Owen McCleery
Coastal Management Write-Up
Barbados is the most easterly island in the Caribbean. The coastlines of
Barbados vary in composition, depending upon where they are located on the island. It
is the only island in Caribbean chain that is not composed from volcanic rock.
Barbados’s formation of altered composition is due to the build-up upon the oceanic
crust of sedimentary rock, such as sandstone, quartz and other rock minerals that flow
out of the Orinoco River in South America, into the Atlantic Ocean. As the years pass,
submerged limestone starts to form on every side of the sedimentary rock foundation.
The limestone starts to grow and enlarges is mass on the West, North and South sides
the sedimentary rock. When the two tectonic plates; the South-American plate and the
Caribbean plate collide, it forms a destructive boundary and thrusts the sedimentary
rock, along with the surrounding limestone, out of the ocean’s water and into the open
air, forming a permanent land mass which is composed of a variety of different rock
minerals.
Recently, the pressures that have been inflicted upon the coastlines of Barbados,
especially on the South and West coast, have increased dramatically. There are many
factors affecting our coastlines such as decaying coral reefs, caused by people stepping
on the reef itself, toxins run off the island with rain through storm drains into the sea
killing off the organisms that compose the coral and the fish that replenish the corals
health and many more.
Our coral reefs are vital when it comes to the protection of our shores. Coral
reefs do not only absorb and distribute the power of the waves they also help to form
beaches. Coral reefs support a large portion of marine life; the organisms that live upon
the reefs are eaten by parrot fish which excrete tiny pieces of rock sediment known as
sand. The sand is then washed up and gathered near the shore of the island forming
beaches. These beaches act as a secondary line of defense, from the might of the
ocean, because the waves are then unable to reach the base of the cliff which further
slows down the process of erosion towards our shores and coastlines. When our coral
reefs become damaged they leave the shore line susceptible to the oceans power.
Waves crash into the cliffs of the island and erode it with ease, due to composition of
the island; limestone which is permeable becomes easily eroded and soluble in water.
The waves cut into the base of the cliff causing wave cut notches and wave cut
platforms to form and possibly cracks the cliff, in various places, weakening the strength
of the rock. The waves are hurled into the cliff and hydraulic action takes place; when
the waves are thrown against the cracks of the cliff, it forces air into the cracks which is
then heavily compressed underneath the force of the wave but as the wave retreats the
highly compressed air is released and it expands dramatically forcing the crack to
widen, the process of hydraulic action becomes more effective as the crack becomes
wider/deeper as it allows more air to be compressed within. Another factor also eroding
away our coastlines is abrasion; which is when two forms of rock sediment are rubbed
and pushed against one another, through the movement/current of the ocean, creating
a large amount of friction between the two rocks; which dislodges many minerals and
particles from the surface of the rock’s composition and only further erodes the two.
The Coastal Zone
Management Unit has responded to
this top priority issue by gathering the
thoughts of the citizens and business
representatives and they have tried to
consider their worries and implement
their wishes. They wanted to carry
out a project that shall benefit many
people, opposed to letting these
people go through with their own
small scale projects for personal gain,
as they have further up the coast past As you can see many groynes have been placed
on the beach and have already made their mark
Mullins bay which has caused
by preventing long shore drift.
problems for the highly regarded
beach. Mullins bay has a reputation
for its ability to draw the attention of
tourists, but that might be put into
jeopardy because the hotel just about
a kilometer up the coast has placed
groynes within their shore which have
been used to expand the size of their
beach. Groynes are long lines of
carefully placed rock or lines wood
that have been placed on a shore line
to prevent long shore drift from
occurring. Groynes are typically used
to expand beaches by trapping the
sand from moving downward along
the beach which is what the hotel up
the coast from Mullins beach has
done in order to increase the size of
their beach. These groynes are used
These are the groynes which have been set in the
shore up the coastline from Mullins bay. As you
can see the groynes have prevented long shore
drift and has trapped the sand creating a much
wider beach on the right but you may notice as
the beach is not as large on the other side
because the groynes have halted the movement
of sand downward the beach therefor the beach
on the other side will have shrunk and will
continue to shrink until there is barely a beach left.
