Changing coastline at Aqua


This monsoon season a larger than usual amount of sediment was deposited in Hamilton Bay at Aqua. This caused a sand bank to begin forming at the river mouth, consisting noticeably of different sand to the naturally occurring sand in the area. The white colour is evident of river deposit compared to the darker sand endemic to the Thoothukudi coastline. 

As the fragile mangrove ecosystem depends on sea water replenishing the backwaters which form a steadily flowing river only during the monsoon, heads were put together and a fine piece of industrial machinery was utilised to dredge a small channel through the newly formed sandbank. The plan worked fantastically and at high tide the sea is able to once again flow unhindered into the mangrove forest. At each bimonthly Spring Tide the receding tide is now seemingly eroding the sandbank from the centre outwards, hopefully leading to a naturally occurring full reopening of the river mouth. Keep tuned in for more, or better yet come to see for yourself here at Aqua Outback and find out about the local ecosystem. The mangroves are stunning and can be explored by kayak, an activity we highly recommend.