The Health, Beauty and Ecosystem of Our Beaches is Under Threat.
Driving on the beach
The driving cause for most of these problems is overdevelopment and poor coastal management. If no buildings crowded the shoreline, there would be no shoreline armoring, beach nourishment, threats to the beach fauna and flora or shoreline erosion problems.
The work of the Santa Aguila Charitable Trust will emphasize the impacts of sand mining and shoreline armoring: the first because the effects of sand mining have been largely ignored on a global scale and the latter due to its overwhelming negative impacts on the world’s beaches.
- Coastal Care Introduction: The world’s beaches are in dire need of attention.
- Sea Level Rise: There is no debate: sea level rise is happening right now and threatens all of our beaches.
- Poor Coastal Development: Even a single building negatively impacts a beach, so it is hard to imagine what hundreds of them might do.
- Shoreline Armoring: Sea walls and constructed rock shorelines are not beautiful vacation destinations and can eventually destroy the natural beach.
- Sand Mining: Right now, sand is being taken off beaches all over the world destroying beach habitat, accelerating erosion, and reducing protection from storms.
- Pollution: Pollution is hazardous to animals and plants, takes many forms, and is an increasing global problem.
- Mangrove & Coral Destruction: Development and beach construction projects destroy critical habitat for beach plants and animals everyday.
The Beach Ecosystem is Made Up of Living and Non-Living Parts.
Heavy mineral accumulations
Plants and animals and sand and water influence each other, often amidst breathtaking scenery. Greater than the sum of its parts, beaches sustain major portions of global biodiversity. With over half the world’s population living within 50 km of the coast, human influence on that biodiversity is inevitable, making the study of beaches even more important.
- Beach Basics: Learn how a beach is defined, why beaches are different colors, and the parts of a beach.
- Exploring the Sand: Sand is a major part of most beaches. Learn some details about sand that you might not know.
- Waves: What causes waves to break, different types of waves, and rogue waves.
- Tides: Learn about tides, storm surges, and sea level rise.
- Sand Dunes: Sand dune formation, types of dunes, and where they exist.
- Flora and Fauna: The beach is home to scores of amazing plants and animals. Learn just a few of these and make your next visit to the beach a treat.
- Seashells: Seashells are an important part of biological and geological beach processes as well as an important part of human culture.
- Safety: Follow these safety tips to reduce risk of danger at the beach.
You Can Make a Difference and Help Save Our Beaches
Low tide seawall marsh, Pivers Island
Learn simple things that you can do to help protect beaches starting with simply educating others about the beach thereby helping us celbrate the beauty of the world’s beaches.
- Advocacy: Learn what the experts are saying on major beach issues. Follow these simple tips to make sure your impact is reduced and others can enjoy the beach too.
- Petition on Sand Mining: Sign our petition to end global beach sand mining.
- Petition on Hardened Beach Structures: Sign our petition supporting the ban on hardened beach structures in North Carolina.
- Donate: Support our mission.
How do you celebrate the beach? Let us know!
Celebrating the beach is key! Compete in our drawing contest, write a poem, share a photograph, tell a story or play a game. The beach holds something for everyone!
- Art Contest: Send us your art and it may end up on this site.
- Games: Mazes, puzzles, crosswords, coloring activities, and more.
- Resources: Our growing list of all things coastal.
- Beach Poetry: Drawing the line in the sand.
Surfing in / Features
Are Jellyfish Increasing in the World’s Oceans? A UCSB Study
Blooms, or proliferation, of jellyfish have shown a substantial, visible impact on coastal populations, clogged nets for fishermen, stinging waters for tourists, even choked intake lines for power plants, and recent media reports have created a perception that the world’s oceans are experiencing increases in jellyfish due to human activities such as global warming and overharvesting of fish.
100 Countries Back World Environment Agency: France
More than a hundred countries now support a French proposal to create a “World Environment Organisation” at the upcoming 20th anniversary conference of the Rio Summit, France’s ecology minister said.
Beach Erosion Causes 18-Foot Cliffs In Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey, is blocking access to a half-mile stretch of beachfront after erosion created cliffs as high as 18 feet. It will be at least four months until the beaches will be open to the public again.
Feds: Mid-Atlantic Wind Farms Take Step Forward
Offshore wind farms from New Jersey to Virginia took a big step closer to reality with the completion of a review that showed the renewable energy source would leave no major environmental damage.
Morris Island Lighthouse & the Moving Beach
Morris Island Lighthouse is now located over 1,500 feet out to sea on a sand shoal surrounded by a small seawall. The relatively deep 35-foot foundation of the spindle has allowed it to continue standing as the land moved out from under it. Originally constructed a quarter-mile behind the beach, the lighthouse has survived storms, rising sea level, and barrier island migration since 1876.
Oil Spill Brings Attention to Delicate Gulf Coast
For decades, farmers and fishermen along the Gulf of Mexico watched as their sensitive ecosystem’s waters slowly got dirtier and islands eroded, all while the country largely ignored the slow, methodical ruin of an ecosystem vital to the U.S. economy…
Japan Studies Flora and Fauna Near Fukushima Plant
Japanese scientists are studying how radiation has affected plants, animals, shellfish and other wild flora and fauna living in and around the 20 kilometre (12 mile) no-go zone surrounding the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Long-term Response Plan for Possible Cuban Oil Spill
US researchers have drafted a plan to best prepare South Florida in case of an eventual oil spill off the coast of Cuba. The proximity of intended Cuban oil drilling and production puts the coastal zone at risk from Florida to the Carolinas and northward.
