Sandwatchers stabilize sand dunes on Abaco
May 2013: In 1999 when the devastating Hurricane Floyd hit the Abaco chain of islands in the Bahamas ,the beaches were nearly all destroyed. Months of using beach bulldozers to slowly scrape the sand washed back up by tides eventually produced beautiful white sand beaches again.
To further stabilize the dunes, sea oats were ordered by the town and were planted all along our 6 mile long island. Hope Town School Sandwatch Team were instrumental in the planting of the sea oats in several different areas on our island. They held the dunes well through several hurricanes since that time; often being beaten back but coming back to life.
They provided the Sandwatchers many years of study and comparisons. Last October the super cell storm, Sandy, again wiped out our island's beaches as she spun and blew over us for 36 hours before moving up the Eastern Seaboard to wreck havoc in the United States. Again, beach bulldozers were called in to scrape sand back onto dunes and beaches as it gradually washed in. The beaches have not yet returned to their normal width or depth but another hurricane season is starting in June and the town became worried about providing dune protection.
The Hope Town School is next to the Hope Town Lodge resort and the school's test site reef and beach for Sandwatch is in front of this resort. Once again, students from Grade 1 through Grade 6 came down to the beach early one morning this month and spent the entire day replanting their "babies". Carefully and gently the students dug their 8'' deep hole in the sand, poured the right amount of gel fertilizer in and then planted the sea oat.
There were 4,000 to be planted and it took 2 days. Gratefully, after a couple of days the island was blessed with 2 days of rain to get this new batch of "babies" on their way. We only hope and pray that they will reach maturity and stabilize the dunes well before another hurricane arrives.
Candace M. Key, Country Co-Ordinator for Sandwatch in the Bahamas
May 2013: In 1999 when the devastating Hurricane Floyd hit the Abaco chain of islands in the Bahamas ,the beaches were nearly all destroyed. Months of using beach bulldozers to slowly scrape the sand washed back up by tides eventually produced beautiful white sand beaches again.
To further stabilize the dunes, sea oats were ordered by the town and were planted all along our 6 mile long island. Hope Town School Sandwatch Team were instrumental in the planting of the sea oats in several different areas on our island. They held the dunes well through several hurricanes since that time; often being beaten back but coming back to life.
They provided the Sandwatchers many years of study and comparisons. Last October the super cell storm, Sandy, again wiped out our island's beaches as she spun and blew over us for 36 hours before moving up the Eastern Seaboard to wreck havoc in the United States. Again, beach bulldozers were called in to scrape sand back onto dunes and beaches as it gradually washed in. The beaches have not yet returned to their normal width or depth but another hurricane season is starting in June and the town became worried about providing dune protection.
The Hope Town School is next to the Hope Town Lodge resort and the school's test site reef and beach for Sandwatch is in front of this resort. Once again, students from Grade 1 through Grade 6 came down to the beach early one morning this month and spent the entire day replanting their "babies". Carefully and gently the students dug their 8'' deep hole in the sand, poured the right amount of gel fertilizer in and then planted the sea oat.
There were 4,000 to be planted and it took 2 days. Gratefully, after a couple of days the island was blessed with 2 days of rain to get this new batch of "babies" on their way. We only hope and pray that they will reach maturity and stabilize the dunes well before another hurricane arrives.
Candace M. Key, Country Co-Ordinator for Sandwatch in the Bahamas
