Coastal Researchers Research Articles

Phosphorus cycling in a subterranean estuary seepage face: A seasonal view on inventory composition and linkage with nitrate transformations

Seasonal field surveys (April 2018 to February 2019) were conducted in a subterranean estuary (STE) seepage face in Sanggou Bay (China) aiming to explore the transport and reactivity of phosphorus (P) and biogeochemical linkages with the cycling of nitrogen (N) prior to discharge. Porewater dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) together with different fractions of sedimentary P were analyzed in the upper, middle and lower intertidal covering the top 20 cm of sediment (1–4 cm, 5–8 cm, 9–12 cm, 13–16 cm and 17–20 cm depth). The accumulation of sedimentary organic P stimulated the growth of phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms and led to porewater DOP enrichment during spring. During summer, total P (TP), porewater DIP and DOP concentrations decreased, potentially due to enhanced mineralization driven by high ambient temperature. From autumn to winter, pelagic organic matter into the STE lowered, triggering a drop of TP standing stocks. Compared with the significant seasonality, sedimentary P storage was statistically identical along the intertidal. Such spatial homogeneity likely results from the rebalance driven by P adsorption dynamics and pelagic organic matter delivered by tide and wave setup. The vertical distribution of DIP, DOP, and sedimentary TP were linked to nitrate transformations. In the sediment layer with active mineralization and nitrification, concentrations of DOP, sedimentary redox and clay P increased. In the layer with active nitrate removal (2–5 cm depth), both DIP and DOP concentrations decreased. The sedimentary loosely-bound and organic P were also lower there. Notably, a substantial quantity of soluble P seeped out, acting as an important contributor to the dissolved P pool of the receiving waters. The spatial and temporal overlap of high concentrations of N and P in STEs adds variabilities and uncertainties in P out-drainage fluxes and nutrient stoichiometry balances, which should draw attention from coastal researchers and stakeholders.

Assessing the Reliability of a New One-Line Model for Predicting Shoreline Evolution with Impoundment Field Experiment Data

The advancement of knowledge in the field of coastal morphodynamics is currently highly relevant, as it provides valuable insights into the complex and dynamic nature of coastal systems and helps coastal engineers and researchers to better understand and manage the risks associated with coastal hazards. Managing and protecting coastal areas requires accurate measurements and the availability of reliable numerical models for predicting shoreline evolution. The present study focuses on verifying the reliability of a recent one-line model: the General Shoreline beach (GSb) model. The numerical simulations were performed using wave data observed by the Acoustic Wave and Current profiler and the Channel Coast Observatory buoy. The numerical results were compared with high-resolution shoreline data collected from an ARGUS monitoring station during the impoundment experiment conducted in Milford-on-Sea, UK. The numerical results demonstrated that the GSb model accurately predicts shoreline evolution, particularly for mixed beaches. The findings of the present study also show the effectiveness of the GSb online numerical model in predicting day-to-day changes in shoreline dynamics caused by wave attack. The high-resolution dataset of the ARGUS observations combined with wave data collected during the field experiment could be valuable resources for coastal researchers to further evaluate and improve numerical models of coastal morphodynamics.

Shoreline change detection using DSAS technique: Case of Saint Martin Island, Bangladesh

