Safety and enjoyment of Florida's public beaches

The red flag - captured at the Space Coast, FL

The safety and enjoyment of Florida’s public beaches 

are affected by changes in tide and surf conditions. To minimize the risks of drowning or serious injury, the Florida Coastal Management Program worked with the Florida Beach Patrol Chiefs Association, the United States Lifesaving Association (USLA), and the International Life Saving Federation to develop a uniform warning flag program for use by Florida’s beachfront communities.

Florida’s uniform Beach Warning Flags come in four colors, 

red, yellow, green and purple, plus a second red
imprinted with a Do-Not Swim Logo. The flags are accompanied by interpretive signs that explain the meaning of each color. While beach warning flags provide general warnings of overall surf conditions, they do not specifically advise the public of the presence of rip currents.

Why does Florida need a uniform warning flag system?
Many residents and visitors travel to different parts of the state to enjoy Florida's wonderful public beaches, and many beach communitiespost warning flags. Differences in flag colors, sizes and symbols from location-to location can confuse beach visitors and decrease the effectiveness of community efforts to improve public safety.

Beach Warning Flags are 29.25" high x 39" wide.
 

The Beach Warning Flag Interpretive Signs explain the meaning of each flag 

used in the warning program:

*   Red Flags with a “Do Not Swim” Logo: Water Closed to Public

*   Solid Red Flags: High Hazard- High Surf and/or Strong Currents

*   Yellow Flags: Medium Hazard - Moderate Surf and/or Currents

*   Green Flags: Low Hazard - Calm Conditions, Exercise Caution

*   Purple Flags: Dangerous Marine Life

To read more about currents, click this link

Hi my friends,

today a little bit of education about "rip currents" at the beaches in Florida. 

If you like to learn more, just Google this words and you'll get a lot of interesting articles and pages to read. 

It's always good to be informed well about the danger of the ocean.

The photo shows the flag on one of those dangerous rip current beaches in FL.

Thank you very much for your kind comments to my "Wordless Sunday" post yesterday.

I'm happy you liked it!

I wish you a good start in this coming new week - make it to one of your best!

~Susanne

And don't forget: I'm selling my photography too, here:

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My European Fans buy my photography here:

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Quality Time Together

To spend some quality time together at the beach - or somewhere else - is necessary for a healthy relationship!

Hi my friends,

thank you for the kind comments from yesterday to my "Spider Lilly" flower. I got a lot of nice comments, a lot of visitors and one person also sent to me the following message on facebook:

Vickie wrote:
"Care of Wikipedia:  Hymenocallis (pronounced /ˌhaɪmɨnəˈkælɪs/)[1] is a genus of plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. It contains 63 species native to tropical and subtropical America. Hymenocallis are bulbous perennial herbs. The flowers have their stamens united to a characteristic corona. Hymenocallis means "beautiful membrane" in Greek, which refers to the staminal corona that connects the stalks of the stamens for a portion of their length. The plants have large spectacular flowers. Some of the species are known as varieties of "spider lilies"."

 

Thank you so much, dear Vickie for telling me this, now I know the exact name of my Spider Lilly flower!

I'm learning everyday something new from my dear friends :)

It's great to have such nice friends - like YOU ALL!

Have a wonderful day - and don't forget to have some quality time today with your "better half"!

Susanne

ADD COLORS TO YOUR LIFE!

My Wordless Sunday - #30

Add colors to your life!

My Wordless Sunday #29

If your mind isn't clouded....

Ten thousand flowers in spring

the moon in autumn, 

a cool breeze in summer, 

snow in winter. 

If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, this are the best seasons of your life. 

~Wu-men~

 Hi my friends,

Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments to my wordless photo from yesterday. I do very much appreciate your compliments.

It's Monday, anew week in front of you. I wish it will be a good one for all of us!

Susanne

Buy my photography printed, framed or stretched on Canvas here:

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My European Fans buy my photography here:

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A Peek at the Shore

A peek at the shore on a pretty sunny day - Space Coast beaches in Florida.

Hi my friends,

Thank you all for your visits yesterday to my blog and for all the wonderful comments! You all made my day. So, stay tuned and see you tomorrow again here, at the same spot, and the same time? :))

Susanne

Buy my photography printed, framed or stretched on Canvas here

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My European Fans buy my photography here:

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Beach Fun

Lifeguard is always on duty on a crowded beach - captured in Jetty Park, Cape Canaveral

Everyone of us is some when a beginner with something. Learning to surf is hard. I watched this guy very long, he was never giving up to give it another try over and over again. I'm sure, one day he will master riding his board perfectly.

