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  • We’re going to need a bigger drone: The technology keeping swimmers safe at one New York beach | CNN Business

    We’re going to need a bigger drone: The technology keeping swimmers safe at one New York beach | CNN Business


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Warmer and cleaner waters off the coast of Long Island, New York, in recent years have brought growing numbers of bait fish to the area — and with them, the bigger fish that eat them, including sharks. In some ways, it’s a good sign for the environment. But it’s a different story for swimmers, surfers and beach goers.

    Safety officials at one New York beach are ramping up the use of drones to try to prevent potentially dangerous interactions between humans and sharks.

    Lifeguards and New York State Park Police officers at Jones Beach — a state park that stretches 6.5 miles along the Southern coast of Long Island and sees six million visitors a year — are using the technology to monitor the waters off the shore. When they spot sharks or unusual sea life activity, they can warn swimmers to stay on the beach.

    The tracking program began in 2017 but has taken on new urgency following a rash of shark attacks at New York beaches this summer. While the risk of being attacked by a shark remains low, just this week, a 65-year-old woman was hospitalized after being bitten by a shark at Rockaway Beach in Queens. The next day, lifeguards at Jones Beach closed the water three times after possible shark sightings, two of which were made with drones.

    “I can’t predict whether or not there’s going to be more bites or shark attacks, but what I can tell you is … the more drones that are flying in the air, there’s more of a chance of seeing these animals in their natural habitat,” Park Police Captain Rishi Basdeo told CNN last month, prior to the latest attack (which occurred at a different beach from where his team monitors). “Just by merely warning people, that in itself is [paying] dividends,” he said.

    With more sharks along the beach, police are using these drones to protect swimmers

    The New York State Park Police operates a fleet of 19 drones along Jones Beach, used by lifeguards with backup from officers who can do more enhanced monitoring via a mobile command center that travels up and down the beach if something unusual has been spotted in the water. Inside the command center van, officers can watch a livestream of the drone footage on a TV screen to determine if swimmers should be removed from the water.

    “You’re getting with the drone a real supreme aerial view of what’s going on in real time on the waterway,” Basdeo said, adding that if a shark is within 400 feet of the shore, officials consider closing the water. “If a shark is in close proximity to the bathing area — or even before we get schools [of fish] there — we are already making that decision … and the lifeguards will stop people from swimming and just safely guide people out of the water.”

    On the day last month that Park Police officers gave CNN a demonstration of the drone tracking program, the cameras picked up only a few skate fish just off the shore. But the drones — which have cameras powerful enough to see beneath the surface of the water even from about 25 feet in the air — have previously caught footage of sharks swimming solo and feeding on large schools of fish.

    Operating the program is not cheap — even the more low-tech drone kits used by lifeguards to do regular monitoring cost around $6,000 each and require operators trained in Federal Aviation Administration rules, according to Basdeo. But he says it’s worth it to avoid safety risks to people enjoying the beach. And, he added, “It’s actually cheaper than calling in a police helicopter.”

    New York State Park Police officers are using drones to monitor for sharks off the coast of Long Island, New York, like this one spotted in 2022.

    The technology has uses beyond searching for sharks, too. The drones can be augmented with an infrared camera, spotlights and speakers to help in search and rescue capacities, and could even carry a life preserver out to a distressed swimmer before a lifeguard could get to them.

    For example, “If we get a report that an individual is missing at night, we have an ability aside from calling in a police helicopter … we can send our drones up and put in the infrared capability in the camera and actually see in the dark,” Basdeo said. “Five years ago, we didn’t have this drone capability in our agency, but now it’s spreading and it’s catching on.”

    Basdeo also stressed that the drones are used for only limited, safety-related applications.

    “We’re on strict guidelines when we fly and operate these drones. It is not used to surveil the public. It is used to keep them safe,” Basdeo said. “We don’t fly, or we try not to fly, over large groups of people. There are designated emergency lanes on the beach … where it’s sparsely populated” that operators use to navigate the drones out to the water, he said.

