Our Say | The Daily Advertiser

A citizen science initiative tracking changes and erosion on beaches is turning two in the Eurobodalla. CoastSnap was introduced at two beaches in the Eurobodalla in 2020. The app allows anyone to take a picture of the beach with their phone from a permanently installed tripod, recording the date, time, tide and location and creating a data set of sand movement on the shore. There are tripods at Tomakin Cove and South Broulee in the Eurobodalla, ensuring the photo is taken from the same location, every shot. The council's coastal and flood management planner, Cameron Whiting said the key success of the initiative was their consistent use over the two years. The stations have been used on average two to three time per week since their introduction. READ MORE: Mr Whiting said the council had not yet taken any actions in response to the data provided by CoastSnap, but that the initiative was more future focused and the data would be more useful the longer the initiative ran. "CoastSnap provides the council with a picture of how our beaches respond to storm events in the short term," he said. He said the stations had captured a number of east coast low events, such as the torrential storms earlier this year, and shown the beaches to recover effectively in the aftermath of such rainfall. "The real benefit is captured at a higher time resolution (over several years to decades) for healthy beaches like ours," he said. Tomakin's Charlie Bell has taken a CoastSnap two or three times per week since the program was introduced. That is roughly 260 photos of Tomakin Cove in two years. "It's my bit of beach," he said. The former forestry scientist learnt the importance of data during his career, and loves the opportunity to stay involved in science. "A long history of identical photos from the same point is a good collection of data," he said. "You see things change, but it's hard to remember what things were like one or two years ago. "With this, you can see what is happening to the beach over a long period of time." He has seen the beach during king tides with foam lapping at the access steps, and especially low tides where he can walk to Mossy Point without getting his feet wet. He has seen the beach flat, or undulating like a set of sandy waves rolling in towards the vegetation. Most noticeably, he has witnessed this vegetation recede a metre in the past two years. "It is hard to pick the annual changes from the long term changes," he said. "But with this, the council will be able to tell how fast the beach is receding every year." Mr Bell researched the history of coastal water level rise, flooding and climate change in the area before buying his Tomakin property three years ago. "Tomakin Cove is an area where sea level is especially critical," he said. "The people living here and the council need to know when they are going to have a problem." One data set is missing, however, from Charlie's contribution. "I don't come out in the pouring rain," he said.

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