for personal gains but have
drawbacks for beaches down
the coast; by trapping the sand
and increasing the size of their
beach they do not allow enough
sand to gather upon the beach
and thus further decreasing the
size of the beach down the
coastline. Which is exactly what
is happening to Mullins bay,
their beach line is retreating
and the only way they can
increase the size of their
Long shore drift is the process in which rock sediments
are carried by waves that advance towards the coastline
beach now is to add groynes
at an angle, that angle depends upon the direction of the
but this will create mass
wind. When the waves break upon the beach, their swash
problems for beaches further
forces rock sediment to travel up the beach at the same
down the coastline and create
angle in which the wave crashed upon the beach. Then
a domino effect until the
the backwash drags the rock sediment out towards the
sea/ocean at a 90 degree angle due to the force of gravity person which has a decreasing
and thus the process is repeated along the whole
beach line cannot pay for the
coastline.
costs of groynes. The people
of Mullins bay have responded
by creating awareness towards the matter a few wealthier people down the coast have
invested in gabions which will help prevent further erosion and so they don’t lose their
homes to the sea. Other people cannot afford
technology which will slow the process of erosion
and shall have to sit back and watch as they slowly
lose their property to the power of the ocean. Not
only have groynes affecting the width of Mullins bay
beach but the coral reefs that replenish the beach
and further protect the coastline from erosion have
been damaged by toxins, pollutants and more.
Tourists and locals throw their waste upon the beach
which is carried out to sea by the waves. Rain water
gathers toxins and pollutants which have been not
The groynes are located in St. Peters
properly disposed of all over the country and flow
bay, just up the coast from Mullins bay,
into storm drains, these storm drains are a direct link and these are the groynes which have
increased damage inflicted upon the
into the ocean. As the toxins enter the ocean blue,
beaches down the coast.
they tend to create a high concentration of what
would be considered poisonous for smaller
organisms, as the pollutants and
waste enter the water they are then
mistaken for food by marine life
which will be choked on and which
will kill them. These organisms that
are so vulnerable towards our waste
are actually what care for and
nourish our coral reefs and by killing
this marine life we are damaging the
health of our coral and thus our
This is a picture of Gabions that have been placed
infront of a house, on the beach in oreder to slow beaches.
the porcess of erosion.
This is a storm drain which is
carrying toxins and pollutants,
which shall flow straight into
the ocean and kill the fish
which nourish our coral reefs,
thus killing our coral reefs.
The storm drain is a direct link
into the ocean from the more
populated areas of the country
which will tend to be more
polute. The storm drain carries
toxins and polutants directly
out to the ocean.
This is me standing right
outside the storm drain, where
it opens up into the ocean.
Is the Boardwalk a Good Example of Integrated Coastal Management?
Many areas surrounding the island that are susceptible to erosion through the
ocean need to be attended to but one place stood out among the others with the most
potential. Before, Hastings seemed dead and dreary, a waste land if you will, a place of
abundant potential. The Hastings Barbados once knew was deteriorating; the ocean
had eroded much of its coastline, mainly due to a lack of coral reefs protecting that part
of the island. Houses which once had an ocean view had then the ocean literally
underneath them as the waves cut notches into the break walls and coral underneath
the houses, there were no beaches to add protection from erosion, and in some cases
the oceans might was powerful enough to fling masses of water into the coastline
streets and flood them. Many citizens had objected to the idea of creating a boardwalk,
hotels and restaurants complained about noise and losing business, many people
complained that there may be an increase in crime rates etc…The Coastal Zone
Management Unit took into consideration
everyone’s point of view before carrying
out this long term project. Dr. Fabian
Hinds said “we tried to appeal to
everyone’s wants.” The overall project has
taken 3 years to have gotten to the stage
they are now at, now Hastings looks alive
and stands for a beautiful view, it is a
major attraction for tourists and citizens it
is mainly used for recreation. And for all
Dr. Fabian Hinds
those worries and objections to the
boardwalk, the Coastal Zone Management Unit has done what it can in order to apply to
everyone’s needs and wants. For those who worried over an increase in crime rates,
they have a police man on a Segway patrolling the whole stretch of boardwalk twentyfour seven. For those who worried about a decrease in profits through business the
boardwalk attracts people from all over the island and now these businesses are
thriving in customers. Many worried about the outcome of the look of the project and it
turns out that for the most part the boardwalk is quite a remarkable sight. And for those
who were worried about losing their home to the ocean, the Coastal Zone Management
Unit has reclaimed land which was once the ocean to slow the process of erosion. I
believe this does show that the boardwalk overall is a great example of integrated
coastal management.