Kids always have fun - also in small waves :)

Hi my friends,

Sitting at the beach is fun, that's what I like to do: watching all the life going on around me, listen to the waves, to the screaming sea gulls, watching the pelicans flying over my head and to realize how fast time is going by. To feel the warm breeze on my skin is paradise for me - not just for me, I know, all of us love that!

Thank you so much for all the kind comments here and over there on facebook. 

It makes me happy when I see that you like my photography :)

Have a nice weekend!

Susanne

ADD COLORS TO YOUR LIFE

My European Fans buy my photography here

My last post for some days

Sunglasses needed in paradise!

Hi my friends,

Stay tuned with me....don't go away - I'll be back.
Moving is a lot of work to do and I'll have no time anymore to sit in front of the computer. I know you'll understand. See you again in some days - we will have the Internet connection back again soon.

Thank you for all your kind comments and compliments from yesterday.

Susanne

Yes, all of my photography is available to buy in my Online-Shop! 
Make someone happy - and me too! :))

Seagrape or Coccoloba uvifera

Coccoloba uvifera 

is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae, that is native to coastalbeaches throughout tropical America and the Caribbean, including southern Florida, the Bahamas, Barbados and Bermuda. Common names include Seagrape and Baygrape. It is a sprawling evergreen shrub or small tree that reaches a maximum height of 8 m (26 ft), but most specimens are little more than 2 m (6.6 ft) tall. It has large, round, leathery leaves (up to 25 cm/9.8 in in diameter) with a primary vein that has a red color extending from the base, and the entire leaf turns red as it ages. The bark is smooth and yellowish. In late summer it bears green fruit that gradually turns orange, to red, until there is a purplish fruit, about 2 cm (0.79 in) diameter, in large grape-like clusters. The fruit also contains a large pit that takes up most of the fruit.

 Abstract leaf of a sea grape

Hi my friends,

Thank you all for visiting my blog. Yesterday was no post there, I know. 

I just don't felt like posting anything and that happen sometimes to me too :))

I wish you a nice weekend full with sunshine and fun for you!

Tomorrow, there will be my "Wordless Sunday" again - come back and see it and comment. Every single comment makes my day. 

Yep, you can make me happy with little things in life...*smile*...

Susanne

Have a look also to my online photography shop and if you see there something, buy something - you'll make my day. Pep up those gray walls at home - or in your office. Add some colors to your life!

Life is Different at the Beach

"At the beach, life is different. Time doesn't move hour to hour but mood to moment. 

We live by the currents, plan by the tides and follow the sun."

~Unknown~ 

Hi my friends,

this is a picture I've made a day ago on the beach at Coconut Point, FL. It was a perfect day!

This photo is available to buy also - add colors to your life! 

Surf my gallery "Beaches"...o.k.?

With a purchase you'll make my day - THANK you so much! :)

Thank you also for all the kind comments to my post from yesterday. 

Tomorrow is my "Wordless Sunday" again, come back to see it.

Susanne

Turquoise Water and the hot Sunshine on your Skin

Way to the beach at Coconut Point, Florida

Hi my friends,

Yesterday, it was just to nice weather for sitting in the house in front of the computer all day long!

We went out to the beach, took a walk and I took some photos, of course....what else...LOL...

The Atlantic Ocean had such pretty blue-turquoise colors, almost like down in the Keys. There were not many people at the beach anymore, some families, one dog and some who tried to fish. It was really peaceful to watch the rolling waves coming to the shores and to listen to the screaming shore birds and to see all the sailing Pelicans over our heads.

I'll show you some photos in the next days about and I hope not to bore you with :)

Have a wonderful day, enjoy life!

Susanne

Pep up those gray walls in your house or in the office, buy some art work from me.

Thanks in advance and surf my shop and have a look - if you like something, buy it, you'll make my day too.

I have always loved the Beach

“I have always loved the beach. The smell of the salty water, the wind in my face, the gentle roar of the waves all combine to create a sense of peace and calm.”

~Anonymous~ 

 Hi my friends,

almost unbelievable, it's Friday and weekend is around the corner - again! 

It seems for me that's Friday all the time...*smile*...

Have a wonderful Friday and many thanks for the comments.

Susanne

Add some color to your life!

Stormy clouds over the beach

Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.
~ Robert H. Schuller ~




Hi my friends,
thanks for all your nice comments, 

with your words you make my day - every day!