Saint Martin, Bangladesh's only coral island, is a popular tourist destination and a blue economy hub. Saint Martin's shoreline constantly changes due to natural and manmade erosion and accretion. Since no previous work has been done, this research uses geospatial and statistical methods to evaluate spatial and temporal shoreline changes on Saint Martin Island from 1974 to 2021 and anticipated changes between 2032 and 2042. The study used the Normalized Difference Water Index and Tasseled Cap Transformation tools to extract shorelines from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat satellite images with resolutions of 60 m in 1974 and 30 m in 1988, 2001, 2013, and 2021. Then, the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) calculated shoreline change for each year using End Point Rate (EPR), Linear Regression Rate (LRR), and Net Shoreline Movement (NSM) methods. Global Positioning System (GPS) was also used to measure accuracy and shoreline change intensity. Around 253 transects were placed at 50 – m intervals along the island's coast, with approximately 55% of the transects indicating erosion, the remaining indicating accretion, and just 1% in stable condition. The research reveals that Uttar Para experiences the most dramatic shoreline alterations among the five coastal zones, with minimum erosion rates of −2.21 m/yr due to high tidal waves. Aside from that, Dakhin Para has the highest accretion rates, up to a maximum of 4.81 m/yr, due to the coral colonies' protection. Nazrul Para, Purba Para, Majer Para, Deil Para, and Eastern Galachipa erode and accrete moderately. Paschim Para, Uttar Para, and the eastern edge of the Dakhin Para coastline length are exceptionally high-risk areas, according to the Shoreline Length Intensity Index. In contrast, there is a low-risk index on the western side of the Dakhin Para and Deil Para coastlines. The LRR technique yields the best shoreline change estimates, with average erosion at −2.13 m/yr and accretion at 1.4 m/yr across 12.65 km from 1974 to 2021. The Kalman Filter Model (KFM) predicts Saint Martin's coastline will erode at a minimum rate of −2.33 m/yr by 2032 and -2.73 by 2042. Conversely, the coastline could accrete 2.09 m/yr in 2032 and 2.45 m/yr in 2042. Lower NRMSE values of 0.09 provide a highly accurate KFM for shoreline validation methods. Shoreline validation has an NRMSE of 0.16, indicating better agreement between field-derived and satellite-based shoreline positions. Finally, recognizing eroding and accreting hotspots along the Saint Martin Island coast can assist academicians, policymakers, and stakeholders. The research enables coastal researchers to comprehend regional shoreline dynamics.

Low-Cost Sensors for Monitoring Coastal Climate Hazards: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Unequivocal change in the climate system has put coastal regions around the world at increasing risk from climate-related hazards. Monitoring the coast is often difficult and expensive, resulting in sparse monitoring equipment lacking in sufficient temporal and spatial coverage. Thus, low-cost methods to monitor the coast at finer temporal and spatial resolution are imperative for climate resilience along the world's coasts. Exploiting such low-cost methods for the development of early warning support could be invaluable to coastal settlements. This paper aims to provide the most up-to-date low-cost techniques developed and used in the last decade for monitoring coastal hazards and their forcing agents via systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature in three scientific databases: Scopus, Web of Science and ScienceDirect. A total of 60 papers retrieved from these databases through the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) protocol were analysed in detail to yield different categories of low-cost sensors. These sensors span the entire domain for monitoring coastal hazards, as they focus on monitoring coastal zone characteristics (e.g., topography), forcing agents (e.g., water levels), and the hazards themselves (e.g., coastal flooding). It was found from the meta-analysis of the retrieved papers that terrestrial photogrammetry, followed by aerial photogrammetry, was the most widely used technique for monitoring different coastal hazards, mainly coastal erosion and shoreline change. Different monitoring techniques are available to monitor the same hazard/forcing agent, for instance, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), time-lapse cameras, and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for monitoring coastal morphological changes such as beach erosion, creating opportunities to not only select but also combine different techniques to meet specific monitoring objectives. The sensors considered in this paper are useful for monitoring the most pressing challenges in coastal zones due to the changing climate. Such a review could be extended to encompass more sensors and variables in the future due to the systematic approach of this review. This study is the first to systematically review a wide range of low-cost sensors available for the monitoring of coastal zones in the context of changing climate and is expected to benefit coastal researchers and managers to choose suitable low-cost sensors to meet their desired objectives for the regular monitoring of the coast to increase climate resilience.

‘Coastal Management Guide - Managing Coastal Erosion’: A STEM education resource for secondary school teachers

