Island Moon
July 1, 2011
A7
Birds and Beach Bits
Dr. Tom
(aka On the Rocks)
Heat Related Illness
By Jay Gardener Wow, it has been a lot of hustle and bustle around the Island lately folks. Summer is officially here (happy belated summer solstice!) and school is out and crime is up. Our island is getting flooded with tourism and the heat is cranking up. Even though we got some rains last week, we are still in a major drought. The weeds in the back 40 don’t seem to mind though; they’re doing just great. Down n’ Dirty If you haven’t been to the beach lately, the water is dirty. Well, that’s normal you say. Yeah, but it’s a little dirtier and actually a little cooler too. Our buddy Rob down in South Padre says its dirty and cool down there as well. The surf is a chocolate yoo-hoo color and the temp is
one they are so powerful and majestic. I was fishing the king ranch shoreline close to pure oil north towards the power plant in about 4 1/2 foot of water with croaker and we were catching trout off of sand pockets. At about 10:30 AM I became frustrated with my cast and started to make a retrieve of my bait and WHAM my retrieve stopped cold and a big body jumped in the air. I did not think tarpon at the time rather I thought I have won the Star trout division. On the second jump my brain finally kicked in and I knew I had a tarpon. 8-10 jumps and it was beautiful truly something I did not ever expect to catch in the Laguna. This is like going to a friends 100 acre deer lease and a 180 BC (Boone and Crocket) buck steps out. Effects of Packery Another example of the influences of Packery Channel. Speaking of Packery Channel, looks like they have just about finished the improvements on the south side of the channel and fixing the revetments. I can’t wait to get out there and check out what they’ve done.
Curtis Cantwell caught this tarpon in the near the King Ranch shoreline hovering around 75-78, which is a good ten degrees cooler than normal. Now Ozzie says that its’ due to the high winds we have had lately. He maintains that the winds kick up the sediments and that inhibits the bottom from warming up, hence keeping it cooler. I’m thinking that it has to do with some kind of upwelling event or current change nearshore that has brought in a portion of the bottom layer that contains part of the nepheloid layer which explains the color and cooler water. Either way, it makes the fishing not so good. We’ve been hanging out on Bob Hall Pier with Philip (who’s still trying to tag some small sharks for his study) and about all I’ve seen caught were a few whiting and lots of little hardheads. Hopefully Barnacle Bill decides to start writing and giving us updates on what’s catching out there. Best View on the Island Speaking of Barnacle Bill and Bob Hall, I attended the ribbon cutting the other day for the new expansion. I seriously urge you to go check it out if you have not done so yet. Bill is getting the new digs set up nicely and getting the hang of the retractable doors to give you the best experience between cool and not so windy. It’s a great venue, and look for all kinds of fun stuff to occur out there. Anyhoo, the Nueces County Commissioners were all there, as well as the Nueces County Parks Board, members of the Padre Island Business Association, press, and a few bewildered tourists who stumbled in to join us. The project, despite a minor setback, has been a huge success. Thanks to everyone that had a part in it, and I’m glad I could do my part to help get the project accomplished. Scott Cross is doing some awesome things as Coastal Parks Director, and this is another feather in his cap. Trout at King Ranch? So I got an email from my buddy Troy the other day that his friend Curtis Cantwell had caught a tarpon. Awesome! I thought, seems there’s tarpon popping up everywhere. What I couldn’t believe was where he caught it, along the King Ranch shoreline while he was fishing for trout! Here’s his story; Wow what a beautiful tarpon. It is so exciting to catch
In addition to the PINS Beach Driving EA (which is out for public comment right now), there is another project out for public comment regarding potential sites for windfarms just offshore from Corpus Christi Bay and PINS. Like within 6-12 miles out. They have a Mustang (off Mustang Island) and Alternate Mustang (off the Seashore just south of Sea Pines well into the Park) Lease areas, as well as two areas down off South Padre (called North Rio laguna Grande and Rio Grande leases). These windmills would likely be on bases of varying construction buried in the seabed and then cables run along the bottom together to a substation that would then have a large cable that would run along the bottom, be buried through the barrier islands, through the Laguna and then over land to another substation. From the looks of the north units they’re trying to get the cables into either the Barney Davis in the Bluff or to the north side of the bay to Ingleside. We’re talking about massive amounts of structure and turning blades and blinking lights here folks. The jury is still out on what kinds of impacts these turbine fields would have on migrating birds, but I bet that it doesn’t help them. You can find the information and who to comment to on the USACE website; I’m sorry loyal readers I don’t have the link for you.
