When we think about beaches, we think vibrant thoughts.
We think about fun, laughter, and having a good time in the surf. We think about playing in the sun on a clean beach with a beautiful ocean to enjoy.
Unfortunately, this is currently not the situation on the beaches in Durban.
As I mentioned in my post in the #WednesdayWalk community yesterday, we knew that the beaches were closed for any swimming and/or sporting activities due to contamination. But we decided to go up north to one of the more secluded beaches to take our dog out to get some exercise.
There are normally no swimming activities on the beach behind the Virginia Airport, and having no intentions of going into the water, we thought it would be fine to go up there.
As mentioned, we were aware of the beaches being closed. The announcements were made by the end of last week.
Due to heavy rainfall inland, the uMngeni River came down strong. This caused waste from multitudes of informal settlements along the uMngeni River to be washed down to the ocean.
The levels of bacteria have been compounded "by the unceasing vandalism of one of the city's sewage pump stations", as a city spokesperson was quoted by both southafrican.com and timeslive.co.za.
And the bacteria found in the seawater... were "unacceptable" levels of E.coli bacteria!
The beach behind the Virginia Airport is about 10 KM north of where the uMngeni River mounts into the ocean.
On our arrival at the beach, this is what we saw (notice how the color of the water changes from behind the surf).
We just took the dog for a walk on the paved walkway and then left. Fortunately, I was able to get some photos of activities at the airport, which I shared in yesterday's post.
From there I drove down to Durban to the northern beaches of Durban to see what it looked like.
This weekend was the last weekend before schools reopen for the new year.
So, it was the last weekend of the holiday season...which normally makes this beach a bee-hive of activity over this time. Even though this is not the main beach of Durban, it is normally quite busy. So much more so for this time of year.
But, getting out of the car, this is what we found. The clear blue "line" on the horizon, is actually where you can see the normal color of the water how it should be.
Walking towards the beach and looking to my right... you can clearly see where the lifeguards are normally sitting. But today? Not a living soul in sight...
This beach is normally full of people on clean beach sand.
What you see there on the beach between the Life Guard station and the surf, is what washed ashore from the ocean. It carries on as far as you can see. Durban CBD is visible in the background.
Looking up north, with Umhlanga Rocks CBD visible in the background, it's the same story. In this photo, you can also see the color of the water...
It seems like this is what the whole coastline looks like along the whole Durban area, which is locally known as the eThekwini Municipal district.
I took some more photos, but they all tell the same story...
I am hesitant to call it positive...but let's be positive and say "more towards the positive side"...I have read an article online which was published yesterday afternoon which stated that some of the beaches are being opened again as the municipality said that its latest tests revealed lower levels of E.coli in the water.
Call me silly if you want, but after what we saw over the weekend, I'm not going anywhere near that water anytime soon...
This is not the kind of thing that causes havoc on this scale and then just magically disappears overnight.
I just feel sorry for all those holidaymakers who spent all that money and who were looking forward to their time at the beach...and then end up with this scenario...
And that's it for today.
Thank you for reading my post. I do appreciate it.