“Hello, I'm a school student and we're doing a project about the coast, and I was wondering if you could talk to me about what you do or send me some information?“. Many coastal scientists and engineers regularly experience similar emails and phone calls from secondary school students (typically ages 12–16) and it is often very rewarding to speak with and assist these bright, young, people. Motivated by the increasing number and frequency of these requests, presented here is an overview of the approach taken and lessons learnt by a group of university and government coastal researchers during the creation of a secondary school education resource. Underpinned by fundamental concepts of coastal science and coastal management, the resulting Coastal Management Guide – Managing Coastal Erosion is primarily targeted at STEM teachers, that spans and is explicitly linked to a broad range of national curriculum areas, including the physical sciences, physical and human geography, environmental sciences and mathematics. Developed around an enquiry-based mode of learning and employing the well-established Five Es ‘engage, explore, explain, elaborate & evaluate’ instructional model, the content of the Guide was designed to include all the background technical information and additional resources that are necessary for teachers to lead their students through the range of classroom activities provided. Freely available as both an online eBook and 70-page downloadable pdf, at the time of writing more than 90,000 website views originating from 77 countries have been recorded, with the eBook used over 3000 times and more than 10,000 pdf copies of the Guide downloaded. Importantly, during the development of the Guide several key lessons were learnt, that can assist other individuals or teams of researchers who may be motivated to extend the reach of their own research into the school classroom: (1) Seeking the assistance of curriculum experts and specialist STEM content creators is invaluable. (2) Don't underestimate your potential reach into a broad range of school curriculum areas that may extend well beyond the physical sciences. (3) Decide if your audience is individual students or alternatively their teachers, remembering that one teacher can deliver to many students. (4) Consider teachers' practical needs and preferences – for example, downloadable pdfs that can be printed and copied are highly regarded. (5) Seek user feedback to find out what does and doesn't work, and to potentially generate new ideas for the next version …. In outlining and summarising the approach that was used to develop the secondary school educational resource presented here, it is hoped that other coastal researchers may be stimulated and encouraged to also give it a go. To do so is both professionally and personally very rewarding.

Coastal transgression and regression from 1980 to 2020 and shoreline forecasting for 2030 and 2040, using DSAS along the southern coastal tip of Peninsular India

This study explains the multi-decadal shoreline changes along the coast of Kanyakumari from 1980 to 2020. The shorelines are extracted from the Landsat images to estimate the shoreline dynamics and future predictions using Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). By the estimation of End Point Rate (EPR) and Linear Regression Rate (LRR), it is quantified that the maximum erosion is 5.01 m/yr (EPR) and 6.13 m/yr (LRR) consistently with the maximum accretion of 3.77 m/yr (EPR) and 3.11 m/yr (LRR) along the entire coastal stretch of 77 km. The future shoreline predicted using the Kalman filter forecasted that Inayam, Periyakattuthurai and Kodimunai are highly prone to erosion with a shift of 170 m, 157 m and 145 m by 2030 and 194 m, 182 m and 165 m by 2040 towards the land. Also, the western coast is highly prone to erosion and it is predicted that certain villages are prone to loss of economy and livelihood. The outcome of this study may guide the coastal researchers to understand the evolution and decision-makers to evolve with alternative sustainable management plans in the future.

Drag-related wave–current interaction inside a dense submerged aquatic canopy

The seabed in coastal regions is often covered by a dense submerged canopy formed by benthic organisms. The in-canopy flow is of great interest to coastal researchers. In this study, a semi-analytical model is proposed for the in-canopy current profile under the influence of coexisting waves. The current is driven by a mean shear stress at the canopy top and a mean streamwise pressure gradient. Wave–current interaction arises from the mean canopy drag, which is described by the conventional quadratic law. An algebraic eddy viscosity model, which accounts for the turbulence generated by a canopy-scale vortex and stem-scale wake, is proposed. The model is calibrated against unidirectional flume experiments, and is subsequently validated against a wave–current flume experiment. It is found that the mean canopy drag experienced by the current can be significantly amplified by a co-existing wave-driven oscillatory flow. Under the same current driving force, the current in wave–current flow is reduced from that in a pure-current flow. The reduction increases with canopy density and wave strength. For a wave and current at an angle, veering of the current velocity vector is suggested by the model, which makes the mean canopy drag align with the driving force of the current.

Punctuated decadal morphodynamics and coupled vegetation succession along a nontidal, wave-dominated Great Lakes barrier spit, Gull Point, Lake Erie, U.S.A.

The Presque Isle Peninsula is a compound barrier-spit system perched atop a recessional moraine along Lake Erie’s southeastern coast. Its distal terminus, Gull Point, has grown to an extent of around 0.6 km2 since the early 1900s, promoted by beach nourishment along the peninsula proper and later influenced by a change in local hydrodynamic regime following breakwater installation near the attachment point. This coastal setting has set the stage for an analysis of ridge landform- and vegetation-succession dynamics using historical aerial images, a series of high-resolution LiDAR datasets, transect/quadrat surveys of vegetation, and increment core dates of tree cohorts on dune ridges separated by swales and lagoons. The general evolutionary model is one of punctuated landform growth to the east by lateral accretion, interspersed with erosional events and ridge recurving towards the backbarrier. Eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides), with its minimally provisioned wind- and water-dispersed seeds, colonizes the margins of newly deposited sand ridges as discrete cohorts, and dominates the tree stratum of Gull Point. These cohorts are increasingly mature moving from distal to proximal zones, and consistently reflect the temporal sequence of ridge morphology. Vegetation communities, representing a primary successional chronosequence, are delineated into four phases extending back to the 1950s, which are roughly demarcated by erosional ridgelines of topographic prominence, revealing a tight coupling of lake-level trends, geomorphology, and vegetation dynamics. This provides coastal researchers with a means of understanding landform-age relationships across structurally complex strand areas for which age-relationships cannot be ascertained by aerial photographic records alone.