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  • Swimming pools vs. wild swimming — a germs expert on which is worse | CNN

    Swimming pools vs. wild swimming — a germs expert on which is worse | CNN

    Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer. CNN is showcasing the work of The Conversation, a collaboration between journalists and academics to provide news analysis and commentary. The content is produced solely by The Conversation.



    CNN
     — 

    Wild swimming has grown massively in popularity in recent times. Not only is swimming outdoors a pleasant way to enjoy the sunshine, fresh air and green leafy surroundings, it can also help to relieve stress and elevate our endorphins. This creates a sense of wellbeing as well as burning calories and exercising muscles.

    But along with the joys of outdoor swimming come some dangers. Not only are wild swimmers more at risk from tides, currents and swells, there can also be nasty bugs and bacteria lurking in the water. And with untreated sewage regularly flowing into seas, rivers and lakes in my home country of the UK, it can be hard to find a safe spot for a paddle.

    Of course, swimming in a pool comes with its own set of risks. Urinary tract infections, ear infections and tummy bugs are the most common illnesses caught here. Dirty pools can also cause your eyes to sting and harbor all sorts of bacteria and germs – including urine, faeces and sweat. In many ways, swimming pools are like a big bath filled with lots of strangers.

    But while it’s clear that swimming in outdoor waters carries different risks from swimming in a pool, the question of where’s safest to swim may not seem immediately obvious. So where’s cleanest for a dip: swimming pools, or rivers, lakes, canals and the sea? Let’s look at the evidence.

    Unlike swimming pools where waters are carefully monitored, outdoor waters are constantly changing in composition. This means that chemicals can leach into wild waters from nearby farms or industrial areas, animals can defecate in water, and in certain areas human sewage may be legally or otherwise dumped into the water (if you can see pipes, do not get in).

    There may not be signposts warning of local dangers, and the presence of toxic agents might not be obvious. When in doubt about the chemical safety of outdoor waters, it’s better to not enter them. If the water doesn’t look or smell right, trust your instinct.

    There are also natural hazards to outdoor waters compared with pools, especially in the summer. Blue-green algae is a type of bacteria naturally found in lake ecosystems. In warm summers, the algae tends to multiply and form a powdery green scum (known as a bloom) on the surface of the lake. This blue-green algae bloom can release toxins which are harmful to humans and occasionally lethal to pets.

    Swimming in or swallowing water containing toxin-releasing algal blooms can lead to skin rashes, eye irritation, severe gastrointestinal upset, fever, and muscle and joint pain.

    Diarrhea is the most common illness linked to open-water swimming, often due to sewage contamination. You become ill if you swallow contaminated water, which can contain bacteria and viruses such as E.coli and Norovirus.

    Rats living in sewers adjacent to freshwater rivers or canals can also carry in their urine the bacterial pathogen Leptospira, which causes Leptospirosis (Weil’s disease). The infection occurs if soil or water from a lake, river or canal that contains urine from infected animals is swallowed, gets in a swimmer’s eyes or a cut.

    Leptospirosis can cause liver and kidney damage, and may be fatal if left untreated. If you develop flu or jaundice symptoms up to two weeks after swimming in a river or canal, it may be a good idea to ask your doctor for a Leptospirosis test.

    As for the sea, a 2018 study found that people swimming in seawater were more likely to experience infections of the ear, nose, throat and gastrointestinal system than those who stayed on the beach. So it’s a good idea to wash after swimming in any outdoor waters, and certainly before eating food.

    When you add it all up, even with the possibility of people peeing and pooping in the pool, a managed swimming pool will always be a safer environment for a swim. Especially when you consider things like jellyfish stings and the additional risks that come with swimming in cold water.

    Swimming pools are a safer bet.

    Compared with a pool, wild swimmers are more likely to become unwell from swimming in outdoor water as there will always be potentially disease-causing microbes present.

    Swimming pool water, with adequate chlorine disinfection levels and pH maintenance, is much less likely to contain infectious microorganisms and so represents a much safer environment for recreational swimming. Injuries and drowning are also much less likely in pools where trained lifeguards and safety equipment are present.

    Perhaps, then, an outdoor managed swimming pool offers the best of both worlds – a swim with the sun on your back in a sanitary environment.

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