runs to South Ponte Vedra. There are large deposits of Coquina clam shells, the main ingredient in Coquina rock, the material used for the Spanish forts here. On the white sand areas there are black streaks of Titanium ore. Ponte Vedra was once home to a Titanium mining operation. The "red shell" has been a traditional place to test beach buggies and 4WD vehicles, it is easy to bury your wheels up to the hubs if you get off the hard pack.

Here is a video report on a Rhode Island 17 year-old who was rescued from an 6-8 foot hole he dug on the beach that filled with sand and collapsed in on him, burying him. The boys father was able to get his mouth and nose clear of sand so he could breathe, but rescuers took two and a half hours to free him from the sand. He was airlifted to a hospital "conscious and alert." . . . . (Watch Video)

MEXICO CITY – Surprised tourists found their little piece of Cancun beach paradise ringed by crime-scene tape and gun-toting sailors on Thursday. Environmental enforcement officers backed by Mexican navy personnel closed off hundreds of feet (dozens of meters) of powder-white coastline in front of a hotel accused of illegally accumulating sand on its beach. Mexico spent $19 million to replace Cancun beaches washed away by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. But much of the sand pumped from the sea floor has since washed away, leading some property owners to build breakwaters in a bid to retain sand. The practice often merely...

I was by Paddys at Misquamicut Beach, Rhode Island, it USED to be NON-state beach, no lifeguards anyways, I was 50 to 60 yards offshore, bobbing in the water, I am 6'4" so I need deep water to float 30 yards inland, 10 to 15 yards from the waterline, there was a sandbar, the waves were breaking over the sandbar, kicking up sand, making the water brownish lifeguard came over, blew his whistle for 2 or 3 minutes, I didn't know it was for me, I ignored it Some guy swam out to me, called me, I went in to...

Alaska Wildlife Troopers ran a widespread bust targeting illegal clam diggers on Kenai Peninsula beaches over Memorial Day weekend, citing at least 22 people for misconduct with mollusks. Unusually low tides, the holiday weekend and the irresistible lure of fresh clams drew hundreds of mud-diggers to Kenai Peninsula beaches over the three-day weekend. Soldotna wildlife trooper Sgt. Paul McConnell said the law was out in full force to watch. Violations included taking undersized or too many clams and clamming without a fishing license. "It was good timing as far as a three-day weekend, people kind of head down there anyway...

OC Family Grateful Editor: Saturday, April 25, 2009 was a beautiful day, and it was made even more wonderful by the outpouring of affection expressed toward Captain Robert S. Craig at his Beach Memorial Service. The Craig children and family appreciate all that was done to honor our “Pop,” a man so many in Ocean City have known and loved for so many years. The Beach Memorial was truly memorable and more special than we could have possibly imagined. We have many people to thank for their efforts in making it happen. We learned very quickly that organizing such an...

(At right) Flanked by friends and family members, a wreath is carried down the beach to be released into the ocean in memory of Craig, "founding father" of the Beach Patrol. Carrying the wreath is the current head of the organization, Capt. Butch Arbin, who is flanked by Craig's son, Robert Craig, and grandson, Christopher Craig. (Above) Sean Williams pushes a surf board, carrying the wreath and the ashes of Capt. Craig, toward a Coast Guard boat, which released the wreath farther from the shore.

News Release: April 8, 2009 Memorial Service planned to honor Captain Robert S. Craig Ocean City, MD – A memorial service for Captain Robert (Bob) S. Craig will be held 3 p.m. Saturday, April 25 on the beach at North Division Street. Captain Craig passed away on Saturday, March 28 at the age of 90. Captain Craig joined the Ocean City Beach Patrol in 1935 and served as its captain from 1946 until retiring in 1987. Captain Craig is credited with building the Ocean City Beach Patrol into the professional organization it is known as today. When Captain Craig turned...

