Rare sighting of an edangered baby smalltooth sawfish as it cruises the shoreline of Fort Myers Beach Florida on Saturday

Southwest Florida beaches are slowly being rebuilt after years of storm-driven erosion.

The landscape at places like Bonita Beach have transformed from small slivers of sand and shell to relatively large expanses.

Most Southwest Florida beaches are on a renourishment schedule, which calls for sand to be pumped from the bottom of the ocean floor to the coastline every five years or so.

Each project can cost millions of dollars, and the work is typically done in the winter and early spring to avoid impacting delicate natural processes like sea turtle nesting and shoreline bird nesting and roosting.

But why rebuild beaches that are only going to be washed away by the sea and major hurricanes like Ian (2022)?

There are several reasons to keep local beaches big and bountiful, and here's a list of why beach renourishment is important to our area.

Turtle nesting habitat

Although new sand placed on local beaches is often fine and can become compact (making it difficult for turtles to dig), more sand is a good thing in general for sea turtle nesting as it provides more habitat.

Each year hundreds of female sea turtles lumber up and onto local beaches to dig a massive hole and deposit 100 or so eggs.

Higher ground is good in that it protects nests from super high tides and smaller tropical systems.

Shortly after Ian, many sea turtles were forced to lay nests on relatively low lands, which made them more vulnerable to even small tropical storms.

More sand means more space for turtles to build their nests, but it also means the nests will be better protected from storm surge this hurricane season, which starts June 1.

Defense against tropical systems

A larger, beefier shoreline should also help protect our coastline when tropical storms and even small hurricanes hit or pass by the area.

The sand helps absorb waves as they pound the coast; and although sand will erode during larger storms, the beach acts as a sacrificial layer that takes a lot of punishment.

Habitat for shorebirds

Various shorebirds also benefit from more beach habitat as it gives them more nesting options, and, hopefully, higher ground on which to raise their young.