Even on a cool day, the Dahl family from North Dakota enjoys looking for shells and walking along St. Pete Beach. "People who live here may take it for granted, but we find this is pretty breathtaking," says Ardys Dahl.

And keeping Florida's beaches attractive to both tourists and wildlife is the aim of a statewide demonstration planned for this Saturday. It's called Hands Across the Sand. Organizers want people to hit the beach at 1:00 p.m. and hold hands, in order to show their opposition to oil drilling off Florida's coast.

"We're out to protect our coasts," says Cathy Harrelson, who is helping to organize the demonstrations in Pinellas. She fears an oil spill could harm both the environment and the state's economy. "This is why we're here," says Harrelson while looking over the water at St. Pete Beach. "This is why we visit here. This is why we have a $65 billion a year tourist industry."

While the move to lift Florida's oil drilling ban has recently lost some momentum in Tallahassee, just like the waves, this controversial issue is expected to come back time and time again. "If we don't think this is coming back next year, we're kidding ourselves," says Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg. "Everything we do now, lays the groundwork not only to defeat it this year, but to beat it back the following year." Those pushing for oil exploration say Florida will benefit from millions in royalty dollars. But those gathering on Saturday consider clean water and sand priceless.

Here is more information on the demonstrations in Pinellas: the Facebook group Love Tourists Not Drilling. You can also get more information for demonstrations across the state.