(April 3, 2009) The man who not only epitomized the Ocean City Beach Patrol, but also built it into a serious and professional organization, passed away Saturday. When Capt. Robert (Bob) S. Craig turned 90 last July, a competition, dinner and slide show honored him for his 52 years as a town employee and member of the Beach Patrol. Thousands knew Craig from his years guiding the Beach Patrol and taking it from a small, relatively unskilled group of young men to a large group of highly skilled young men and women. Capt. Butch Arbin, the current head of the...

OCEAN CITY – Ocean City lost a treasured icon this week when Captain Robert S. Craig, who shepherded the Beach Patrol through decades of change and inspired his young charges for half a century passed away at the age of 90. Captain Craig, as he was known for decades not only by the thousands of lifeguards who worked with him and for him but also by the countless millions of local residents and visitors to the resort area, passed away last Saturday at the Coastal Hospice in Salisbury at the age of 90. A former schoolteacher and coach, Captain Craig...

This happened because I was looking at a picture of Australia from space and I said to myself, "What is that island off the coast from Adelaide?" Here's a map: So this island is Kangaroo Island, and it has a rock formation called Remarkable Rocks. I recommend a Google image search for them: if you include the name of the national park (Flinders Chase), you'll find quite a few. Below is one example This is probably the most photographed one:

I'm keeping things low key this weekend, my new meds make me groggy so I take pics between naps.

First picture comes from the link in the header. Others I found. Got inspired when I found an old National Geographic at the dentist's office. Click for larger size Speaking of NatGeo (half-size, click for full. Desktop download) Next two are the only size I could find; wow.

It's prime time and CNN's Ed Henry is standing on the white sand of Waikiki Beach, reporting live on President-elect Barack Obama's holiday vacation in Hawaii. With the volcanic mountain Diamond Head in the distance, Henry is flanked by palm trees, bikini-clad babes and surfer dudes...."No offense to the people of Crawford, Texas, but taking the presidential retreat from Crawford to Honolulu is change anyone can believe in," Henry says, borrowing a phrase from Obama's campaign.

SNIPPET: "The Indian beach resort of Goa, a major destination for Israeli backpackers and holidaymakers, is at risk of being struck by al-Qaida, a local politician warned over the weekend." SNIPPET: ""Today, Goa faces serious threat from terrorists and there were specific inputs that al-Qaida would target certain [tourist] installations in Goa. Goa has a coastline of 105 km., major sea ports and beaches," the state's chief secretary, J.P. Singh, wrote in a memo, according to Indian media." SNIPPET: "Dr. Ely Karmon, an expert on Islamist movements and terrorist organizations, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that Israelis should reconsider...

HUNTSVILLE, ONT. — ARTICLE SNIPPET: "On Friday, Aug. 8, a vehicle pulled into the Pow Wow parking lot and discharged six men, all dressed in what the locals would call "city clothes" - including dark slacks and leather-soled dress shoes. Without bothering to check with the office, they went down to the beach and began taking photographs of each other, each time with Deerhurst - including the cupola that rides over the main building - in the background." ARTICLE SNIPPET: "These six English-speaking men appeared to be of Middle-Eastern origin. But what really set them apart was their complete unfamiliarity...

Architecturally Awesome Sand Castles for Summer's End The best buildings sculpted from sand require the skills of an architect—sudden structural collapse is a significant risk—and the details depicted by some well-packed granules rival the most ornate towers and palaces you'd find on terra firma. Any of the examples here could be widely regarded as significant structures—if only they hadn't washed away hours after their completion. According to Ted Siebert's 1990 book, The Art of Sandcastling, "Seawater is an ideal bonding agent for a sand castle. As seawater in a sculpture evaporates, salt crystals remain, forming a thin crust over the...

