Dramatic start to tourist season.
Damage caused by rough seas. Photo: Kevin HinLarvotto beach opened up for business on Saturday, with a renovated kiddies' play area and a restored beach volley ball pitch. Everything was ready to welcome the sun and sea bathers, but disaster struck yesterday as huge waves smashed the shore. Damage caused by rough winter seas had only just been repaired, but now the clean up work must start again.
Once the beach is in use, it's kept clean with the help of a tractor that turns the gravel and collects waste buried up to 20cm deep. The surface of the sea is cleaned too, and weekly samples of seawater are taken to check its quality and monitor levels of the microscopic algae ostreopsis ovata. Anti-jellyfish nets installed by Medusa Protect help to protect swimmers and reduce the incidence of stings.
But it's unlikely that the jellyfish will be preying on swimmers just yet. Even if you're not put off by the cold water, there's likely to be a lot of clearing up to be done in the next few days.
