South Africa: Setback for Giant West Coast Mine Project

The government has rejected an application by a controversial Australian mining company for a huge expansion of its existing Tormin heavy mineral sands mine near Koekenaap on the West Coast. Tormin has been in operation since October 2013, produces heavy sands minerals from the beach.

“The Shore Break,” A Movie From Riley Grunenwald

A gorgeous stretch of the Wild Coast is the object of a standoff between corrupt pro-mining forces interested in mining the local beach sand for titanium, and a South African coastal community. The drama is structured around two diametrically opposed protagonists. A film review by Variety.

Comments on Goleta Beach Project Coastal Development Permit

Open Letter from Dr. Orrin Pilkey, James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of Geology Duke University presented before the California Coastal Commission. The CCC will hold a hearing May 13th, 2015, in Santa Barbara. The issue is whether the Commission will order the unpermitted, environmentally-damaging rock seawall from the western side of the Goleta Beach County Park, to be removed.

St. Ninian’s Tombolo, Shetland, Scotland; By Norma Longo

Despite its icy temperatures, a Shetland beach has been named among the best places in the world to swim, alongside those in the Caribbean, Australia and the Mediterranean. This beach is St. Ninian’s Tombolo, a coastal feature that connects the southwest Shetland Mainland with St. Ninian’s Isle.

Finding Floating Forests

If you have ever walked along the California coast, you’ve likely had to navigate around clumps of seaweed. Before it was thrown up by the surf and left to dry on the beach, that seeming jetsam was part of a majestic underwater forest just offshore.