The Peron Naturaliste Partnership has partnered with the University of Western Australia to implement the first ‘CoastSnap’ project in Western Australia. CoastSnap, which started in NSW, is now a successful global initiative that is engaging and involving the community in scientific and environmental research to monitor our changing coastline.
Members of the community take photos of beaches from a fixed smartphone camera stand that ensures photos have the same field of view. These photos are then uploaded, shared via social media and / or emailed to a database where, in addition to providing qualitative information of the along-coast morphology and beach state, beach width measurements and shoreline position can be extracted.
Furthermore, decision makers and coastal researchers can use this data to investigate how much the beach may change during extreme conditions, or in response to the long-term effects of climate change. A report that includes analysis of the first 6 months of data is available here.
The sites include vulnerable coastal locations in each of the nine PNP member Local government areas.
- Mersey Point Jetty, Shoalwater Bay, Rockingham
- Henson St, Silver Sands, Mandurah
- Heron Point, Birchmont
- Preston Beach
- Binningup Beach
- Eaton Foreshore
- Dolphin Discovery Centre, Koombana Bay, Bunbury
- Dalyellup Beach
- Busselton Jetty
You can view photos submitted by citizen scientists on the CoastSnapWA Facebook page and there is a short video introducing the project on the UWA Facebook page.
How do I get involved?
Visit one of the photo monitoring sites and follow these simple steps:
- Snap a photo by placing smartphone on its side in stand / cradle and take a photo
- Share or email your photo:
- With camera open, point at QR code on the sign and follow link to CoastSnapWA database
- Post directly to CoastSnapWA Facebook page
- Share via Twitter
- Share via Instagram – original photo ratio and no filter
- Email your photo – make sure to include date and time when photo was taken
Remember when using social media, use site hashtag and include date and time when photo was taken.
CoastSnap is an integral part of the PNP Regional Coastal Monitoring Program. A component of this project is oblique aerials that have been collected biannually since December 2014. You can view these images and get further information on CoastSnap at WA Coastal Images which is run in partnership with UWA and tracks changes in the regions coastline over time.
