Love taking photos of the beach? Here’s a reason to snap the scenic coastline, but not for your social media feed — it’s for research.
OC Parks has launched a community-led shoreline monitoring program in Dana Point called “CoastSnap,” a citizen-science project to help document beach changes.
A CoastSnap station, located at the access ramp at Strands Beach, “encourages community members to help with coastal monitoring efforts,” officials said in announcing the new initiative.
At the kiosk, a smartphone cradle is set up, along with instructions on how to upload and submit a photo of the shoreline.
The cradle is set at a precise location and angle to ensure the public is capturing consistent images. Then, the person who shot the image uses a QR code to upload the photos, which are sent to OC Parks and will be used to assist with monitoring seasonal and long-term beach width.
The cradle works in conjunction with surveyed control points and time stamps, allowing for photos to be stitched together to account for tidal variations.
“I am excited to bring the first CoastSnap station to Orange County and harness the power of the community to help protect our coast,” Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley said in a statement. “Coastal erosion threatens our coastal communities, economy and way of life here in Orange County. This CoastSnap station serves as a valuable tool to measure how much coastal erosion impacts our beaches. By engaging residents in this important endeavor, we will gather valuable data while serving as good stewards over our beaches.”
The CoastSnap system was developed by researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia, a global citizen science project to help researchers better understand coastlines and safeguard them for future generations.
There are five other CoastSnap stations in California, all located in San Diego County.
In addition to the CoastSnap station, a new interpretive sign has been installed with narrative descriptions and images demonstrating seasonal and long-term changes of the shoreline.
The installation of the CoastSnap station marks the completion of the Niguel Shores Revetment Restoration Project, required as part of a permit issued by the California Coastal Commission that made OC Parks responsible for complying with a plan for shore monitoring.
The county was given approval in 2022 from the state agency to reinforce a rock sea wall at Strands Beach, where an ancient landslide threatened bluff-top homes.
An estimated 1,000 tons of boulders was used to fill the base of the cliffside, adding to the already-existing 5,000 tons of large rocks that formed the quarter-mile-long revetment.
The rock wall, which has been in place since the 1970s, secures the bluff below 60 or so homes in the Niguel Shores neighborhood.
The project was controversial, denied in 2012 and again in 2020, with commissioners voicing concerns it would result in a loss of public beach to benefit homeowners at taxpayer expense and the proposal lacked enough mitigation measures to make up for impacts to the public stretch of coastline.
The county is responsible for the security of the seawall following a deal inked in 1971 with the developer of the then-new neighborhood. A lawsuit by the Niguel Shores Community Association had resulted in a court-ordered settlement that required the county to maintain the base of the bluff.
In 1977, land movement destabilized several of the vacant building pads. More work to secure the area took place in the early ’80s under an emergency coastal permit, and again in 1988 following severe El Niño storms that affected a nearby bluff slope and undermined the revetment, according to a Coastal Commission report.
In 1989, to settle litigation with the community association, the county agreed to maintain and repair the existing rock revetment and also accepted liability and responsibility for any damages to the property benefiting from the revetment.
