About two months ago, I was contacted by a board member of ASAP (Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention). ASAP was working this year with the NPD, Visitor Services and Town, to help get word out to diminish the scope and abuse of the July 4th Nobadeer Beach party via social media. They were interested in obtaining photos from the beach party in 2015 to help with the cause, which I provided for them. I was never more disgusted by what I saw last year while documenting the partiers on the beach, and I'm glad that my photos may have helped contribute to the stricter monitoring and regulations set forth this year. One of my photos from last year was also used a few days ago on the cover of the Metro Section of The Boston Globe with an article about the crackdown on Nobadeer Beach.

Read the article here: Your Rowdy Beach Party Is Not Welcome On Nantucket

As I walked along the path by the airport out toward Nobadeer Beach today, I was glad that I didn't have to dodge wet sand and human excrement every few yards, and there police on 4 wheelers scattered along the Dunes, a presence that was definitely missing last year. 

I was stopped once by an officer telling me to walk back around as there was no beach access through the Dunes, and I was stopped by another police officer inquiring as to whether I had any alcohol in my camera bag.

Once I made it past the dunes and to the beach, I was amazed at the difference between this year and last. Nobadeer Beach looked like a ghost beach today in comparison to last year. Trash receptacles were along the beach every 50 yards or so and there was a fence separating the beach from the dunes to restrict access to partiers. 

The mood was not very festive, and it made me wonder about the rowdiness that must be going on at other beaches, but I was glad to not be confronted with dozens of kids peeing and pooping in the dunes, and I was happy to see barely a piece of trash littering the beach anywhere. 

I've included photos from last year below (the first five) as a comparison to the photos I took today.

Have a happy 4th of July and stay safe everybody!