The first means of measure taken
by the Coastal Zone Management Unit
was to reclaim the land which was once
the ocean, eroding slowly away at the
coastline, and in order to do so they
needed to implement a lot of sand. So
around the entire area which was going
to become the board walk they filled in
the shoreline with tons of sand.
Underneath this newly reclaimed land
they have placed Canadian granite
Groynes have been set on the reclaimed land boulders so that sand shall be held in
in order to maintain and expand on the size
place, elevated above sea level and shall
of the beach at the current moment.
provide an extra hand of protection from
erosion caused by the ocean. The
reclaimed land shall push the ocean
further away from the streets, which
normally became flooded as the waves
rose above the break walls and coastline
into the streets, and shall help prevent
against further floods. Next they laid down
boulders of Canadian granite, running
from the edge of the beach down into the
This is the sand that has been laid out in
ocean acting as groynes but they have to
order to reclaim the land that was once the be careful so that these rocks are always
ocean.
touching three other rocks as it is a safety
precaution. These groynes shall expand
the beaches width and make sure the
beach doesn’t wash away in the ocean.
Next they laid Canadian granite around the
natural forms of groynes called ‘headlands’
these shall also be used to expand the
beaches width and the Canadian granite
shall provide support against erosion. After
the foundation has been laid out in a
This is a natural groyne known as a
structured manor, they shall start to lay out
'headland' they are used to expand the
the concrete that shall be used for the
beach surrounding it, laced with Canadian boardwalk; the boardwalk cement has
granite around it in order to slow down the
been set to be elevated above sea level to
process of erosion.
potentially stop the waves from entering the street and flooding it and in order to be
more appealing to the eyes. After laying down the architecture they placed soil and
plant life into areas within the boardwalk to also make it more appealing. The overall
cost of boardwalk was 9.2 million US dollars and if they need to repair the boardwalk
the company only have 2 million US dollars to spend.
-
Bi-Polar Chart
Cost
Expensive
Life span
Short Lived
Appearance
Ugly
Effectiveness
Ineffective
Impact on
processes
Impact if scheme
fails
3
2 1
- - 0 1 2
0 1 2 3
o
Cheap
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Long lasting
Attractive
o
Bad effects
Large effect
3
Effective
Good/no effects
Minor effect
Barbados faces many problems on its coastlines; the main factors are erosion of
the coasts and the deprivation of coral reefs. Barbados’ also suffers when individual
projects take place for personal benefits which robs the people further down the coast
from certain resources. There are many factors contributing to the reason of why our
coasts are more and more rapidly and just to name a few; studies show that when coral
reefs die off, sea levels rise and yes the rising sea level shall kill off the coral because
the coral reefs are then unable to get their food, which is produced through
photosynthesis and as you can tell it is a necessity for the survival of coral. And we
attempt to maintain the state of our coastlines and this could only be possible with the
aid of our coral reefs, and since the coral reefs have been so heavily damaged the
coasts have suffered as well. Our waste and carelessness damages our coral reefs and
furthermore our coastlines (reasoning has been stated earlier within my essay.) Coral
shall continue to die off until we spread awareness and stop making careless mistakes
with how we dispose of waste and take notice to the effects of our mistakes. And if the
coral reefs die off this means that our coastlines will continue to wither from erosion.
And this is me enjoying the
field trip. Thanks Mr. Piers!