Kyle Chuckry: 08-08-2025

I recently had another full week of sampling in the Niagara Region at all 5 beaches as a part of our Algae Monitoring Pilot and am happy to say Lorraine Bay East was looking good for swimming, although a liiiittle bit of algae was floating in the nearshore.

Algae floating in the Nearshore at Lorraine Bay

This type of algae in particular is called cladophora and it’s certainly no stranger to our beaches in Niagara, but the hard part is telling when the algae becomes too much for people to want to swim in the water, or when too much washes up on the shore for people to want to recreate on the beach.

Algae profile at Reeb’s Bay Public Beach, Wainfleet

I’m currently working on gathering up information on drone specs and how different drones can contribute to shoreline monitoring efforts, for example, some drones can help to make Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) which are great for monitoring the build up, or degradation of sand on beaches to monitor erosion, or to measure how much algae is washing up on the beach. Other drones might be able to approximate chlorophyll in the water to more directly monitor algae on and offshore.

Hopefully by the time we’re done, volunteers and drone enthusiasts will have a guide to inform them on how their drones might be able to help with shoreline monitoring efforts, and give them an excuse to take to the skies!