Beach Sea Oats

Beach sea oats are the most common plants that you will see on the beaches of the Alabama Gulf Coast. They are beautiful to look at, but controlling beach erosion is their greater purpose.

People who don't give much thought to the beach, except to enjoy it during a vacation, usually think of sand dunes as just big piles of sand, but that is not true. Without sea oats, there wouldn't be any sand dunes. Sea oats hold the dunes in place, and make it possible for the dunes to get larger, offering more and more protection for the beach as they grow larger and larger.

Sea oats grow on dunes from Florida to Virginia and then around the entire Gulf to eastern Mexico and into the northern part of the West Indies. They are very salt tolerant and they thrive close to the sea. Their large system of underground roots and stems helps to reduce the erosion of the sand dunes.

Growing in colonies, sea oats produce few seeds. They spread underground from rhizomes and they get distributed by winds and the shifting of sand.

Leaves grow to a maximum of about two feet in length and they are about an inch wide. Above the ground, stems on sea oats grow up to six feet tall, and they contain graceful, drooping clusters which are called panicles. Panicles contain seed heads which are called spikelets.

Cereal can be made from the dried and cooked seeds. Seed heads which have matured are used in floral arrangements, such as pretty wreaths. However, it is not permitted to pick them for those purposes on the Alabama Gulf Coast because they are protected by law.

It is against the law to pick the wild plants, but you can easily buy them from native plant nurseries which have permits to sell them.

Sea oats withstand heat, salt, wind and poor soil very well, but pedestrian traffic can cause major damage. Most municipalities have enacted laws that prohibit walking on sand dunes and most public beaches now have boardwalks around and over the dunes.

After a strong storm, beach towns go into crisis mode to rebuild the dunes. This can be labor intensive and time consuming. During the last decade, it has been hard for beach towns like Orange Beach and Gulf Shores to get ahead of all of the bad weather events.

Sea oats provide a significant service of stabilizing the ocean shoreline and sand dunes. Without beach sea oats, beaches lose ground. Before the best beaches were commercialized this was not really a problem. Extreme weather events just moved the beaches. With commercialization there is nowhere for the beach to move. Without sand dunes and the sea oats that hold them in place, the sea would eventually consume what man has built.

Beach Photography - The Art of Taking Great Photos on Your Beach Vacation

Beach photography is an extremely popular art form. It is hard to resist the urge to capture the rolling, unpredictable waves, the bright sparkles of sunlight that bounce off the glistening waters, the unusual shells that line the surface of the shimmering sands.

Nature is uninhibited, and absolutely gorgeous. If you enjoy photography, you are sure to benefit from this informative guide on how to capture the essence of the beach on film. It does not matter if you engage in photography for fun or if you do it professionally, you can learn a great deal about technique and strategy here in this beach photography guide.

When it comes to beach photography, there are several different methods and techniques that can be used to capture the sights. If you are a photographer, it is important to ensure that you attempt to capture pure emotion.

Your pictures must be organized so that someone can pull out a certain feeling, or bring an experience out of the picture. Now, this may sound like a challenging procedure, but if you know a few ways to do this, you are sure to capture the beautiful images that you set out to when indulging in photography of the ocean. The following methods have proven successful for many who have participated in beach photography:

1. The first step in capturing pictures that overwhelm the senses and emotions of an individual is to look around and focus on the first thing that draws your attention. It could be a seagull walking along the shoreline, or a particular cloud looming over the waves. You may see a slight breeze pressing against the palms…or, a small pool of water with a beat down sand castle along the side of it. If it draws your attention, it is likely to also draw the attention of your audience.

2. The next thing that you should do is focus on shadow. When it comes to beach scenes, it is common to see bright skies, lots of sunlight, and shimmering sands, but it is not often that you can capture an intriguing shadow. The shadow may come from a tree along the inviting shore, a rock sitting along the waves, or even a sailboat traveling across the luscious seas. The extreme mix of shadow and light often plays upon the senses of an individual. If you are able to capture this, you may just have that one picture that is actually worth TWO million words!

3. In beach photography, it seems that the “unchartered” territories are often the most intriguing to individuals. Most people want to walk across the rocks, but hold back. Many may want to check out that cave nestled in on the shore, but are frightened of the possible dangers or scary legends that surround the cave. If you want to have the best of the best when it comes to beaches, visit all those unchartered territories and capture various images of it on film.

4. If you want to add a little “color” to your shots, take the color completely out of the picture! Black and white photography of the ocean as well as the shore has been found to be quite popular among users. By doing this, you are creating a whole new atmosphere that is quite attractive to viewers. It has also been stated that this type of picture is more successful in drawing out the emotions of the individual that views it.

5. Chances are, you are going to get yourself a little wet. The waves crashing upon the shore, the droplets of water in the wind coming from the ocean, as well as storms, rain, and other types of condensation may all result in this. It is important that you are showing no inhibitions when photographing the immense ocean and beach that you are capturing. Sometimes, getting a little wet actually enhances the images that you are attempting to capture. It is important to make your viewer feel as if they are right there, playing in the waves, feeling the ocean breeze, and enjoying the warm rays of the sun.

There are numerous tips and techniques when it comes to beach photography. I could express what type of camera to use, the flash that should be purchased, what angle to shoot at, and more. The truth is, though, it is not about what equipment that you have as much as it is about the experience that you encounter while visiting the beach. If you shoot from the angle of experience, you will succeed in beach photography.

