Blue waters a tourism boon
Clear conditions of a month ago led to rises in revenue at parks and higher hotel occupancy
The clear blue water that graced Galveston beaches a month ago has some businesses counting extra green. Revenue for the island’s five beach parks the weekend after Memorial Day rose 108 percent from the same time a year earlier.
The clear blue water that washed ashore a month ago had some Galveston businesses counting extra green, figures from the Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau show.
“Evidence does suggest that the timing of the blue water news and the correlating increase in visitation bear that out,” the bureau said in a statement to the Chronicle.
The weekend after Memorial Day saw combined revenue for the island’s five beach parks rise 108 percent from the same time a year earlier. The bureau said hotel revenues were up by 26 percent and hotel occupancy by 17.3 percent. A waitress at one beachside restaurant reported the phone ringing off the hook with out-of-towners calling to see if the reports of blue water were true.
Business owners echoed the enthusiasm for the rare break from the more typical brown water, even as they stressed that the beach’s normal state is perfectly fine.
“I think it did draw more people to the island,” said Steve Cunningham, general
manager for the Hotel Galvez and Spa. “It was a topic of conversation with our guests. … If we could have it blue like it was there that week to 10 days all the time, sure, that would be phenomenal.”
But, Cunningham added: “There’s nothing wrong with the water here. It just looks more brown than blue.”
Tom Linton, a marine biologist at Texas A&M University at Galveston, agreed on the merits of Galveston’s signature seascapes.
“The brown water is good stuff in many ways,” Linton said. “Those are nutrients which are very valuable to the shrimp, oarfish and crabs.”
But will the blue be back before summer is gone?
Linton theorized the clear water came about because Subtropical Storm Alberto in late May moved counterclockwise up the Mississippi River’s east side, directing the river’s drainage to the east. Coupled with a Gulf Stream to west that was rotating clockwise, the existing water was pushed out and replaced with clearer water from farther south in the Gulf of Mexico.
“I put two and two together and came up with this theory, and it looks like it’s correct because I said when the hurricane or tropical disturbance forces dissipate, we’ll go back to the way we were and we have,” Linton said. “My further building on that theory is if we get another hurricane that goes in essentially that same path into the Mississippi, we should get clear water again.”
That would benefit business owners like Austin Kimbrough. He estimates sales at his 61st Street Fishing Pier and a souvenir and snack stand at Stewart Beach were up 20 percent between June 1 and June 3, during the last round of blue water. Cars were parked on both sides of Seawall Boulevard, and his businesses were “just jampacked with people,” he said.
“Definitely people were there because it was so nice,” Kimbrough said. “It would have been a busy weekend because it was the second weekend of the summer, but we were that much busier because people heard it was awesome, and it was. That weekend was definitely crazy, very busy.”
People were drawn by the opportunity to see redfish, stingrays and bait fish through the clear water right off the pier, he said.
“It was just stunningly beautiful. You could see the fish swimming all through the water. I mean, there were fish everywhere,” Kimbrough said. “I think people would hang around longer for sure and in turn spend more money with me because they’re buying snacks and drinks.”
For all the hoopla, Linton and Kimbrough say change in color from the brown most people associate with Galveston Island is not such an uncommon occurrence. Kimbrough said the water will turn green for six weeks at a time starting in October. During this most recent clear water event, one of Kimbrough’s customers caught a ling, a considerably rare catch on the coast.
Linton, who has lived in Galveston County since 1943, recalls occasionally seeing clear water. Once around 1998 when he lived in the beachside Spanish Grant subdivision, he and his grandchildren spotted a school of stingrays.
The Convention & Visitors Bureau promotes the island during spring and fall, “when water is generally clearer during that time of year,” spokeswoman Mary Beth Bassett said in an email.
“We are not using the blue water phenomenon to promote the island,” Bassett said. “We do recommend checking our beach webcams to those considering visiting the island.”