Summary

Location: 

Shellharbour beaches.

Timeframe: 2023 - 2027.

Funding: 

This project is partially funded by the NSW Government’s Coastal and Estuary Grants Program, at a value of $58,250.

About the Project

This project provides beach monitoring services (BeachStat and CoastSnap) along Shellharbour Coastline.

BeachStat is an image-based beach monitoring system that uses low-cost, automated and self-contained cameras. Ideal for collecting routine, high frequency timelapse imagery of beaches. When combined with custom-developed suite of analysis tools, it can provide time-lapse beach evolution videos; mid-tide and inter-tidal shoreline mapping; beach width analysis; and beach user analysis.

CoastSnap is a citizen science platform for beach monitoring, which relies on crowd-sourced imagery to be collected and submitted by community members. It is a low-cost beach monitoring technology that turns personal smart phones into powerful coastal monitoring devices. At any given time of any given day, somebody somewhere is taking a photo with their phone of a beach and uploading it to the internet.

The aim of CoastSnap is to harness this incredible amount of information into something that can be used by Council, to understand how coastlines change through time – whether it be naturally, due to rising sea levels, extreme storms or coastal management activities. Ultimately, this information can be used to improve the way the Shellharbour coastline is managed into the future.

Community Involvement 

The CoastSnap program entirely relies on our community.

To implement this community beach monitoring program to help us closely map our changing coastline, and we need YOUR help.   

Participating is easy! Take these 3 easy steps: 

1. Locate 1 of our 4 stations

2. Place your phone in the cradle and snap a photo

3. Scan the QR code onsite and upload! It's that simple!

Your snap will be added to a community database of photos and used by Council for monitoring. Learn more in the informative video below-

CoastSnap

CoastSnap is a citizen science platform for beach monitoring, which relies on crowd-sourced imagery to be collected and submitted by community members. It is a low-cost beach monitoring technology that turns personal smart phones into powerful coastal monitoring devices. At any given time of any given day, somebody somewhere is taking a photo with their phone of a beach and uploading it to the internet.  

The aim of CoastSnap is to harness this incredible amount of information into something that can be used by Council, to understand how coastlines change through time – whether it be naturally, due to rising sea levels, extreme storms or coastal management activities. Ultimately, this information can be used to improve the way the Shellharbour coastline is managed into the future. 

CoastSnap Station Locations

Each year we provide bi-annual CoastSnap reports that help monitor the changing coastline at each station. By taking a photo from designated CoastSnap stations, you can contribute to valuable data on beach erosion, sand movement, and the effects of storms. Your snapshots provide essential insights into the health of our beaches and help guide coastal management decisions to protect these natural assets for future generations. Head out to one of our 4 CoastSnap locations, view them below:

Windang Island

The Windang Island CoastSnap site is situated at the western end of the headland, near the island's coastal foliage. From this spot, you'll have Warilla Beach to your left and Lake Illawarra to your right

View each bi-annual report below:

Warilla Beach (Off Bucknell Street staircase)

The Warilla Beach CoastSnap site is situated on the off the Bucknell Street staircase. 

*As this is a new location, there are no Bi-annual reports currently available. 

How do I use CoastSnap?

At the heart of CoastSnap is a simple stainless steel phone cradle that is installed overlooking a beach in a location that is easily accessible by the community. Using an instructional sign, a beach visitor is encouraged to place their phone into the cradle, take a photo, and share it to a centralised database via the free CoastSnap App or social media using a QR code and hashtag unique to each station. This collection of community sourced images provides a record of the coastline as it evolves. The technology behind CoastSnap is then capable of creating time-lapse videos of beach evolution, and tracking the precise changes in the position of the coastline over time. 

How is the shoreline mapped and beach measured?

Images collected by both CoastSnap are analysed by using advanced image processing techniques to estimate the shoreline position. The platforms provide a cohesive beach monitoring approach for Council. 

The shoreline and beach width data from each will allow Council an understanding of short-term changes to the beaches from storms, as well as longer term changes that may occur as a result of beach recession from natural and anthropogenic influence. 

Last updated : Mon 10 Nov 2025