Furthermore, many of the aquifers used to provide water to the natural gas industry are not responsive to shortterm variations in climate. “Much of the groundwater used by the industry is from the artesian portions of sandstone aquifers,” explains Mace. “While these aquifers are affected by long-term climate variations, shortterm climate variations, such as the current drought, do not directly impact the aquifer.” However, short-term variations in climate can have indirect impacts. “If irrigators pump more water because of the drought, water levels in the aquifer will decline faster,” says Mace. The use of surface water is regulated by the state through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). If a natural gas producer has a temporary
tient can drink them with water and oral rehydration solutions preferred. Absolutely no caffeine or alcohol as these are often implicated in the cause to start with and will further dehydration. Intravenous fluids are used if needed in medical setting. Cool packs in armpits and groin as well as around the neck can be used to lower body temperature.
Working and living in heat like that can be dangerous whether you are a deer or a two-legged creature. We all need to be careful because heat related illness can affect anyone but the old and young are more vulnerable. Working or exercising in high heat especially combined with high humidity can be Pandora’s box. Working in a confined space in high heat is also bad news like being placed in an oven.
Milder forms like exhaustion respond well to cool packs and being placed in cool environment along with rehydration. Avoiding strenuous exercise in extreme environments are important and especially with Heat indexes over 90 degrees F. If a person must be active in these temperatures they should wear light loose fitting clothes and broad brimmed hats. Fluid intake must occur consistently whether thirsty or not. Avoiding the hottest part of the day is necessary especially with young athletes.
Kids or pets in a car are an extreme and possibly fatal example of a confined space. The body works to cool itself by convective and evaporative cooling mechanisms. Enclosed spaces or tight fitting clothes prevent this from occurring and increase the possibility of heat related illness. Heat illness is classified as Heat Stroke when the body temperature gets above 105 degrees F and the body loses the ability to regulate its temperature. Skin is dry, rapid strong pulse and pt may quit urinating and become unresponsive. The patient can even slip into coma in severe cases and it can be fatal. Heat Exhaustion is a milder form of heat illness with profuse sweating dizziness and rapid thready pulse sometimes with nausea and extreme fatigue.
August is the month with the worst track record of heat illness in athletes and football players are the most afflicted especially with conditioning and two a days starting. Coaches and players alike need to remember the importance of water and provide for it. A good rule of thumb is to keep drills short 15 to 20 minutes tops with water in between each drill mandatory for the players. Be safe and stay cool, Doc Tom
Treatment requires rapid cooling with cool water immersion, fans or air conditioning to improve evaporative and convective mechanisms. Cool fluids orally if the pa-
Burn Ban in Effect This coming weekend will be quite a deal. I’m expecting about 47 bazillion people to come in town. Might be best for the locals to go get your supplies and holeup. Although there will be lots of great music and things going on (Willie Nelson’s coming to town! I’m sure Ronnie has all that covered in his article). Also please remember folks there is a burn-ban for Nueces County and you can expect enforcement to be out and about. Please be very careful, especially on the beach. If things get out of hand, and there is a dune fire, that is bad juju for sure. With it so dry, the vegetation will go up like a Christmas tree (literally) and there won’t be anything to hold the sand down. The wind will blow out the dunes, and then when it comes to hurricane season, we won’t have any protection from the wind and waves. That goes for all the dunes up and down the coast. Just walking in them will kill the plants and create blow-outs. Please stay off the dunes and don’t burn them down.
