Wollongong Council explains what's going on with our sandy ocean pools
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00:00 Have you noticed just how much sand is on the city's beaches at the moment?
00:04 Rock pool swimmers have certainly noticed it.
00:06 People are calling it unusual, but it's actually part of the natural cycle of beaches.
00:11 What we're seeing is mainly the result of very low wave conditions,
00:16 where the waves help to build beaches by moving sand from the surf zone onto the dry beach.
00:22 It's a pattern that has been associated with El Nino,
00:25 where we generally see calmer conditions allowing the majority of beaches to gradually replenish sand.
00:30 It is in stark contrast to previous years,
00:33 where beaches were generally in a more eroded state after years of stronger storms activity due to La Nina conditions.
00:41 The level of sand is both good and bad.
00:43 From an asset protection perspective, it's a great thing.
00:47 We have a nice buffer of sand for when the next big storm or set of storms come along.
00:51 This helps protect our coastal assets such as surf clubs, shared pathways and parks.
00:56 We also have nice wide sandy beaches for our community to enjoy in time for summer.
01:01 A downside is the impact the sand levels may have on rock pools and pathways.
01:06 It can make cleaning and maintenance trickier,
01:09 particularly when we also need to work around the tides, seas and swells to do our work.
01:14 Much of the work we do at Council is focused on protecting and maintaining the coast,
01:19 as we know it is a very valuable place for our community.
01:22 We will continue to monitor beach volumes and the movement of sand
01:26 to help us understand how the coastline is changing and use this knowledge to inform our future work.
01:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:34 (upbeat music)