Local Beach Guidelines and Recommendations for New Jersey

Course Activities Journal
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Program Name or Degree Name (e.g., Master of Science in Nursing), Walden University
COURSE XXX: Title of Course
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Month XX, 202X
Course Activities Journal
The idea book entails an analysis of diverse concepts and insights gained from readings, videos, and resources through the course. The focus of this analysis is on the beach life and experiences of people. It entails the cultural experiences, conservation, benefits of beaches, and how the beach culture is lived in different parts of the world. One of the most outstanding aspect is how individuals are able to share experience and connect with the marine life.
Local Beach Guidelines and Recommendations for New Jersey
Visiting beaches is among the most dominant physical and leisure activities that Americans enjoy the most. To ensure optimum utilization of the New Jersey beach resources, there are several safety guidelines heightened by the onset of the pandemic. In normal circumstances, activities like smoking, open flames, fire pits, cooking, and barbequing are not allowed on the beach front. The purpose of these prohibitions is to limit the health risks to people and marine species posed by the mentioned activities. Other prohibited activities include littering, beach-based games like volleyball, pet presence, and physical games in undesignated areas. Due to the onset of Covid-19, additional public health precautions have been added by the CDC. The coronavirus outbreak forced government to create policies that were aimed to protect residents from any form of harm as they share life. In the beach environment, it was essential to institute policies that would safeguard people and enhance their health while enjoying the beach environment. I believe that the regulations were essential in enhancing safety and curbing the spread of the virus. In many instances, beach experiences can force individuals to engage in close contact whole disregarding their health. Therefore, having proper implements that were intended to safeguard the people was essential and was aimed to curb the spread of the virus. Moreover, this was in line with the protocols proposed by CDC.
For instance, beach enthusiasts should be keen on social distancing protocols including a 6 meters’ distance between, not sharing items with people they don’t live with and wearing masks when not swimming. The essence of recreational beach facilities it to enhance togetherness and healthy and mindful living. Therefore, these safety precautions are meant to ensure that each individual has quality time without interference from other members of the public. Most importantly, the safety guidelines are key in enhancing the safe utilization of beach resources. These precautions, coupled with my understanding of the need to conserve the environment are key factors that set my behavioral parameters when at the beach. Knowing that other people will observe these safety regulations makes me feel safe to spend time at the beach despite the ongoing pandemic.
California Surfers
Surfing is popular sport through California because of its exquisite beaches and outstanding waves. As we can see from the video, the surfers are having an experience of their lifetime. It is an outstanding experience and ensures that individuals are able to enjoy their time while touring California. There are numerous worthy spots for surfers throughout the region. Through the experiences, surfers can choose their preferred beach. There is a rich history of surfing in California. The beaches are known to have sharks and numerous attacks have been reported throughout the region. In this regard, it is essential for people to be cautious when surfing along the beaches in California. New Jersey also has outstanding spots for surfers. However, there are certain times that are favorable for surfers and others are dangerous. During winter, surfing is deemed to be dangerous compared to summer. Therefore, it is essential to have proper and effective remedies that will ensure surfers are safe. If surfing during winter, surfers must be ready to brave the cold winds. It is ideal to practice surfing during the summer compared to winter in New Jersey.
One of the reasons why I love watching surfers is that they embody the ideal philosophy of navigating the challenges of life. While people would want to avoid waves, the same way they want to avoid problems, the surfers go after the waves. They understand the consequences, but they have also mastered how to convert the consequences into joy. The bigger the wave, the more the joy. In this amazement a few things, minute yet important, may go unnoticed. But noticing them creates a holistic experience of the New Jersey beach. When approaching or waiting for an oncoming waver, the surfers are flat on their tummies on the raft. There is a synergy between the closing in of the wave and the waking up movement of the surfers. Here, the application of lower body muscles is key in providing reflex, stamina, and stability to race with the wave. The surfers have a high affinity to large-sized waves because they provide longer streaks and top speeds which in turn makes surfing fun to participate and to watch.
New Jersey beach also not shy of exquisite stunts from by the surfers. A common one involves the surfer hitting out shore-bound wave and flipping in the air up to three times before settling seamlessly on the scary wave surface. What adds joy to surfing is the sense of togetherness the surfers show to each other. They celebrate together when they perform impressive stunts and are always on the standby to provide assistance to beach enthusiast especially in emergency situations. The sense of togetherness and inclusiveness is vital especially when struggling through a pandemic. However, this is what beaches are for: where people can safely socialize, interact, engage in physical activities, have leisure, and fun at the same time.
Surfing remains an exciting sport for many people. It is an avenue to experience the sea life and waves. However, individuals must exercise caution and ensure that they are able to protect the different areas involving marine life. It is also appropriate to enhance safety and safeguard the environment from any form of harm. As an individual, I understand that surfing is cherished by many people. But caution must be exercises to avoid accidents.
Naturalist Along the Jersey Shore
A naturalist is a student or expert of natural history. Natural history is the scientific study of plants and animals with emphasis on observation rather than exploitation and experimentation. The importance of natural history is based on the idea that specimen becomes more valuable over time. In essence, historical records on plants and animals are sources of biodiversity baselines that enable students, experts, and researchers to track temporal and geographic changes in communities and within species. The information is vital because it can be used to explain the impact of human activities on the environment and provide insights on conservation strategies. Joanna Burger is among the prominent naturalists keen on Jersey beaches. In her book, A Naturalist Along the Jersey Shore, she provides different essays that describe the state of the beach: in terms of time, animal presence, human activities, and serenity. In the book, Burger notes that the edge of the ocean (beach) is ever changing and the changes are affecting both creatures and human activities. What stands out in Burger’s work is her keen interest on observation rather than interference. She discovers the delicate mating dances of crabs and the swarming of fish communities to the shoreline.