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- A surfer in New Smyrna Beach was caught on tape kicking and paddling frantically after spotting a shark closing in on him a day after a boy was bitten in the same area. A TV news helicopter spotted the surfer paddling in the water unaware that a shark was nearby. Video showed the surfer eventually noticing the shark and then fleeing. He is seen kicking when the shark is near his feet. Just hours before the encounter, a 15- year-old was hospitalized after jumping on a shark. "It appears that he actually just put his...

<p>He said that police were called by four enraged Arabs who were sitting on the sand when Miss Palmer and fellow Briton Vince Acors began having sex in front of them on a sun lounger.</p>

Myrtle Beach officials: No more biker ralliesPosted on Wed, May. 28, 2008 MYRTLE BEACH — Furious and frustrated after the weekend shooting death of a 20-year-old Coastal Carolina University student, Myrtle Beach City Council members said Tuesday that they do not want motorcycle rallies in the city any more. A group of local ministers and a bike-rally event promoter spoke to the council at a morning workshop Tuesday and implored the city to help them "do something" about the behavior they witnessed during the past weekend. Other groups have complained to city officials in previous years after the Atlantic Beach...

Viking treasure found on Silloth beach By Sarah NewsteadLast updated 11:28, Thursday, 27 March 2008 TREASURE has been unearthed on a Silloth beach by a man out with a metal detector. Rare find: The silver Viking handle found at SillothCarlisle Coroners’ Court heard that a silver Viking jug handle discovered at Beckfoot could be over 2,000 years old. The court heard the handle, dating back from between the first and fourth centuries by the British Museum, is made mainly from silver and is in the form of a stylised snake’s head. North and West Cumbria Coroner, John Taylor, ruled yesterday...

I hesitate to tell this story because it is so terrifying it makes me shiver. Maureen and I were involved in a rescue incident yesterday. It was a gorgeous day, bright and clear, so we decided take the bike out for little spin along the beach. When we arrived at Jones Beach (Field 6) it was about time for our afternoon coffee. We parked the bike and went to the snack shop. Sitting out under the bright blue sky, with the surf pounding and the wind blowing through my scalp we sort of lost ourselves in the beauty of the...

Several beaches along the Jersey Shore were closed Sunday after medical waste and other trash started washing ashore, authorities said. The source of the waste _ which beachgoers said included syringes, tampon applicators, gauze and other debris _ was not immediately known, and there were no reports of injuries. Most of the waste was found on beaches and in the waters off Monmouth and Ocean counties, authorities said.

No Men Allowed: All-Female Beach Opens Sandy, Man-Free Coastline Stretches for 50 Miles on Italian Adriatic Coast On the Italian Adriatic coast, where romance reigns and beachcombers bask in the sun, the notorious Latin lover looks for his prey and he hunts his conquest with chat-up lines. The women are fed up. "We run away from Italian men," said Tiziana Andreoletti. "They're such a drag." And it happens all the time. Boy meets girl and boy annoys girl. So, the Italians have enacted an interesting solution to this problem. They have created a beach strictly for women. No men, children...

FOR Hein Severloh the ‘Longest Day’ meant nine hours constantly machine-gunning American soldiers as they attempted to land on Omaha Beach. One image still brings tears to his eyes. A young American had run from his landing craft and sought cover behind a concrete block. Severloh, then a young lance-corporal in the German army in Normandy, aimed his rifle at the GI. He fired and hit the enemy square in the forehead. The American’s helmet flew away and rolled into the sea, his chin sank to his chest and he collapsed dead on the beach. Tormented by the memory, Severloh...

