Interesting (and sad) article from YAHOO Travel...

[Chicago Jerk]

I gotta' know your thoughts on this!

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/jamaica...062081327.html

See you in November...
Bruce

[captaind]

Cosmo's one month ago.

Back in the 80s I kept some Hobies there.

The beach was less than half as wide as now

[Stoners6]

I wonder when the picture in the article was taken? When I was that location in Feb. the beach was as wide as it has ever been in my 30 years of visiting. Ps. having jerk pork and red stripes for supper with friends and watching the Blue Bombers kick some Ottawa butt!

[Markospoon]

Good thing Jamaica has more to offer than just sand and sea.
Music, food, people, etc.
But, I really hope the sand stays.
Gotta stay some way????
Thanks capt.

[Chris B]

We can generally say about any stretch of beach that the ocean giveth and the ocean taketh away... and if you spend enough time on our favorite beach, we see this happen from week to week. But of greater concern is the general decade over decade trend, and the news is not good. I recently Googled the "Negril Tree" that everyone is familiar with at Barry's Bar near SweptAway. I found a scholarly report about the recession of beach along what we know as Seven Mile; the report uses photographic evidence dating back to the '60's and '70's, as well as known soundings of the beach bottom out into those crystal clear, warm Caribbean waters. I'd have to dig the darn thing up again from the interweb, but I was quite discouraged at the findings.

I get it that we all have our own opinions about global warning and (my opinion) the cop-out term climate change. I've been personally building an awareness of my metaphorical footprint since reading 1970's Future Shock by Alvin Toffler. Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, though controversial, offered me no surprises given this awareness. I guess I'm saying that I might be hypersensitive to this issue, but that's my thing.

I appreciate the photo that captaind gives us at Cosmo's last month, but we need to also be aware that development and beach use, including sand compaction, power boat use, and other human activity, also affects the character of the beach over time. Over the years, I've seen the beach at SweptAway swallow the beach bars there, and spit them back out over the course of six months. The beach along the new development there has generally narrowed over the last 10 years since that expansion, near to Barry's Negril Tree. I'm quite sure that others have had the opposite experience based on when they had their toes in that sand, but I don't know how many of them have been there consistently at the same time of year as I have over the last 20 years.

Yes, storms and weather also take their toll, and there can be no arguing that those are cyclic over time. But I'd be really interested to see how those who have spent their entire lives there perceive these cycles... is the trend one way or another? The folks quoted in the article appear pessimistic, which gives me a bit of an answer. I, for example, grew up in east-central Wisconsin. I have memories of winters that have been harsh more often than mild... that has changed in my 60 years on this planet to be more frequently mild than severe (ok, last year was a real bear, but that has to be considered weather... not climate).

So yeah... I find what I'M seeing to be a bit disturbing.

[Lola]

Humans are the most invasive and destructive species on the planet. And a lot of drama in that article, as writers are wont to do.

[sonja]

I live in Pensacola FL and our beach is dwindling also.. the powers that be did a lot of research and are bringing back the beach by dredging sea sand back onto the beach.. it worked great here, and with the added bonus of finding unbelievable sea shells (we usually don't get much) for days after the dredging..

[Irie John]

"I wonder when the picture in the article was taken? When I was that location in Feb. the beach was as wide as it has ever been in my 30 years of visiting." - This statement is totally false. I have observed the Negril Beach, in February, for the past 30 years and it has been Much larger than it was this past February. Not Even Close!

[captaind]

I’m going to do some research later this month while I’m home.

There are three properties I’m very familiar with. They are at 2 mile 4 mile and Cosmo’s.

I have occasion to be pulling title documents for Zion Hill and while I’m at it I’m going to look at the title maps for those three properties. It’s public record and cost 1,500 JA to get a copy

The plats are drawn from the middle of the surveyed road (Manley Blvd) and that hasn’t moved.

Those titles have boundaries and acreage measurements and can be compared with the actual measurements today.

My guess it that the sand bar you call the “beach” is narrower at the south end of the bight and wider at the North end.

The issue may be that the South end has more build up that encroaches.

I think the beach is moving North.

Cap

[nutz4travel]

Great idea - looking forward to your findings