Beach and Water Quality Working Group

MBNA Beach and Water Quality Working Group Members:
  • Chair: Charlotte Tomic
  • Projects include: Seawall Ordinance, Beach Re-Nourishment, Sargassum, Fish Kill,
    Biscayne Bay Health Summit
  • Members:  Alexis Delgado, Oscar Vazquez, Lauren Lipcon, Alfredo Santeiro, Bonnie Ramos,
    Alex Penelas, Teresa Villar, Lina Blanco
Beach Re-Nourishment
Sargassum (Seaweed) 
The "blanket" of Sargassum between 27th and 29th Street is a huge concern that needs to be prioritized. Photos below were taken the first week of June, 2020:
April, 2021:
SARGASSUM (SEAWEED)
Already under attack from erosion and rising seas, South Florida beaches are facing a new crisis: the invasion of Sargassum seaweed.  Washing ashore in increasingly alarming amounts, Sargassum is coating coastlines over much of the state.   “Sargassum is a good thing,” Dr. Brian Lapointe of Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Insitute said. “It’s fish factory when it’s offshore, but when it comes ashore in excessive amounts, it becomes problematic.  Lapointe has been monitoring this floating seaweed for decades, using satellites to track the 5,500-mile-long Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt. Stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to West Africa, the Belt is home to more than 20 million tons of Sargassum in this recent bloom. “Since 2011, we have seen this ramping up, up and away," Lapointe said.  Sargassum in the open water or even on our beaches is nothing new. 

The MBNA has been in communication with City and County Officials to monitor and stay informed of what is being done to prevent these situations from escalating again.

Fish Kill

FISH KILL
​Sargassum and fish kill impacts all Miami Beach Residents, that is why the MBNA will continue to monitor these situations.   On  August 10, 2020, Miami Waterkeeper’s samplers and members of the public encountered about a dozen dead fish while conducting our weekly fecal indicator bacteria monitoring at Morningside Park. Miami-Dade County DERM monitoring groups conducted their routine monthly sampling nearby, noted very high water temperature (~90 F), and low dissolved oxygen levels. Many species of fish and marine life have been killed as a result.
Biscayne Bay Marine Health Summit
The purpose of the 2017 Biscayne Bay Marine Health Summit (BBMHS) is to establish collaboration amongst diverse stakeholders, in order to create an effective Action Plan for reducing these
pollutants in Biscayne Bay as well as in Miami-Dade's canals and rivers.
For more information, please contact:

Biscayne Bay Marine Health Summit Coalition
BBMHS Founder & Project Coordinator:
Luiz Rodrigues
Steering Committee Members:
Albert Gomez, Camila Quaresma, Dave Doebler, Emilio Lopez, Irela Bagué ,Patrick Shearer, Scott Strippling
and Steve Sauls.
For additional information, please contact: 
Luiz Rodrigues @ 786.853.1855
or @ BiscayneBaySummit@gmail.com

Email: mbna@Midbeachna.com

Midbeach neighborhood association, inc.