<p>Arch Cape, Oregon) – The mysterious chunks of wood have shown up periodically over the last few decades, sticking out of the sand like doomed creatures trying to make their last, desperate escape from a dreadful fate beneath the rest of the world. They make momentary impressions on passersby, who have no clue to the real meaning of these muted witnesses to an age practically before Mankind. They are unintentional memorials to the grandiose forest that once stood here, now reduced to twisted, tortured shapes that scream silently from another epoch.</p>

Virginia Beach ripped as 'sanctuary' for illegalsApril 16, 2007 VIRGINIA BEACH (AP) -- The deaths of two teenagers whose car was hit by an illegal alien from Mexico has prompted some to portray Virginia Beach as a "sanctuary city" in which officials are lax in enforcing immigration laws. Alfredo Ramos has been charged with aggravated involuntary manslaughter in the March 30 deaths of Alison Kunhardt, 17, and Tessa Tranchant, 16. A car driven by Mr. Ramos slammed into the back of the teenagers' vehicle at a stoplight in Virginia Beach. Mr. Ramos had been convicted of three alcohol-related misdemeanor offenses...

Click to see larger. I can't grab images from this site, but there a lots of pictures here of the Stromboli effusive eruption (rather than the normal pattern of summit explosions): Stromboli's new lava flow in Feb./March 2007

Bones found near Indian BeachBuilders unearth remains, but excavation of site is unlikely By LATISHA R. GRAY 3-10-2007 latisha.gray@heraldtribune.comSTAFF PHOTO / DAN WAGNER Construction was halted on this waterfront property in Sarasota after human remains were found. SARASOTA -- The remains of what appears to be an American Indian have at least one local archeologist both excited and dismayed. Palmetto archaeologist Bill Burger said the rib, femur and vertebrae unearthed this month by construction workers building a luxury home along the bayfront could offer clues of a tribe from long gone. But it is impossible to determine just what else...

When a Sunrise family was pondering a four-night trip to Orlando in November, their travel agent at World Wide Cruises in Fort Lauderdale steered them to an appealing alternative: a seven-night Caribbean Princess cruise for less. Residential real estate isn't the only buyers' market these days: Prices for Caribbean cruises have seldom looked so good. A four-night stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge with park passes for two adults and two children added up to $2,519, compared with $2,389 for the cruise, World Wide said. Even newer ships such as Royal Caribbean International's ballyhooed Freedom of the Seas, which debuted last...

Beach hunt for lost Jacobite gold The gold was intended for Bonnie Prince Charlie Archaeologists hope to find missing French gold sent to Scotland to help fund a Jacobite Rebellion buried under a remote Highland beach. A portion of the money was believed to have been hidden at Arisaig, near Mallaig, in the 1700s. Neil Oliver is leading the hunt for the gold for a new BBC Two series called History Detectives. The money did not arrive in Scotland until after the Jacobites' defeat at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. It was intended to finance Charles Edward Stuart...

Elham Ghalia, 17, who lost her family in Gaza beachfront incident, discharged from Israeli hospital. Israel doesn't admit responsibility for shooting, but Palestinian Authority also refuses to finance rehabilitation Meital Yasur-Beit Or Published: 01.18.07, 21:44 Who is responsible for the fate and health of Elham Ghalia? The 17-year-old girl was wounded more than a year and-a-half ago in the Gaza beachfront bombing , and was discharged Thursday from Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Israel. But she doesn't have the possibility of going to rehabilitation as her doctors recommended. The Palestinians claimed that the Ghalia family was injured by an IDF...

Australia's first Muslim life savers are due to qualify this week as part of a drive to represent more accurately the country's multi-cultural mix. The bronzed, blond life saver has been the embodiment of beach culture for a century and ranks alongside the bushranger and jackaroo as a quintessential Australian icon. [...] The campaign to recruit Australians of Middle Eastern heritage has been funded by a A$600,000 (£242,000) grant from the federal government. It is an attempt torebuild community relations after the Cronulla riots of December 2005, when gangs of white and Middle Eastern youths clashed, smashing car windows and...

'To my sons, £7m of Sardinian coast: to my daughters, a shack in the hills' By Malcolm Moore in Capo Spartivento, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 11:44pm GMT 30/12/2006 In the bay of Jews, on the southernmost tip of Sardinia, the water is azure, the sand is white, and a colony of flamingos wades in the shallows. Even in December, the temperature is a balmy 17 degrees and the sea is calm, sheltered from wind by the surrounding mountains. From the beach to the mountains, the land belongs to Pietrino Culurgioni, 90. A hotel that he built offers sweeping sea views,...