Shoreline Change Detection and Forecast along the Yancheng Coast Using a Digital Shoreline Analysis System

Shorelines are the dynamic interfaces of both terrestrial and marine environments and are sensitive to climate and anthropogenic influences. The change in the shoreline plays a critical role in intertidal mudflat resources and coastal ecological environment. This paper extracts shoreline along the coast of Yancheng from 1983 to 2020 using a new procedure. The proposed procedure is based on a combination of object-oriented technology and thresholding the wetness components of the tasseled cap transformation (TCT). Then, we studied the temporal and spatial variation in the shoreline and predicted shore movement using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). The results indicated that we yielded a better extraction of shoreline results using the new approach. The shoreline change analysis for the coast of Yancheng over 40 years indicated that 89% was accretion, 3% was under stable coast and erosion was 8%. The coast showed a significant trend of expanding to the sea. Finally, we forecasted shoreline position for the years 2019 and 2020 based on the historical shoreline position data from 1983 to 2009 and 1983–2010 by using the Kalman filter. The results of this study may help coastal researchers and decision makers to guide the use, management, and planning of coastal zones in further study.

Three Decades of Indian Remote Sensing in Coastal Research

The launch of the first Indian Remote Sensing Satellite in 1988 ushered in a new era of utilization of satellite data and technology in natural resources monitoring, coastal area management, disaster mitigation, weather and climate change studies. India with its very long coast line, areal extent, resources and population would have been a huge challenge to the coastal researchers and administrators if not for the Indian Remote Sensing satellite data that provided the much needed temporal, thematic information for effective mapping, monitoring and management of the coastal areas. The country’s large and diverse coastal regions are economically important and ecologically rich but also extremely vulnerable and highly prone to natural and anthropogenic hazards. Through the last three decades, the Indian remote sensing programme has contributed immensely to our understanding of the coast and ocean processes, coastal ecosystems, habitats, marine pollution and the vulnerability of the coast to natural hazards. IRS-1C with its improved spatial resolutions, additional spectral band, improved repetitively ushered in a new era of research specifically in the management of coastal areas and resources. Availability of spatial data at various resolutions, low cost, advances in technology resulted in new applications for management coastal areas. IRS-1C also can be aptly termed as the precursor for thematic satellite series such as OCEANSAT, RESOURCESAT and CARTOSAT, thereby setting the environs for thematic research in coastal areas. Integrated utilization of remote sensing data, numerical models, GIS and GPS has paved the way for the development of operation systems for management of coastal areas, thereby realizing the vision of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Indian Space Programme, of building a self-reliant and indigenous Space Programme for the betterment of quality of life of the common people.

Prototyping a collaborative data curation service for coastal science

The growing push for open data resulted in an abundance of data for coastal researchers, which can lead to problems for individual researchers related to data discoverability. One solution is to explicitly develop services for coastal researchers to help curate data for discovery, hosting discussions around reuse, community building, and finding collaborators. To develop the idea of a coastal data curation service, we investigate aspects of the UNESCO International Coastal Atlas Network member sites that could be used to build a curation service. We develop a minimal example of a coastal data curation service, deploy this as a website, and describe the next steps to move beyond the prototype phase. We envision a coastal data curation service as a way to cultivate a community focused on coastal data discovery and reuse.

