Shoreline Defender
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Shoreline Defender App is expanding fast — now covering every coastal county in Florida.
It’s your beach access watchdog, forecasting public shoreline boundaries. Built to inform, protect, and empower, it helps you know where the public beach begins.
Would you feel comfortable walking past a private beach sign if you knew the wet sand was public?
08/21/2026
🏖️ WALTON COUNTY FULL-TIME RESIDENTS — YOUR VOICE MATTERS
Walton County Tourism is asking full-time residents to share their thoughts about tourism and how it is affecting our community.
Tourism brings tremendous economic benefits to Walton County, but it also comes with challenges — including traffic, crowded beaches, infrastructure demands, growth and quality-of-life concerns.
Now is your opportunity to tell county leaders what you think.
At Shoreline Defender, we encourage our Walton County followers who live here full-time to take a few minutes and complete the Resident Sentiment Survey. Whether you believe tourism has been a positive force, think we’ve reached a point where changes are needed, or have a different perspective, your opinion deserves to be heard.
📋 The survey is open through September 10, and responses are confidential.
👉 TAKE THE SURVEY HERE:
https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8845556/WCT-RS
Walton County Resident Sentiment Survey
If you’re a full-time Walton County resident, please take the survey and make your voice count. 🌊
08/21/2026
WALTON COUNTY HEALTH OFFICIALS ISSUE WEST NILE VIRUS ADVISORY
WALTON COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health in Walton County (DOH-Walton) is alerting residents after confirming a human case of locally acquired West Nile Virus Disease in Walton County.
DOH-Walton and South Walton Mosquito Control are coordinating response efforts in the affected area, including ground treatment, mosquito spraying and the removal of standing water in an effort to reduce mosquito populations and limit further transmission.
Health officials are urging residents to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites, particularly during periods when mosquito activity is high.
Residents are encouraged to:
• Use mosquito repellent when outdoors.
• Wear long sleeves and pants when practical.
• Keep doors and windows closed or use screens to prevent mosquitoes from entering homes.
• Empty standing water around homes and businesses, including containers, buckets, flowerpots and other items where mosquitoes can breed.
The Florida Department of Health continues statewide surveillance for mosquito-borne illnesses, including West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, malaria, chikungunya and dengue.
Residents are also encouraged to report dead birds to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, as birds can play an important role in monitoring West Nile virus activity.
The advisory was issued August 21, 2026, by DOH-Walton.
For questions or additional information, residents can contact the Florida Department of Health in Walton County at 850-892-8015 or visit FloridaHealth.gov.
Stay aware. Eliminate standing water. Protect yourself from mosquito bites.
Flying Beach Umbrellas Raise Safety Concerns in Crystal Beach and Destin
CRYSTAL BEACH, DESTIN, Fla. — A video captured Thursday shows multiple beach umbrellas being lifted off the sand and sent flying as stormy weather moved into the Destin area, raising serious questions about beach-vendor safety practices.
The video shows dark, overcast skies and changing conditions as strong winds move across the beach. Several umbrellas appear to be unattended when they are lifted into the air and sent flying unpredictably across the sand.
That creates a potentially dangerous situation for anyone nearby.
Once wind gets underneath a large beach umbrella, it can quickly become a projectile. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has warned that wind-blown beach umbrellas can cause serious injuries and even fatalities.
So the question is simple: Why weren’t these umbrellas taken down before the storm arrived?
Weather can change quickly along the Emerald Coast, but approaching storms are often visible well before the strongest winds arrive. When skies darken and winds begin increasing, shouldn’t vendors be proactively securing their equipment?
And if umbrellas are being left open and unattended, who is watching them?
Destin permits approved vendors to rent beach chairs and umbrellas, making the safe operation of that equipment an important public-safety issue.
This isn’t about eliminating beach umbrellas. It’s about preventing commercial beach equipment from becoming a hazard to the public.
Today’s video is a reminder that an umbrella can go from providing shade to becoming a dangerous airborne object in seconds.
If a storm is approaching, vendors should be watching the weather — not waiting for the wind to make the decision for them.
The public deserves to know: What is the protocol for securing unattended vendor umbrellas when dangerous weather approaches, and who is responsible for making sure it happens?
Because once an umbrella is flying through the air, it’s already too late.
Do you think the public should have to check an app just to know whether they’re allowed to walk somewhere on the beach?
Who should decide how close those chairs can get to the water?
08/18/2026
If you’re walking along the water, should someone really be able to tell you that you’re trespassing?
08/17/2026
As August 28 approaches, members of the public who believe they have historically used escambia County’s beaches under customary-use rights are being encouraged to document their experiences and submit their evidence.
Advocates supporting customary use are asking people to come forward with information about how they have historically used the beaches and that firsthand history could be important to the County’s consideration of customary use.
If you have regularly walked, fished, swam, sunbathed, launched a kayak, accessed the water or otherwise used a particular stretch of beach over the years, document what you remember.
Photographs. Videos. Dates. Locations. Family records. Old beach trips. Written accounts. Witnesses who can confirm your use. Anything that can help establish a history of public use may be worth preserving.
And don’t underestimate older evidence.
That photograph from a family beach trip years ago, an old vacation video, a dated social-media post, a fishing photograph, or a neighbor who remembers the same public use could help establish the historical record.
The issue isn’t simply whether someone remembers being on the beach.
The question is whether the evidence demonstrates the kind of historical, customary and uninterrupted public use that may support a customary-use claim.
That makes documentation especially important.
If you believe you have historically used a particular beach, don’t assume someone else will tell your story.
Document your experience. Identify the location. Include approximate dates and how frequently you used the area. Preserve photographs and other records. And if others can independently confirm your history of use, encourage them to document it as well.
At the same time, beachfront owners and associations are being encouraged to submit their own historical records.
The County should have the fullest possible historical record — from both the people who used these beaches and the people who owned and managed the property.
This isn’t about one person’s memory versus another person’s memory.
It’s about putting the evidence on the record.
📅 August 28 is approaching.
If you believe you have a history of using Escambia County’s beaches, now is the time to document it.
🔗 The link with information on how to participate will be shared in the comments.
Know your history. Document your use. Make your voice part of the record.
Should beach vendors be allowed to set up in wet sand just because nobody has told them to move?
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