We went yesterday down to the beach and this is what we get to see: a storm approaching with dark hanging clouds over the beach. The last people there finally packed down their tent, getting ready to leave. Some minutes later big rain drops were falling on our heads. I love scenes like that!
Have a wonderful day!
Susanne

Buy my photography printed, framed or stretched on Canvas here

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The three great elemental sounds in nature...

The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.
Henry Beston  

Hi my friends,

Thank you so much for ALL the wonderful comments and compliments to my post from yesterday! This photos above was made on the same spot at Cocoa Beach - but with a sight to the right side, where it was not that crowded at all. People here enjoyed more the silence, they preferred not to sit in a crowd of tourists.

I have something great to share with you and something what I'm very proud of it: 

I got an announcement this morning that my blog was chosen to be on the list of 

the 47 best photo blogs on the web. 

How exciting is that? I love messages like this - It makes my and my THANK YOU goes  out to those people who have chosen me. :)

Go have a look and read more about here! 

Have a wonderful day too!

Susanne

***

If you like to buy my photography printed, framed or stretched on Canvas - have a look to my websites   http://tinyurl.com/yatdh5x  http://susanne49.mygall.net

A Visit in New Smyrna Beach, Florida

The beach in New Smyrna Beach - park your car right on the beach

The beach where people are driving their cars out on the sandy beach

View trough the fence

The perfect match: an old Studebaker car and the typical old beach town Motel, 

say "Hello" to Nostalgia.

History about New Smyrna Beach

The area was settled in 1768, when Scottish physician Dr. Andrew Turnbull established the colony of "New Smyrna." The colony occupies a notable place in history by being the single largest attempt by a member of the British Crown at colonization in the New World. Turnbull transplanted around 1500 settlers, from Minorca, Majorca, Ibiza, Smyrna, Crete, Mani Peninsula, and Sicily, to grow hemp, sugarcane, indigo, and to produce rum.

The colony suffered major losses due to insect-borne diseases and Native American raids; and tensions grew due to mistreatment by Turnbull. Due to these complications, the remaining colonists marched north to St. Augustine along the Old King's Highway, to claim mistreatment by Turnbull to the Governor of Florida in St. Augustine in 1777; then a British protectorate..

Soon after, St. Augustine was returned to the Spanish, and Turnbull abandoned his colony for life in Charleston, South Carolina.

The St. Photios National Shrine on St. John's Street in St. Augustine, Florida, honors the settlers of New Smyrna, who were the first Greek Orthodox followers in North America. The historical exhibit adjoining the Chapel tells the moving story of their plight in great detail, with accompanying exhibits.


The area was then only sparsely populated due to the frequent raids by Seminole Indians. During the American Civil War in the 1860s the still-standing "Stone Wharf" was shelled by Union gunboats. In 1887, the Town of New Smyrna was incorporated with a population of 150. In 1892, the arrival of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway lead to an increase in the area's population and a boom in its economy, which was based on tourism, citrus, and commercial fishing industries.

During prohibition in the 1920s the city and its river islands were popular sites for moonshine stills and hideouts for rumrunners coming in from the Bahamas through Mosquito Inlet, now Ponce de León Inlet. "New Smyrna" became "New Smyrna Beach" in 1947, when the city annexed the seaside community of Coronado Beach. Today, it is a bustling resort town of over 20,000 permanent residents, with over 1,000,000 visitors annually.

Like its Spanish partner to the north, St. Augustine, New Smyrna has stood under four flags: first the British, then the Spanish, then the American flag in 1845, followed by the Confederate Jack, and finally replaced the Stars and Stripes again.


Hi my friends,
we took a ride to New Smyrna Beach, located close to Daytona Beach - just for fun and to get out of the house for a little bit. It's wonderful warm now, it's really springtime also here. We have visited the beach with all that activities going on. A lot of younger people were there, it must be springbreak-time too.

I hope you'll enjoy the pictures and have a wonderful Friday. Weekend....yeah!
Susanne

Visit my website:

http://susanne-van-hulst.artistwebsites.com

Sea Star - Star of the Sea

Starfish - captured on the beach in Florida

Starfish or sea stars 

are echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. The names "starfish" and "sea star" essentially refer to members of the Class Asteroidea. However, common usage frequently finds "starfish" and "sea star" also applied to ophiuroids which are correctly referred to as "brittle stars" or "basket stars".

There are over 1800 species of living species of starfish that occur in all the world's oceans, including the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian as well as in the Arctic and the Southern Ocean (i.e., Antarctic) regions. Starfish occur across a broad depth range from the intertidal to abyssal depths (>6000 m).

