Welcome to Egmont Key, FL.  This barrier island, just off  the coasts of St. Petersburg and Anna Maria Island, FL, in the ebb-tide delta at the mouth of Tampa Bay, is steadily washing away due to an extreme erosion problem on the westward facing, Gulf of Mexico side of the small island.  Egmont Key has a wonderful history in the State of Florida, beginning in about 1500 when Spanish Conquistadors first explored the area to where Seminole Indians were once detained during the Third Seminole War, where some members of the Union Navy were stationed during the Civil War, and where a large battery was erected during the Spanish American War in 1898.  Among the ruins of the battery, and through clouds of mosquitoes, the chains that once held the giant cannons can still be seen today.

Today, where parts of the battery buildings were once thriving, exists a undersea diving grounds approximately 20ft deep.  This particular portion of the battery at one time had over 100ft of shoreline in front of it, but is now 100 ft. off the shoreline and a haven for marine life.  Large cabbage palms that used to shade the island have been lost due to salt water intrusion.

In the past 1000 years, roughly 40% of the island has been eroded due to storms.  According to the U.S. Department of Geological Survey Center for Coastal & Regional Marine Studies, “examinations of vibracores and historical map analysis as well as the current dynamics of the island’s coast will be studied by monitoring modern processes and responses. These approaches will provide appropriate data to enable assessment of long-term changes on the island and details of the processes currently modifying the shoreline of Egmont Key” during a proposed investigation into the erosion issue impacting this island.  Below is a chart showing beach profiles measured during 1996 showing significant monthly loss:

Measures are underway to try to save what remains of this island, which is a National Wildlife Refuge since 1974.  Community action groups as well local engineers have looked into many different options to try to help stop or limit the amount of erosion that is occurring, however none have acted at this time.  Aside from beach re-nourishment, where the U.S. Corp of Army Engineers drop additional sand to the island every few years, not much is being done to save this little island that is a refuge not only for the birds, gopher tortoises, and giant mosquitoes on the interior of the island, but for 1000’s of families that take to the spot for swimming, fishing, sun bathing, hiking, picnicking, and bird watching.

http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/wfla/ofr/ofrmorpho/mo_link8.html

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322703001774

http://egmontkey.info/

http://www.saveegmontkey.com/home.html

http://www.livingshorelinesolutions.com/In_The_News.html