Serving: Padre Island, Flour Bluff, Port Aransas, Mustang Island and Rockport.
Avoid a ticket You non-locals make sure to get your beach parking permits, please don’t litter and be responsible. Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean you can trash the place and behave recklessly. Also remember that the Fourth is a no-refusal weekend, don’t drive drinking or drunk. Lets’ celebrate the Fourth responsibly and remember not to take our Freedom for granted. Thank those in the military that protect our freedoms every day with their lives. And I will see you on the rocks!
Texas Water Development Board Explains Fracking And Drought
AUSTIN – (June 17, 2011) – Recent articles in the press have suggested that the natural gas industry, specifically that part of the industry that is using hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, to increase production, is highly susceptible to the current drought in Texas. “That’s not necessarily the case,” explains Dr. Robert Mace, Deputy Executive Administrator for Water Science and Conservation at the Texas Water Development Board. “It really depends on where producers get their water and where they are in the state.” Groundwater pumped by natural gas producers is, for the most part, exempt from regulation. Local groundwater conservation districts may require producers to report how much water they are using, but districts cannot tell producers how much they can pump. Several districts over the Barnett Shale have the ability to specify how close the industry can drill a water well to another water well, but most districts do not have this ability.
Spending a day in Hebbronville, Texas filling up feeders and checking water will make a guy think about many things. I bet the devil patterned hell after Hebbronville in the summer. The drought has killed every blade of grass in the country and even the desert brush is ready to turn tail and run. The wildlife is struggling to stay alive and even the pigs have gone nocturnal. Readings on the game cameras run 110 to 120 degrees these days. I do not know how accurate they are but wow!
permit from TCEQ to use surface water, the producer might lose that permit during a drought. “We have seen that happen with the Barnett Shale during dry periods,” Mace recalls. In that case, a producer could switch to groundwater or contract for water through a third party such as a city or landowner. “In those instances,” comments Mace, “the supply of water would depend on the permits the third P.O. Box 13231, 1700 N. Congress Ave. Austin, TX 78711-3231, www.twdb. state.tx.us Phone (512) 463-7847, Fax (512) 475-2053party holds for their water.” Another potential source of water is treated wastewater from a municipality. Location in Texas and the status of local water resources is another important consideration. For example, the drought has been severe in the lower Rio Grande Valley as it has in much of the rest of the state, but because of rains in previous years, Lake Amistad is at 98 percent capacity (97 percent for the Texas portion). Other parts of the state have not been as fortunate. “In short,” Mace explains, “producers that can use groundwater are unlikely to be impacted by the drought. Producers that use surface water are more susceptible to the drought, but it depends on local conditions and where they get their water.” The TWDB is the state agency charged with collecting and disseminating water-related data, assisting with regional planning and preparing the State Water Plan for the development of the state’s water resources. The TWDB administers cost-effective financial programs for the construction of water supply, wastewater treatment, flood control, and agricultural water conservation projects.
9 9 9 9 9 9
Landscape Design h Decks and Docks First Time Cleanups h Shade Structures/ Pergola Demolitions & Scraping h Outdoor Kitchens We install: Plants, Palms, Rock, h Boat Lifts Sod, Pavers and Outdoor Decor. h Fences & Gates Yard Maintenance h General D&D Repair Concrete Drives/Patio & Retaining Walls
We’re your full service outdoor solution! Give us a call today. Tim Arlitt - Decks & Docks Specialist 361.229.2530 Sami Wilson - Landscape Designer 361.949.2691
IslandLandscapingDecksAndDocks.com Quality & Insured.
Desire fresh food?
Real, Satisfying food prepared just for you from fresh ingredients Huge Vegetarian, Vegan & Gluten-Free Friendly Menu Fresh Non-veg stuff too.
Tango Tea Room
505 South Water Street 361-883-9123