LONG BEACH - Several suspects including at least three men who savagely beat three young women in a horrific hate crime attack Halloween night remained at large Friday. The three victims - two of whom are 19 and the third 21 - agreed to sit down with a Press-Telegram reporter and discuss the painful attack in the hope that someone who knows the culprits will turn them in to police. The young women asked to be identified by only their first names of Laura, Michelle and Lauren because they and their families fear for their safety. The assault, they said,...

The pink plastic flamingo, a Florida-inspired icon that has been reviled as kitschy bad taste and revered as retro cool, is dead at age 49. The pop culture symbol met its demise after its manufacturer, Union Products, of Leominster, Mass., was socked with a triple economic threat -- increases in costs of electricity and plastic resin combined with loss of financing. Production ended in June, and the plant is scheduled to close Nov. 1, according to president and CEO Dennis Plante. Union Products made 250,000 of its patented plastic pink flamingos a year in addition to other garden products.

Sydney warned more beach riots are likely Phil Mercer in Sydney Sunday October 1, 2006 The Observer (UK) Australia's biggest city is bracing itself for more racial violence on its beaches this Christmas. Sydney witnessed a wave of unrest at the seaside suburb of Cronulla last December when 5,000 people - most of them young white men - gathered at the beach to protest at alleged intimidation by Lebanese gangs. The demonstration quickly degenerated into drunken violence, and anyone of Mediterranean or Arabic appearance was forced to hide in hotels or restaurants. The following day groups of men from Middle...

WOODWAY, WASH. - It happens in a flash as the afternoon Sounder trains carry commuters north from the city to Everett - a glance at an otherwise secluded beach frequented by mostly gay men who take it all off. "Every day we look outside the train and count how many are there in their birthday suits," said Sarah Thompson of Edmonds, a project manager. "It's a plus for riding the train. It's an added bonus. It's the entertainment factor for the Sounder." The beach below a bluff in this peaceful suburb, which bills itself as "The Quiet Place," has been...

Something horrifying is happening in the waters off Brazil. Sharks are attacking surfers near the city of Recife at an unprecedented rate, scaring the locals and forcing the government to ban the sport at one of it’s most popular beaches. Over the past decade, 45 people have been attacked by bull sharks in the region, 16 were deadly. And while these attacks are not unheard of, the fact the port city had recorded only one in the 75 years prior, is perplexing. Are the sharks rebelling? Have they had enough of people overcrowding their home? Or is there something less...

DAVENPORT, Calif. - The state acquired five miles of beaches and rugged coastline in Santa Cruz County on Friday, bringing public ownership to one of the longest stretches of private beachfront property in Northern California. The state Public Works Board voted to accept 407 beachfront acres of Coast Dairies Ranch, which consists of 6,845 acres of redwood forests, artichoke fields and rolling hills northwest of Santa Cruz. The beaches, including Panther Beach, Bonny Doon Beach and Davenport Bluffs, will become part of a new state park that will be opened to the public and patrolled by rangers over the next...

San Juan, Jul 4 (EFE).- Four men who fired off guns on a beach in southern Puerto Rico were killed by an angry father who mistakenly thought his daughter had been struck by one of their shots, police said Tuesday. Ernesto Albarran, 19; Cristian Flores, 21; Armando Castro, 25, and his brother Angel, 20, fired shots Monday night on La Jungla beach in the town of Guanica, according to the preliminary investigation. Adan Torres Quiñones noticed the gunplay and thought his daughter had been hit when he saw her throw herself on the sand to dodge the bullets. Enraged, he...

