The newly re-installed Cherry Grove CoastSnap Station, complete with a phone mount and directions, is ready for public use. Photo credit: Katie Finegan.
CoastSnap was recently re-installed at the Cherry Grove Fishing Pier in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. CoastSnap is a beach monitoring program that uses cell phone photos taken by beach visitors from a specific location. Photos are uploaded to a database and reviewed by researchers at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, who analyze the images to track how the shoreline changes over time.
Information gathered at this CoastSnap station will assist the United States Army Corp of Engineers with decision-making surrounding renourishment efforts for North Myrtle Beach. CoastSnap also aids scientists in understanding factors contributing to shoreline change, including sea level rise, king tides, hurricanes, and nor’easters.
Originally installed in November 2022, the Cherry Grove CoastSnap Station became inaccessible after the pier closed to repair damages it sustained during Hurricane Ian. In August 2024, Cherry Grove Fishing Pier was fully reopened, and the Consortium’s Coastal Processes Program Specialist, Katie Finegan, re-installed the CoastSnap station on November 27, 2024.
S.C. Sea Grant Consortium Coastal Processes Program Specialist Katie Finegan takes in the beach view at Cherry Grove Fishing Pier.
Other CoastSnap stations are active across the region, including one at the Edwin S. Taylor Folly Beach Fishing Pier in Folly Beach, S.C., several in North Carolina, and one in Virginia. CoastSnap was used to monitor a recent beach nourishment project on Folly Beach.
Contact Katie Finegan, Coastal Processes Program Specialist, to learn more about CoastSnap and how to get involved.