Happy snapping

Published on 16 October 2026

As you defrost from winter, stretch your arms towards the sunny skies of spring, and gravitate once again to the white sands of our region’s beaches, you may notice something different.

Positioned on boardwalks and stairs along the City of Onkaparinga’s coastline, are new fixed phone cradles or ‘snap stations’ that have been installed as part of a global community beach monitoring project, CoastSnap.

Developed by the University of New South Wales, CoastSnap is a worldwide program encouraging community members to become citizen scientists by taking beach photos using snap stations at designated sites, to help monitor shorelines and coastal change over time. The stations are built to be permanent so that consistent data can be collected. Ten sites along the City of Onkaparinga’s coastline have been included in the program, that now has more than 600 CoastSnap stations across 35 countries.

Any community member with a smartphone can become a CoastSnap citizen scientist, by placing their device in the snap station cradle, taking an image, uploading it via the free CoastSnap app or QR code displayed on the CoastSnap sign, or by sharing it using the social media hashtag. The image can then be processed, using specialised shoreline-tracking technology helping councils to monitor shoreline movement or damage. The photos also contribute to time-lapse records that show how beaches erode and recover under different weather conditions including storms, high tides, and heavy rainfall.

Beyond collecting valuable information, the project enables the community to become directly involved in coastal citizen science, contributing to enhanced environmental understanding and care for coastlines. City of Onkaparinga Sustainability Officer, Ben Moulton said “what excites me most about these projects is seeing how community participation can lead to better environmental outcomes. A single photo takes just seconds to capture, but when thousands are collected over many years, they become a powerful scientific record. Through CoastSnap, residents are making a valuable contribution to the council’s broader coastal monitoring project, helping us to track changes along the coastline and better understand and respond to future coastal risks.”

CoastSnap stations are now installed at Christies, Maslin, O’Sullivan and Sellicks beaches, Port Willunga, Silver Sands, Snapper Point and South Port. With Port Noarlunga and Aldinga Beach stations to be positioned soon. 

So, get snapping, uploading and sharing your photos, to help protect our patch of glorious coastline, now and for the future.

For more information about the CoastSnap global program visit: coastsnap.com

This work has been funded by the LGA South Australia’s SA Climate Ready Coasts Program with financial support from the Commonwealth Government Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program, the SA Coast Protection Board and the Local Government Research and Development Scheme.