Russian Akula sub near a beach in Severodvinsk

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch accused an Israeli army investigation on Wednesday of ignoring evidence that challenges its decision to clear the military of blame for a blast that killed seven Palestinians on a Gaza beach. The deaths on June 9, a day of heavy Israeli shelling designed to stop militants firing rockets from Gaza, drew international condemnation and prompted the ruling Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to call off a 16-month-old truce. Major-General Meir Califi, who led the army investigation, dismissed the accusations by the U.S.-based rights watchdog, which has carried out its own inquiry into the explosion that...

While sticking to its demand for the establishment of an independent inquiry into a blast on a Gaza beach 10 days ago that killed seven Palestinian civilians, the Human Rights Watch conceded Monday night for the first time since the incident that it could not contradict the IDF's exonerating findings. On Monday, Maj.-Gen. Meir Klifi - head of the IDF inquiry commission that cleared the IDF of responsibility for the blast - met with Marc Garlasco, a military expert from the HRW who had last week claimed that the blast was caused by an IDF artillery shell. Following the three-hour...

The IDF probe investigating the deaths of seven Palestinian civilians from an explosion on a beach in Gaza on Friday evening concluded that chances were slim that the accident was caused by IDF shelling. According to Channel 2, the findings, expected to be formally released on Tuesday, showed an inconsistency between the shrapnel found in the body of one of the wounded babies and the metal used in IDF artillery. Moreover, the investigation noted the absence of a crater at the site of the explosion, as would be expected if an IDF shell had landed there. The third observation casting...

As the IDF continued its investigation into the cause of the explosion that killed seven Palestinians on a Gaza beach on Friday, with the initial assumption being that an errant artillery shell was to blame, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Saturday night that it was possible the blast was an "internal Palestinian incident." IDF officers said that an "internal Palestinian incident" referred to the possibility that terrorists had fired a Kassam rocket which went off target and hit the crowded Gaza beach between Sudaniya and Beit Lahiya. Still, although Israel had yet to take responsibility for the incident as of...

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - State and local wildlife experts are trying to figure out what led more than a thousand flounder, spot and pin fish to beach themselves at the Marine Corps' New River air base — and then swim away. They believe it may be related to a popular phenomenon known in coastal Alabama as "jubilee." The fish surfaced in shallow water Friday morning. They were lethargic, but alive. "It's kind of strange," said Mike Sanderford, New River Riverkeeper. "It's a bunch of fish up here, but they're not dead. They're almost docile." When he arrived, Sanderford said, the fish...

Council bans Australian flag January 02, 2006 PLANS to fly Australian flags over the famous Bondi Beach pavilion were vetoed because of fears the symbols could incite more racial violence on Sydney's beaches. In a decision met with outrage from locals, returned servicemen and ethnic groups, Waverley Council voted 6-5 against the proposal, declaring the popular beach should remain clear of flags to "remove provocation"...

Nationalists boast of their role on the beach The Patriotic Youth League's Luke Connors predicts more riots. WHITE nationalist groups involved in the Cronulla riots have predicted further racial violence, naming the Melbourne suburbs of Heidelberg, Preston, Reservoir and Springvale as potential "hot spots". The Patriotic Youth League, whose members handed out "Aussies Fighting Back" pamphlets at Cronulla, said it had been inundated with callers wanting to riot in Melbourne. "If it wasn't for the massive police presence there already, and the fact that it's mainly confined to a peninsula, we really could have had a Paris situation on our...

After weeks of tension, attack on two lifeguards by Lebanese youths triggers race riot TENSIONS between young white gangs and youths of mainly Middle Eastern origin erupted on one of Australia’s most popular beaches yesterday in what police condemned as a racially motivated rally driven by a mob mentality. Thousands of people, many chanting racial slurs, were engaged in running battles on Cronulla Beach in Sydney’s southern suburbs. At least 13 people were hurt, including five police, and 12 were arrested during the clashes, which followed a week of mounting anger over an attack on two lifeguards who were beaten...