We aren’t the only ones to notice that the beach has grown both horizontally and vertically since late June. Here’s the text of a report by Gary McGraw from August 9th. Gary is the head of the Dewees Turtle Team.

Question? How much sand has accreted (vertically) in the middle part of Dewees so far this summer ?

sehcni 2/1 72 yletamixorppa : rewsnA

While collecting data for Gretchen’s nesting study on relocated nests, we placed a stake at original nest # 9 laid on June 20th. The Google map attached shows the location. The blue line is the escarpment SHTL taken Sept 26, 2006. The red line is the escarpment SHTL taken in July of this year. Note the severe erosion over the past two years. One can easily recognize Osprey Walk and Lake Timicau. The green marker in the middle of the map is the original location of the turtle nest.

The marker has been completely buried in sand. I used gps coordinates to locate the buried turtle sign. See attached photos taken after digging out the sign. The top of the marker was about 11 inches below the surface. By using the black line on the stake, I estimate that approximately 27 ½ inches of sand has accreted vertically at that location.

Mother Nature giveth and she taketh … but so far this summer we are gaining sand [which is expected once the shoal attached this Spring].

Cheers, loggerhead bro gary

In case you couldn’t decode Gary’s second second paragraph, it says,

Answer: approximately 27-1/2 inches

Mother Nature is fickle.  The sand comes and goes, every hour, every day, every week.  This is only a small accretion trend — about six weeks worth.  We hope it continues.  But it might change course.

Here are the photos Gary’s report references: