Link to the Top 10 features of the day

Metro Editor Marc Masferrer is trying a new Top 10 feature online in the mornings. He is compiling the top-viewed links from the past 24 hours and posting them as a story.

I cringed a bit at the idea, knowing those popular headlines are usually the grittiest offered each day. But I was pleasantly surprised by the No. 1 offering today: Herald photojournalists' photo gallery of our beaches, which they shot more than a week ago.

It's been in the Top 10 for days. We'd like to think our viewers are relieved to take a break from the horrifying images that are documenting the catastrophic damage being left by the oil spill. Herald photojournalists Paul Videla and Tiffany Tompkins-Condie also have posted a stunningly beautiful gallery of Manatee County's ecological treasures.

We hope Paul's, Tiffany's and Grant Jefferies' photos don't become history -- that we can walk on our beaches and enjoy the splendor for years to come, without oil spills and oil rigs ruining our most valuable assets.

-- Joan
A typical weekend day on Manatee County's public beach/photo by Paul Videla/the Herald