Theme Week Florida Coasts – Forgotten Coast

23 February 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Fishing boats in Apalachicola © Ebyabe/cc-by-sa-3.0

Fishing boats in Apalachicola © Ebyabe/cc-by-sa-3.0

Florida’s Forgotten Coast is a registered trademark coined in the early 1990s by the Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce. The name is most commonly used to refer to a relatively quiet, undeveloped and largely uninhabited section of coastline stretching from Mexico Beach on the Gulf of Mexico to St. Marks on Apalachee Bay in the U.S. state of Florida. The nearest major cities are Tallahassee, about 90 miles (145 km) northeast of Apalachicola, and Panama City, home of Tyndall Air Force Base, about 60 miles (95 km) to the northwest.   read more…

Étang de Thau in Southern France

1 February 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Barrou Neighbourhood and the Étang de Thau with its Oster farms seen from Sète © Christian Ferrer/cc-by-sa-3.0

Barrou Neighbourhood and the Étang de Thau with its Oster farms seen from Sète © Christian Ferrer/cc-by-sa-3.0

Étang de Thau or Bassin de Thau is the largest of a string of lagoons (étangs) that stretch along the French coast from the Rhône River to the foothills of the Pyrenees and the border to Spain in the Languedoc-Roussillon. Although it has a high salinity, it is considered the second largest lake in France. Located between the towns of Sète and Marseillan in the Hérault département, the Étang de Thau is shared administratively by the communes of (running clockwise): Balaruc-le-Vieux, Balaruc-les-Bains, Frontignan, Sète, Marseillan, Mèze, Loupian and Bouzigues. The Bassin de Thau provides a habitat for a variety of wild animals, notably birds such as herons and pink flamingos and a rich marine fauna, including bivalves (oysters and mussels), jellyfish, fish, and algae. Periodically in the spring and summer, the Thau Lagoon has algae blooms of Alexandrium catenella which sometimes reach such high levels that it results in contamination of the lagoon’s bivalves with algae toxins.   read more…

The Sylter Royal Oyster

2 March 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  3 minutes

Sylter Royal © Magnus Manske/cc-by-sa-3.0

Sylter Royal © Magnus Manske/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Sylt Royal Oyster is a breed that is reared in aquaculture in the Blidselbucht in the Lister Wadden Sea within three years. The Sylter Royal is the only oyster, which is produced in Germany.   read more…

Whitstable Oyster Festival

24 October 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Whitstable Oysters © The Crab and Winkle Restaurant / seewhitstable.com

Whitstable Oysters © The Crab and Winkle Restaurant / seewhitstable.com

Whitstable is a seaside town in Northeast Kent, Southeast England. It is approximately 8 kilometres (5 mi) north of the city of Canterbury and approximately 3 kilometres (2 mi) west of the seaside town of Herne Bay. It is part of the City of Canterbury district and has a population of about 30,000. Whitstable is famous for its oysters, which have been collected in the area since at least Roman times. The town itself dates back to before the writing of the Domesday Book. Whitstable’s distinctive character is popular with tourists, and its maritime heritage is celebrated with the annual oyster festival. Freshly caught shellfish are available throughout the year at several seafood restaurants and pubs in the town.   read more…

The seaside resort of Arcachon on the Atlantic coast

9 January 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Bassin d'Arcachon - Cabanes tchanquées © Karine Deydier

Bassin d’Arcachon – Cabanes tchanquées © Karine Deydier

Arcachon is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. It is a popular bathing location on the Atlantic coast 55 kilometres (34 mi) southwest of Bordeaux in the Landes forest. It has a fine beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for invalids suffering from pulmonary complaints.   read more…

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