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Check out the beaches

The Lee County Beach Conditions Report by Mote Marine Laboratory of Sarasota covers:

Bonita Beach Park

Bowditch Point Regional Park

Bowman's Beach, Sanibel Island

Cayo Costa State Park

Little Estero Beach

Lovers Key State Park

Lynn Hall Memorial Park

Newton Park Beach

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An enhanced beach conditions report is now available for Lee County although the five Gasparilla Island beaches are still conspicously absent from the daily monitoring.

Mote officials say they have yet to establish a relationship with a reliable observer on Boca Grande althouugh they would welcome volunteers.

Mote Marine Laboratory of Sarasota is using a grant from the Lee County Tourist Development Council to buy personal digital assistants for beach observers to use to send photos in along with their reports. The grant will also help Mote expand its Lee County reports to Cayo Costa State Park, which is under the guidance of the Barrier Island Parks Society.

Mote and VCB officials demonstrated the new capabilities atTuesday at Bowditch Point Regional Park on Fort Myers Beach.

The Mote Beach Conditions Report now covers 33 beaches along Florida's Gulf Coast from the Panhandle south to Collier County. Reports are provided by specially trained observers and updated twice daily at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. 365 days a year.

Reports are provided by lifeguards, parks personnel and beach patrol officers who use PDAs to upload information directly to the web via special interface designed by Mote. The Reports can be viewed online at www.mote.org/beaches. The public can also sign up there to receive reports about particular beaches via e-mail or call 941-BEACHES to listen to Reports over the phone.

The Beach Conditions Report includes water color and wind direction; surf conditions; and the presence of red tide, dead fish, respiratory irritation, rip currents and oil spill impacts.

"Our beaches are one of our state's most important assets. We've seen a drop in vacation inquiries due to the misperception that Florida's beaches are being affected by oil," said Tamara Pigott, VCB executive director. "We think that Mote's Beach Conditions Report provides potential visitors a valuable source of accurate and timely information about our current beach conditions."

Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick is the Mote scientist who created the report in 2006 to answer questions about red tide along Gulf Coast beaches.

"When we created the report, the public was concerned primarily about red tide and wanted to know whether the beach they were planning to visit was being affected," she said. "Today, thousands of people from all over the world are using the report. Many tourists are using it to monitor the areas where they are planning to vacation, especially in light of the oil spill."

Mote is working to increase the number of beaches covered.

"We'd really like to expand the reports to all of the state's 165 major beaches," Kirkpatrick said. "We've been seeking funding to do so, both through private donations and through foundations and state agencies. I think the expansion in Lee County will be a good demonstration for how important this system is to the state's economy."

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