Gunk in the water

...describe this gunk, please.

One man's gunk is another man's treasure.

Histo, is this a serious post?

What do you mean by gunk?

Brown stuff is just natural tannins. Dunno about other stuff.

Could you hear the Jaws theme ?

He may be referring to all the grass coming in due to the recent winds and high tides. That and it is just about that time of year for June Grass. Right on time to make fishing tough for about a month.
My brief history here in Sowal also reminds me that for some reason when all that grass comes in, it has a habit of bringing additional bits and pieces of plastic and debris with it. I know that turtle walks have resulted in a higher than usual amount of junk to pick up and it isn't coming from people on the beach.

I was planning to buy in the area but the gunk in the gulf water at Watersound is really turning me off. Anybody have anything to encourage me?

If you were looking this past weekend it appeared the lake had opened. It is just a natural occurring flow of lake water meeting gulf water. The "gunk" is probably the lake water and many critters probably consider the gunk food. Come back and take another look. I think you will find our beaches, esp. Watersound to be some of the most beautiful in the world. People pay good money for gunk.

He may be referring to all the grass coming in due to the recent winds and high tides. That and it is just about that time of year for June Grass. Right on time to make fishing tough for about a month.
My brief history here in Sowal also reminds me that for some reason when all that grass comes in, it has a habit of bringing additional bits and pieces of plastic and debris with it. I know that turtle walks have resulted in a higher than usual amount of junk to pick up and it isn't coming from people on the beach.

If you were looking this past weekend it appeared the lake had opened. It is just a natural occurring flow of lake water meeting gulf water. The "gunk" is probably the lake water and many critters probably consider the gunk food. Come back and take another look. I think you will find our beaches, esp. Watersound to be some of the most beautiful in the world. People pay good money for gunk.

Sounds like a legitamate/reasonable question to me.....especially if you're thinking about buying here. Thank you both for posting helpful answers to this persons question.

Its not a swimming pool...

The Gulf is different every day. Most days, its picture perfect, other days, its nature at its (less than) finest.
Bottomline - you can't beat the Emerald Coast - my opinion - maybe yours too.

Sorry for my mistrust- there have been plenty of new posters whose intent was to malign a development or builder-and the first post started out like one of those since it did not have the usual "introductions", but just started off with a negative, and seemed an unusual question for someone to ask if they were planning on buying here (as in, wouldn't a potential buyer know a little about water conditions??)

Histro, the Gulf is beautiful every day- wavy, calm, blue, brown, seaweedy, clear....

Like other posters said, the Gulf changes almost every day. Some days it's serene and placid, other days it's majestically rough. The brown water is simply tannin, a stain that comes from plant roots and leaches into the lakes which occasionally spill out into the Gulf. A seaweed called junegrass comes in this time of year and sometimes we get sargassum weed. Then other days it's crystal clear. You won't find a better stretch of natural beach anywhere. Did you notice the absence of high-rises?

I was planning to buy in the area but the gunk in the gulf water at Watersound is really turning me off. Anybody have anything to encourage me?

If you love blue green clear waters -- you will love it here because the norm for our water is just that! Occassionally, extended heavy rains or extended high surf can sometimes cause a more brownish tint to the Gulf waters, but that is defnitely not the norm. It is the normal beautiful clarity and color of the water as well as the white sand that make our beaches very special here. Sorry you caught us during an off week -- water color wise.

As was mentioned earlier, most of us appreciate the diversity of nature and love our coast and area -- even when the waters are not clear and blue green as is the norm.

Just take a look at some of the photos in the photo section of Sowal!

I hope this helps!

I was planning to buy in the area but the gunk in the gulf water at Watersound is really turning me off. Anybody have anything to encourage me?

As you can see histo, there are a lot of people who will encourage you not only through their love of the area, but also a keen understanding of what's going on with the Gulf due to seasonal changes, storms, and staining. Fortunately it doesn't last and we have a majority of emerald green, turquoise blue, ice blue, dark blue and other beautiful colors that the Gulf provides.

We hope this is helpful to you. There are also many other beautiful areas around our community to enjoy and I consider them to be the icing on the cake!!!

Talk with an agent...we have many on this board who would love to help you. Hmmm I bet Bobby J could help you out!!!

Good Luck.

Like other posters said, the Gulf changes almost every day. Some days it's serene and placid, other days it's majestically rough. The brown water is simply tannin, a stain that comes from plant roots and leaches into the lakes which occasionally spill out into the Gulf. A seaweed called junegrass comes in this time of year and sometimes we get sargassum weed. Then other days it's crystal clear. You won't find a better stretch of natural beach anywhere. Did you notice the absence of high-rises?

Exactly ... don't miss the forest for the trees.

Still wondering what the gunk was!