When you are visiting the Alabama Gulf Coast, be sure to take your camera everywhere. Good photo subjects have a way of showing up when and where you least expect it. I rarely leave home without my camera. When I do I usually end up saying, "That would have made a good picture." This brown pelican at an Orange Beach marina with the two new Turquoise Place condo towers in the background captures many different thoughts in one small photo.

Oranges in Orange Beach. Alabama

Yes, orange groves were once common on the Alabama Gulf Coast.



Postcard Back: "The Satsuma is a Mandarin type, "Kid-glove" orange of delicious dessert quality. It was introduced into the United States from Japan in 1876. Satsuma oranges are grown extensively in the Gulf Coast section. Single orchards in Mobile County comprising as much as 1100 acres." Postmarked 1947.



There are still some trees scattered about in Orange Beach. Here is a picture that we took earlier this year of a satsuma tree in a front yard.

Digging for Shells - Orange Beach, Alabama

Kathy and I spent the weekend at Orange Beach, Alabama in my parents condo. My mother is a master shell hunter. She has found tens of thousands of beautiful shells over the years. She spends hours walking the beaches picking up shells, coral, sand dollars and anything else that washes up on the beach. She even gathers abandoned T-shirts and beach towels. No relaxing with a good book for her. When she hits the beach it's all work.



She finds most of her shells by digging. Most beach tourists would love to take home just a few good shells like she finds, but very think to dig. Unless you pay a little attention to detail, digging is not likely to produce much. Find a good spot, and you can take home a bag full.





The majority of the good shells that are found digging at the Alabama Gulf Coast get deposited there by dredging. The hurricanes and tropical storms of the last few years took away most of the sand and leveled the dunes. The State of Alabama has spent millions of dollars putting the sand back, most of it by dredging the sea. Tons of sand has been deposited on the beach, and along with it all of the stuff small enough to get sucked up the dredging pipes.



Occasionally a good spot for digging can be found just by looking for spots where somebody else has dug. Most people are good about filling in their holes, but unless it has recently been smooved over by beach maintenance workers, you will still be able to spot depressions in the sand. Try first at the edges that haven't been dug and work your way back away from the depression. Lots of small broken shells on the surface indicates that there are probably better, unbroken shells underneath.

Don't dig near the shore line in the space that high tide covers. Move back aways. Don't dig in the dunes. That's not good for the beach and will get you in trouble.



You don't need big garden tools to dig in soft sand. Small tools work fine and are less likely to damage shells.



It's permissable to dig small holes on the Alabama beaches. It's not a lot different than building sand castles, Whether you're digging for holes, or building sand castles, fill in your holes when you're done. Holes on the beach can be dangerous.

Gulf Shores, Alabama Photos

We took another quick trip to Gulf Shores over the weekend. Two weeks ago I cut one of my fingers while washing a drinking glass. I need to learn how to gently handle a glass. Fifteen stitches, not fun - even worse than getting them was having them taken out. Even worse it didn't heel correctly, resulting in a trip to the doctor at the beach, and one the next day, just before we arrived home.

Anyway, we made the most of the trip with the time we had.

A lot of people were fishing, but we didn't see anybody catching anything. This time of year is hit and miss from the shore, mostly miss. There are not any bait fish close to shore to attract bigger fish. Fishing structure in deep water will catch some fish on a good day this time of year. Otherwise, if fishing from a seawall like this, the occasional hungry fish swimming by will grab the bait.



This guy was perplexed as to whether he had a fish on the hook or not. He'd open his spool, and line would come off; he'd reel a little and all he could get is a tugging resistance. My experience has been that if I am fishing in current like there is here and wonder whether I have a fish on the line, I haven't got a fish on the line.



Blue herons are a common site on the coast all year. This one is resting on a seawall near a marina waiting on something tasty to come floating his way.



Canals like this weave all though Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, Alabama. Living on a canal is great if the homeowner has a boat. From here, he could be in the Gulf in minutes or in Mobile Bay in less than an hour via the Intracoastal Canal.



This man wasn't catching anything either. If he were in that same spot a couple months from now it would probably be a different story. It's nice to be on the water on a pretty last day of January. Always nice to bring a fish home though.



It is hard to tell by this photo, but this is Robinson Island.



Robinson Island is part of a three island chain near where Terry Cove meets Perdido Pass. The other islands are Bird Island and Walker Island. In 2004 the City of Orange Beach bought Robinson Island for $3.46 million. The previous owner had tried unsuccessfully for several years to get all of the necessary government approvals so that he could develop the island. He wanted to build an island community - no bridge; the owners would have to be ferried from the mainland. Anybody who would pay what it would cost to live on a barrier island at the mouth of Perdido Pass would have had to have been crazy (IMO). The city will keep it in its natural state for the good of both wildlife and boaters. In the summer these island beaches are very popular.

Perddio Pass Bridge



The new Turquoise Place on the Gulf is in the background. The Turquoise was originally going to consist of four towers. The state of the economy, including plunging coastal real estate values, has put the other two on indefinite hold. The four towers were going to be built to varying heights - the tallest at 33 stories. One sold preconstruction in the first tower for $4.3 million. Others were selling for as little as $2.5 million. The patios of these condos are bigger than most beach condos once were on the Alabama Gulf Coast. I'm not sure how much one could be purchased for today from a motivated seller, but it might be considerably less.







We didn't see many shells on the beach, but on her last trip, my mother must have. She has shell collecting down to a science. Out of tens of thousands of shells she has picked up, she hasn't found one artifact. I would guess that she has her eyes trained for shells, not rocks and metal. She doesn't care. She loves shells.