THE DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH TREND OF USING DSAS TOOL FOR SHORELINE CHANGE ANALYSIS: A SCIENTOMETRIC ANALYSIS

The sensitivity of research on shoreline monitoring of coastal erosion is justified due to high density population, climate changes impacts, and intensified development, which are squeezing the ecosystem of coastal zones around the world. The budding fields of optical remote sensing such source medium and high-resolution satellite imagery in conjunction with avenue programming of Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) are widely used extended tools for analyzing the rate of coastal erosion and deposition. Although, there is a geometric growth in the research published documents in the last decades after the start of DSAS in 1990, but its broad insight into global peer groups, its scientometrics, pattern and trends in research activities in monitoring coastal erosion or shoreline change is missing. To breach this gap, 99 bibliographic records published in the Web of Science core collection for the period of 1994–2019 were analyzed using the VOSviewer software. Further, the analysis about global insight of research activities using DSAS in shoreline change analysis focused on (i) general scientometric characteristics of published output, (ii) experts in research themes and their cooperation, (iii) publishable journal list, (iv) institutional distribution and international collaboration, and (v) potential hotspot areas. This systematic analysis of the theme, graphically using rigorous scientmetric tools, will help coastal researchers to visualize the current research trends and prospective guideline for future research. The output of the present study will provide a robust road map to early carrier researchers for their advance inquiry in these fields in coming days.

THE DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH TREND OF USING DSAS TOOL FOR SHORELINE CHANGE ANALYSIS: A SCIENTOMETRIC ANALYSIS

The sensitivity of research on shoreline monitoring of coastal erosion is justified due to high density population, climate changes impacts, and intensified development, which are squeezing the ecosystem of coastal zones around the world. The budding fields of optical remote sensing such source medium and high-resolution satellite imagery in conjunction with avenue programming of Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) are widely used extended tools for analyzing the rate of coastal erosion and deposition. Although, there is a geometric growth in the research published documents in the last decades after the start of DSAS in 1990, but its broad insight into global peer groups, its scientometrics, pattern and trends in research activities in monitoring coastal erosion or shoreline change is missing. To breach this gap, 99 bibliographic records published in the Web of Science core collection for the period of 1994–2019 were analyzed using the VOSviewer software. Further, the analysis about global insight of research activities using DSAS in shoreline change analysis focused on (i) general scientometric characteristics of published output, (ii) experts in research themes and their cooperation, (iii) publishable journal list, (iv) institutional distribution and international collaboration, and (v) potential hotspot areas. This systematic analysis of the theme, graphically using rigorous scientmetric tools, will help coastal researchers to visualize the current research trends and prospective guideline for future research. The output of the present study will provide a robust road map to early carrier researchers for their advance inquiry in these fields in coming days.

Influence of hydro-climatic factors on future coastal land susceptibility to erosion in Bangladesh: a geospatial modelling approach

This study envisaged the likely impacts of future hydro-climatic changes on the susceptibility of coastal land to erosion through the development of raster-based geographical information system (GIS) model called land susceptibility to coastal erosion (LSCE). The model was applied to the coastal area of Bangladesh to assess future erosion susceptibility under four greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration trajectories: A1B, RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The results indicate considerable changes in future scenarios of coastal land susceptibility to erosion in the area compared to current baseline conditions. The current area of 276.33 km2 (0.61%) high and very high susceptible lands would be substantially increased to 1019.13 km2 (2.25% of land), 799.16 km2 (1.77%), 1181.38 km2 (2.61%) and 4040.71 km2 (8.96%) by 2080 under A1B, RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. Spatially, the western and eastern coastal zones would have low to moderate susceptibility to erosion, whereas the central coastal zone would have moderate to high/very high susceptibility to erosion. Seasonally, the model predicted the high erosion susceptibility during the monsoon seasons and very low erosion susceptibility during the winter seasons in the future. The model outputs were enhanced by integrating experts’ judgements through fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) approach. The LSCE model might be indispensable for coastal researchers in generating future scenarios of physical susceptibility to erosion for highly dynamic coastal areas around the world.