Another prominent naturalist is David Schmidly, a Zoologist and an academic administrator. In his commentary, What it Means to be a Naturalist and the Future of Natural History at American Universities, Schmidly argues that now is a good time to think about what it implies to be a naturalist because the current millennium provides us an opportunity to take stock of ourselves and ponder on the direction in which science and society are headed. He further adds that natural history is increasingly rare within academic spaces and attributes the phenomena to uncomforting experience of reading naturalist’s literary material. This point of view perhaps explains the different points of view that naturalists hold towards the environment compared to other professions. Economists for instance would want to transform beach resources into monetary benefits while engineers will want to interfere with the natural setting of the beach ecosystem. Ecologists want to classify the beach species into communities and study them while biologists are focused on the processes of life. Naturalist, however, only want to observe the natural state of the beach. It is through these observations that researchers have information that supports the mentioned domains of knowledge.
The most vivid imagination I have of a beach visit is on a Sunday afternoon in summer. On this day, I expect to see crabs fiddling in the beach sand surfers racing against the waves. I like Sunday evenings because they are usually slow with minimal beach activities except for holidays. On this day, I may not be keen-eyed like Burger or Schmidly, but main attraction is the human figures, in pairs, groups, or singles either roaming or standing in the beach sunset. The serenity created by the sound of the waves coupled with orange sunset rays, and onshore breeze provide safe places for the mind. It also provides a perfect combination of conditions ideal for couples to stroll the beach. This attractive nature of the beach may also explain Burger’s observation of romantic crab dances. What saddens me, however, is that humans have a tendency of interfering with the crabs by either disrupting, catching, or throwing them back into the water. While a naturalist can observe and identify crab dances that attract mating partners, other people have no idea of what is going on.
Yoga Practice on the Beach
The ample serenity found on beaches on Sundays in summer are also ideal for Yoga enthusiast. In modern society, there is an ongoing trend in which people are increasingly aware of the benefits of physical fitness. Yoga is among the activities most preferred especially by women. Beaches provide a serene environment in which people can engage in yoga activities. Apart from increasing flexibility and muscle strength, yoga build body tone, helps manage stress and anxiety and release muscular tension. A serene environment is ideal for yoga because it allows participants to control and align the mind, body, and soul. Therefore, the benefits of yoga extent into the spiritual realm.
An interesting fact about yoga is that it allows people to identify and care for their effective sensations and sensibilities. Yoga, as an art, has a variety of poses that allow the effective realization of this object. For instance, a combination of poses enables participants to generate the ocean breath. By generating the ocean breath, the participants are listening to the sound of the ocean and trying to replicate it. In a way, it is a form of observation which is key for naturalist students and experts. By participating in this simple action, participants are paying attentions to their surroundings by utilizing their sound sensations. Throughout these poses, a key element that stands out is the emphasis on breathing in and out. The slow long breezes provide an opportunity to fully appreciate the smell of the ocean beach and ocean environment. The generation of the ocean breath starts with participant standing straight with hands at the sternum. They then bend slightly at the knee while inhaling and rising up with the arms reaching for the sky from sideways. It is followed by exhaling slowly through a forward fold. These first moves are profound because they emphasis on feeling one’s feet against the earth and embracing the evasive coastal air through deep breaths.
These are examples of how people can be in a relationship with their own bodies and nature. By paying attention to the oceanic environment for instance, naturalists like Burger can tell us the importance of not interfering with crabs. Observations, be it through yoga, leisurely or professional settings, provide vital information on how human beings can safely interact with the marine ecosystem. Thus, the yoga possess may not be sufficiently effective in observing the beach environment, but they provide alternative ways through which people can understand and conserve the beach environment.
NPR Feature
On the onset of Covid-19 in 2019, preliminary projections highlighted Africa as among the continents that would suffer the most from the pandemic. These projections were based on the sorry state of public health resources and facilities in African countries, South of the Sahara. It was expected that the public health systems would crumble earlier as the virus spread around the continent. In early 2020, it was clear that the worst outbreaks globally were in cooler locations. These locations provide winter-like weather conditions that are known to be ‘perfect conditions’ for the spread of airborne diseases. From these finding, one of the arguments that emerged as to why Africa was experiencing low infection rates was the tropical conditions, which to an extent, reflect summer conditions towards the poles. Based on this theory and several research outcomes, scientists postulated that summer weather would reduce infection rates while winter weather may be responsible for a second wave of the pandemic. Thus, the key issue to determine is whether the infection rate of Covid-19 will be affected by weather patterns and how this summer will be affected. I think summer conditions will not have a significant effect on the infection rate because other factors could be responsible for the slow infections rates in tropical regions.
In the article by NPR, Ben Cowling observed that “in South Asia, there were heavy seeding of infections from China into Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia:” areas which are relatively hotter. Cowling is however cautious of this conclusion citing the importance of slow infection rates in tropical settings. Therefore, according to Cowling, there is a little bit of seasonal pressure which is not sufficient to have a significant impact on infection rate. An example is the in the United States where Southern States like Louisiana and Florida have suffered almost equally is counterparts in the colder Michigan and New York States. This observation eliminates the theory of summer or tropical weather.
In the article, Akiko Iwasaki argues that he would not be surprised if the novel coronavirus is not aerosolized. This is because the virus is not different from other types of respiratory diseases. While research cautions the assumptions that all new viruses will follow a seasonal pattern. Iwasaki argues that it is possible for the virus to remain in the air regardless of the current weather conditions. Anice Lowen supports these sentiments by arguing that the onset of influenza in 2009 did not start in winter like other flues. She reminds us that “the 2009 pandemic started in April and May, well...