Whats happening on Dollymount beach?

Degsy

last time i was there i noticed big piles of sand mixed with decomposing seaweed or something similar which stank to buggery.
It looks like they've been scraping away the top layers of sand for some reason..anybody know whats going on?

WindSock

Recycling the rubber from the johnnies, perhaps.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Although I'm a few minutes from it I rarely go there these days.

The place is filthy, so hopefully there's a clean up operation going on.

Portmarnock beach got its blue falg back last week

admiralofthefleet

went for a walk along there a few weeks ago and i was shocked to see the state of the place, it stunk and the water washing up on the beach was black, dublin city council would want to get their finger out and clean it up

00112984

Haven't seen it in Dollymount but there was a similar substance in Sandymount recently. With the warm weather, there was a very sudden (over)growth of algae which was then washed up on the beach. It was black and looked like cooled lava, nasty stuff.

The smell was unreal too.

More info here.

Doodle53

They could be undergoing Beach Nourishment or Sand Dune Repair?
It would explain the piles of sand and the seaweed could infact be marram grass

Brian CivilEng

Hanna Drab Soup wrote: »

Although I'm a few minutes from it I rarely go there these days.

The place is filthy, so hopefully there's a clean up operation going on.

Portmarnock beach got its blue flag back last week

Dolymount has a blue flag too though doesn't it?


I regularly go walking on Dolymount and the smell is really bad at the moment. But it does all look natural, it doesn't look like sewage.

WalterMitty

abitofacomedian wrote: »

Dolymount has a blue flag too though doesn't it?


I regularly go walking on Dolymount and the smell is really bad at the moment. But it does all look natural, it doesn't look like sewage.

They lost it a while back. The smell is a naturally occuring one but it is foul and would you off staying on beach depending on the wind direction. Walk through the dunes there can be nice if smell isnt around .

Degsy

Doodle53 wrote: »

They could be undergoing Beach Nourishment or Sand Dune Repair?
It would explain the piles of sand and the seaweed could infact be marram grass

Nope,they're not touching the dunes.
It looks like they've scraped the layer of the beach containing the algae and dumped it to one side...obviously coz the stuff is causing teh beach to stink.
There has been a similar problem in the lagoon off the clontarf road for years.
During teh warm weather,the green algae flourishes,clogs up the water then sinks to the bottom where it rots.
Years of this happening has caused extensive silting in the lagoon and a corresponding growth in the size of Bull Island.
This is largely teh fault of the causeway which wont allow tides to wash through and clean the lagoon out.

Gaspode

It sounds like they ran the beach cleaning unit up & down the beach and dumped the crap they collected into a pile - maybe for collection later?

steamengine

Degsy wrote: »

last time i was there i noticed big piles of sand mixed with decomposing seaweed or something similar which stank to buggery.
It looks like they've been scraping away the top layers of sand for some reason..anybody know whats going on?

As explained in the posts above, this is all part of the on-going collection of the rotting and dry algae from the beach. All this algae was supposed to get less over the years as the new Sewage Station kicked into action, as the algae feeds off these 'nutrients' ????

Strange thing is that about a year ago or so, I was down walking on the Bull Wall when the tide was out. On the beach side there were pools of water which appeared whitish, like diluted milk and the stench was noxious. It actually appeared and smelled like sewage. I've been down there over the last two weeks and the stench is persisting and is the same smell as above.

Forty years or so back this beach was alive with marine life, live razor fish, cockles, flatfish, young eels, crabs etc. Not so now !

Miss Lockhart

Recent news reports said both Portmarnock and Dollymount got Blue Flags:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/top-beaches-fail-to-retain-blue-flag-despite-8364300m-investment-2220666.html

I have to say I'm surprised because Dollymount does not look or smell great!

judas101

WalterMitty wrote: »

They lost it a while back.

Actually it regained its blue flag status.

The water is very clean.

Dub13

If Dollymount with it close proximity to the biggest port in the country has a blue flag then every beach in the country should aim to get one.

steamengine

Took a few pics today of the beach and water adjacent to the Bull Wall. The water pic was taken off the steps of the last bathing shelter on the beach side and was about 6 inches deep and had a light brown hue. The close up of the beach, just below the high water mark, and adjacent to the lifeguard station speaks for itself.

The other two shots show the clean up operation, and the eventual location of the collected sand/algae mix - behind the boulders on the left, at the beach entrance and continuing on down the margin of the dunes.

Gannicus

Degsy wrote: »

last time i was there i noticed big piles of sand mixed with decomposing seaweed or something similar which stank to buggery.
It looks like they've been scraping away the top layers of sand for some reason..anybody know whats going on?

Its an algeal bloom. basically comes from the algae on the sea bed and when blooms it washes in. the reason they are piling it up is that they are going to mix it with the sand to accommodate a new sand-dune system/layout to counteract the erosion of the sand-dunes. Its actually quite high on nutrients and though you wouldn't eat it if it was served on your plate when you walked in the door its actually very good for you

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Doing a bit of dune-surfing Degsy

Portmarnock Beach is the one to go to, lovely spot