Application of Storm Erosion Index (SEI) to parameterize spatial storm intensity and impacts from Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Michael made landfall as a Category 5 Hurricane on 10 October 2018 between Mexico Beach, Florida and Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City Beach, Florida causing damages totaling $25 billion (Beven et al. 2019). While damages were caused by both wind and surge, this paper is solely concerned with the surge induced damages which were observed predominantly within 50 km (27 nmi) of the hurricane’s path. Generally, regions to the east of Hurricane Michael’s landfall sustained the most severe damages and appear consistent with the spatial gradient in peak water levels. This gradient was marked; with surge induced damage concentrated in the immediate vicinity of Mexico Beach and attenuating significantly over distances as little as 37 km (20 nmi) to the west in Panama City Beach and east in Port Saint Joe (Kennedy, in review). The gradient in erosion was also pronounced, with Panama City Beach experiencing an average erosion rate of 0.4 m3/m (3.9 cy/ft) while Mexico Beach and Cape San Blas experienced rates approximately three (1.1 m3/m or 11.5 cy/ft) and five (1.7 m3/m or 18.5 cy/ft) times that. For inherent reasons, the pronounced gradient in surge damages and erosion values are of primary interest to coastal researchers and managers. Storm Erosion Index (SEI), developed by Miller and Livermont (2008) combines the three primary drivers of coastal erosion (wave height, total water level, and storm duration) into a physically meaningful form to evaluate storms based on their erosion potential. Here, SEI is applied to explore these spatial variations at seven distinct regions within the Florida Panhandle and are compared to the observed impacts for both erosion and structural damages. These regions include: (west to east) Panama City Beach, Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB), Mexico Beach, Cape San Blas, Port St. Joe, St. Vincent Island, and St. George Island. Empirically, the cumulative SEI relates well with the observed beach erosion; while the Peak Erosion Intensity (PEI) was found to better capture the trends in structural damages. By capturing the spatial variation of the storm intensity, SEI and PEI are therefore proposed as a viable engineering demand parameter with potential applications in community scale fragility curves.

Impact assessment of sea level rise over coastal landforms: a case study of Cuddalore coast, south-east coast of India

Densely populated south-east coast of India is susceptible to disasters such as tsunami, coastal flooding storm-surge and shoreline erosion. Apart from episodic events, the gradual sea-level rise (SLR) has got more attention to coastal researchers recently relating to the potentially impacted coastal zone, its anthropogenic/environment associations, and the possible future scenarios. Global average SLR rate has increased in recent decades from 1.7 mm year−1 1901 to 2010, 3.1 mm year−1 from 1993 to 2003 and 3.12 mm year−1 from 1993 to 2012. The present study is an aim to assess the impact of future sea-level rise along Pondicherry—Chidambaram coast using Bruun Rule and Modified Bruun Rule. Eight satellite-derived data sets were used to study the shoreline change trends during 1990–2015. 25 years of shoreline change trend reveals that ~ 49% of the coastline is under erosion. Shoreline retreat to an increase in local sea level was also mapped by Bruun Rule. Bruun Rule has some limitations, and hence Modified Bruun Rule was used to analyze the inundation factor. The horizontal inundation of the study area was estimated as ~ 1.1 km (Bruun Rule) and ~ 1.6 km (Modified Bruun Rule). The impacts of SLR in the study area were determined by integrating inundation data with geomorphological and land use/land cover data. The study reveals that about 16.08 sq.km area of geomorphological features is likely to be highly affected, while 17.5 sq.km of the area likely to be affected on land use/land cover features. This study provides an interactive means to identify the vulnerable zone. The output maps can be used to visualize the affected areas spatially.

Defining Maritime Cultural Landscapes in California

ABSTRACTDefining a maritime cultural landscape relies on recognizing both the landscape and seascape as integral to maritime societies. While this concept has been part of anthropological studies for decades, data from the submerged portion of the maritime landscape is often overlooked. The maritime archaeological work needed to collect these data has historically been marginalized within the broader archaeological discipline, but is slowly gaining widespread acceptance. More island and coastal researchers have begun integrating land- and sea-based data into their project designs, promoting recognition of the importance of sea-based data from submerged landscapes and encouraging understanding that maritime cultural landscapes shaped and are shaped by maritime societies. Among the many maritime cultural landscapes worldwide, we present two examples from California that exemplify how researchers are conceptualizing maritime landscapes and gathering data necessary for a holistic view of maritime societies and the spaces that influence their cultural development.

In Political Seas: Engaging with Political Ecology in the Ocean and Coastal Environment

The world’s oceans and coasts are awash in a sea of politics. The marine environment is increasingly busy, changing, and a site of degradation, marginalization, injustice, contestation and conflict over declining resources and occupied spaces at local to global scales. Themes of political ecology, such as power and politics, narratives and knowledge, scale and history, environmental justice and equity, are thus salient issues to understand in ocean and coastal governance and management. This subject review examines research on these themes of political ecology in the ocean and coastal environment and reflects on how the insights gained might be applied to governance and management. Political ecology provides important insights into: the influence of power in ocean management and governance processes; the manner in which narratives, knowledge, and scale are used to legitimize and shape policies and management efforts; the effects of historical trajectories on present circumstances, options, and practices; and the nature of inequities and environmental injustices that can occur in the marine environment. Moreover, ocean and coastal researchers, practitioners, and decision makers ought to engage with the political processes and injustices occurring in the ocean. Moving from critical insights to constructive engagements will ensure that political ecology helps to plant seeds of hope in the Anthropocene ocean.