The "seaweed" that has been hanging around the coast the last few days is new to me. Unlike most seaweed, it doesn't seem to have been lingering in the gulf and bringing in little creatures or bits of trash. It almost looks like the landscaping detritus of some huge resort drifting down the coast. Reminds me of a time a lake side resident in Grayton had a crew come in and machete all of the fragmides grass, leaving it to drift across the lake. Any marine specialists out there have an explanation of the latest crop?

The "seaweed" that has been hanging around the coast the last few days is new to me. Unlike most seaweed, it doesn't seem to have been lingering in the gulf and bringing in little creatures or bits of trash. It almost looks like the landscaping detritus of some huge resort drifting down the coast. Reminds me of a time a lake side resident in Grayton had a crew come in and machete all of the fragmides grass, leaving it to drift across the lake. Any marine specialists out there have an explanation of the latest crop?

Hi Neighbor:

I'm no expert, but the local captains tell me that the unusual grasses, and other junk in the water, is a result of (in addition to the localized "brown" water flowing out of some of the Dune Lakes) the heavy rains in the Southeast this spring. All that water flows to the Gulf, leaving us with a lot of "river grass" in the water. I've also noticed al lot of other litter in the water, beyond the usual family beach debris. This phenomenon seems to have affected the fishing. With all the fresh water mixed in the surf, some of the saltwater species have been staying further from the beaches.

This junk should wash out soon.

There are no rivers that drain anywhere near the beaches of Sowal so it seems a bit implausible that it could be "river grass". Also, the quantity of fresh water drained by the lakes has to be pretty minor compared to the vastness of the Gulf.

This past weekend when I was showing property in WaterSound, the waters were still churned up from the last swell. I also noted that there was black/brown water (gunk) along the shore line where the lake appeared to have been draining out. I do believe this was the gunk the post refers to. My clients asked about it.

What happened to Histro?
Makes one post and then goes away?
Are you lurking out there Histro?
Perhaps there was some meat to Jdarg's concern...

Yeah...new member...one post...poof.

"I was planning to buy in the area but the waves in the gulf water at Watersound are really turning me off. Anybody have anything to encourage me?"

It's nature for Pete's sake. It's not like there's a floating barge of garbage and trash out there. Seaweed comes and goes. Dune lakes open every so often. Enjoy the variety Mother Nature provides you...

What happened to Histro?
Makes one post and then goes away?
Are you lurking out there Histro?
Perhaps there was some meat to Jdarg's concern...

Yeah...new member...one post...poof.

"I was planning to buy in the area but the waves in the gulf water at Watersound are really turning me off. Anybody have anything to encourage me?"

It's nature for Pete's sake. It's not like there's a floating barge of garbage and trash out there. Seaweed comes and goes. Dune lakes open every so often. Enjoy the variety Mother Nature provides you...

;-)...and that's the truth.

What happened to Histro?
Makes one post and then goes away?
Are you lurking out there Histro?
Perhaps there was some meat to Jdarg's concern...

If they are still lurking around here I hope they also see the threads about gators and snakes and bears (oh, my!) And realize just how diverse this area REALLY is. It is so much more than some tannins washing into the Gulf.

What happened to Histro?
Makes one post and then goes away?
Are you lurking out there Histro?
Perhaps there was some meat to Jdarg's concern...

So true Ash...where oh where has Histro gone. Maybe he's learning more about the area. But is everyone against giving someone the benefit of the doubt risking a bunch of bad karma hovering around you.

I believe in Karma....does anyone else? Recently I did what I could to correct a terrible error I made against another person to clear a cloud of bad karma I was walking around with.

Maybe he had enough of the gunk and just went home.

Thanks for the information, everyone - even the sarcastic replys. I have been sorta busy, not too much time to spend on blogs, sorry. I am so impressed with how quickly the beautiful gulf reappeared - the tannins were washed out to sea, I guess. Just the areas of overflow from the lakes remaining instead of the entire beach area. You know, if the emerald coast had started turning brown more often than emerald, I wanted to know so I could buy property on a tannin filled river instead of the very expensive gulf. Sorry if I stepped on someone's eco toes, but as far as I knew these lakes could be a quagmire polluting the gulf instead of a naturally occuring phenomena. One lady on the beach actually thought that it was red clay washing down from Georgia!!

Thanks for the information, everyone - even the sarcastic replys. I have been sorta busy, not too much time to spend on blogs, sorry. I am so impressed with how quickly the beautiful gulf reappeared - the tannins were washed out to sea, I guess. Just the areas of overflow from the lakes remaining instead of the entire beach area. You know, if the emerald coast had started turning brown more often than emerald, I wanted to know so I could buy property on a tannin filled river instead of the very expensive gulf. Sorry if I stepped on someone's eco toes, but as far as I knew these lakes could be a quagmire polluting the gulf instead of a naturally occuring phenomena. One lady on the beach actually thought that it was red clay washing down from Georgia!!

One last thing I noticed wasn't mentioned. If the gunk you were referring to is the seaweed, be grateful for it, it helps the beach stay in place and will ultimately protect that investment.