Starfish are among the most familiar of marine animals and possess a number of widely known traits,such as regeneration and feeding on mussels. Starfish possess a wide diversity of body forms and feeding methods. The extent that Asteroidea can regenerate varies with individual species. Broadly speaking, starfish are opportunistic feeders, with several species having specialized feeding behavior, including suspension feeding and specialized predation on specific prey.

The Asteroidea occupy several important roles throughout ecology and biology. Sea stars, such as the Ochre star (Pisaster ochraceus) have become widely known as the example of the keystone species concept in ecology. The tropical Crown of Thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) are voracious predators of coral throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Other starfish, such as members of the Asterinidae are frequently used in developmental biology.

Hi my friends,

thank you again for your numerous visits to my "Hammock Feelings" photo. I'm glad you liked it that much - I very much appreciate all the comments.

See you soon, talk to you later...and come back visiting.

Susanne

Buy my photography printed, framed or stretched on Canvas here

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My Wordless Sunday in 2010 - #9

Among the Palms in Florida

Captured at the Space Coast in Florida

In Florida among the palms



Everybody sings of the sunny South

That's the song that clings to the singer's mouth

They ragtime it and boost the climate

Way up to the sky



I

Never cared a lot for the Swanee shore

There's another spot that I'm rooting for

I've been there and I must declare

It can't be praised too high



[Refrain:]

If I had my way, I'd always stay

In Florida among the palms

With its peaceful air of "I don't care"

And lazy atmosphere that calms

My one favorite haunt

Is a palm tree, and all I want

Is someone just to rest in my arms

I'd love to live among the bamboo huts, the coco nuts

There's something in the climate that charms

Heaven's corridor is sunny Florida

Home of the shelt'ring palms



[2nd verse:]

Florida was named very prettily

By the man who claimed its discovery

He spent hours among the flowers

And called it "God's Land"



And

Nature seems to sigh "it's my favorite"

That's the reason why Heaven gave her it

It was born from a diamond worn

Upon an Angel's hand





I hope you'll enjoy the picture - with the lyric.

Thanks for your visit, my friends.

Susanne









Buy my photography printed, framed or stretched on Canvas, here

In case of...

A tsunami (津波^?) (English pronunciation: /(t)suːˈnɑːmi/)

is a series of water waves (called a tsunami wave train) that is caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, such as an ocean. The original Japanese term literally translates as "harbor wave." Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in Japan; approximately 195 events have been recorded. Due to the immense volumes of water and energy involved, tsunamis can devastate coastal regions. Casualties can be high because the waves move faster than humans can run.

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (detonations of nuclear devices at sea), landslides and other mass movements, bolide impacts, and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami.

The Greek historian Thucydides was the first to relate tsunami to submarine earthquakes, but understanding of tsunami's nature remained slim until the 20th century and is the subject of ongoing research. Many early geological, geographical, and oceanographic texts refer to tsunamis as "seismic sea waves."

Some meteorological conditions, such as deep depressions that cause tropical cyclones, can generate a storm surge, called a meteotsunami, which can raise tides several meters above normal levels. The displacement comes from low atmospheric pressure within the center of the depression. As these storm surges reach shore, they may resemble (though are not) tsunamis, inundating vast areas of land. Such a storm surge inundated Burma (Myanmar) in May 2008.

Hi my friends,

today we are learning something about Tsunamis. I have photographed the sign above at one of the pretty beaches here at the Space Coast in Florida. I've discovered recently that sign and for seconds I had all those sad pictures in my mind we got to see on TV, when that catastrophically big Tsunami hit Myanmar in 2008. And I realized in seconds, that it can happen here the same too, anytime. We hope and pray it will never happen!

Thank you my friends for all your wonderful comments to my "Wordless Sunday" yesterday, and for all comments ever. I'm happy you like my photos.

I wish you a wonderful day and as we say here in Florida:
Sunshine's to you! See you....

Susanne

It's the artist business...

It is the artist's business to create sunshine when the sun fails.
~ Romain Rolland ~

Hi my friend,

I know a lot of you are sitting just now up there in the North, covered again with a lot of snow and cold temperatures.

As you can read in the quote above, where R.Rolland says:
It's the artist business, to create sunshine.

Here it comes!
Catch the 1000 tons of sunshine from the Sunshine State of Florida - for YOU to ENJOY....*smile*...

Thank you all for your kind comments and compliments to my post yesterday, my friends. Love you all!

Have a wonderful day and please come back tomorrow also for my "Wordless Sunday" photo, here on this blog. Thanks!

Susanne