Remote Sensing Is Changing Our View of the Coast: Insights from 40 Years of Monitoring at Narrabeen-Collaroy, Australia

Narrabeen-Collaroy Beach, located on the Northern Beaches of Sydney along the Pacific coast of southeast Australia, is one of the longest continuously monitored beaches in the world. This paper provides an overview of the evolution and international scientific impact of this long-term beach monitoring program, from its humble beginnings over 40 years ago using the rod and tape measure Emery field survey method; to today, where the application of remote sensing data collection including drones, satellites and crowd-sourced smartphone images, are now core aspects of this continuing and much expanded monitoring effort. Commenced in 1976, surveying at this beach for the first 30 years focused on in-situ methods, whereby the growing database of monthly beach profile surveys informed the coastal science community about fundamental processes such as beach state evolution and the role of cross-shore and alongshore sediment transport in embayment morphodynamics. In the mid-2000s, continuous (hourly) video-based monitoring was the first application of routine remote sensing at the site, providing much greater spatial and temporal resolution over the traditional monthly surveys. This implementation of video as the first of a now rapidly expanding range of remote sensing tools and techniques also facilitated much wider access by the international research community to the continuing data collection program at Narrabeen-Collaroy. In the past decade the video-based data streams have formed the basis of deeper understanding into storm to multi-year response of the shoreline to changing wave conditions and also contributed to progress in the understanding of estuary entrance dynamics. More recently, ‘opportunistic’ remote sensing platforms such as surf cameras and smartphones have also been used for image-based shoreline data collection. Commencing in 2011, a significant new focus for the Narrabeen-Collaroy monitoring program shifted to include airborne lidar (and later Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)), in an enhanced effort to quantify the morphological impacts of individual storm events, understand key drivers of erosion, and the placing of these observations within their broader regional context. A fixed continuous scanning lidar installed in 2014 again improved the spatial and temporal resolution of the remote-sensed data collection, providing new insight into swash dynamics and the often-overlooked processes of post-storm beach recovery. The use of satellite data that is now readily available to all coastal researchers via Google Earth Engine continues to expand the routine data collection program and provide key insight into multi-decadal shoreline variability. As new and expanding remote sensing technologies continue to emerge, a key lesson from the long-term monitoring at Narrabeen-Collaroy is the importance of a regular re-evaluation of what data is most needed to progress the science.

The Way Ahead for Coastal and Ocean Ecosystems in the Wider Caribbean

Urgency and coordinated planning are key. This is the core message presented by the leading coastal and marine researchers in the Caribbean. The Wider Caribbean is an extremely diverse region with complex ecosystems underlying the many marine resources that we heavily depend on. Equally complex, and often convoluted, are the organizations that govern coastal and marine management, research its resources, and implement its policy framework. The “transboundary nature” of our unique ecosystems means that innovative solutions are required. The authors present major challenges to bringing about change, stating the need for a clear path from project initialization to mobilization, shifting “mental models” to a reality. Stakeholders will need to find their niche within the web of issues, identifying common goals, and implementing changes that maximize outcomes. Over 25 regional and sub-regional organizations are already on the ground, yet, the authors suggest that leaving their coordination all to chance, is grossly short-sighted and “irresponsible”. A multilevel institutional approach is already underway, led by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem and Adjacent Areas (CLME) Project. The CLME Project covers the entire Wider Caribbean Region from the mouth of the Amazon River through Central America, the Greater and Lesser Antilles to the Bahamas, and seeks multi-institutional collaboration over the 10-year period of 2015-2025. The major regional and sub-regional organisations with responsibility for the marine environment have signed on as have more than 25 countries at the ministerial level. The authors clearly outline pushing the CLME+ Initiative forward through proper documentation of historical, current and future projects, as well as establishing a network of regional ambassadors to implement needed change and planning. To quote the main article, “we can choose to engage with and build [this opportunity], or we can each continue doing our own ‘thing’ ”.