Supporting Documents (Data and Analysis) - Satellite Beach

Beach Erosion
The beach erosion rate, as determined by research undertaken for the preparation of the Brevard
County Beach Management Plan (1987), averaged 0.5 feet per year between 1972 and 1985. Studies
commissioned by the US Army Corps of Engineers and Brevard County have documented long-term
loss of oceanfront land in the City. Historical data indicate the location of the top of the dune bluff is
retreating at a rate of about 0.6 foot per year, with the mean high tide line along the beach retreating
at a rate of about 0.3 foot per year. Comparison with surveys conducted in 1844 and 1859 suggests
that in the century-and-a-half since that time there has been slight net accretion (perhaps 50 to 150
feet) of land between Patrick Air Force Base and the northern end of the City, little change in the
shoreline in the portion of the City north of Cassia Boulevard, and loss of as much as 1,700 feet (0.3
mile) in the vicinity of Volunteer Way.
Stormwater outfalls from SR A1A and some private residences also cause erosion in the vicinity of
the structures. Surface water drainage onto the beach is a violation of the City Code and State
regulations. As renovations are made to the properties drained by these outfalls, they will be
removed so as to comply with Code and regulations. The apparent rise in sea level will also continue
to cause dune migration westward along the entire beach.
Habitats and Vegetative Cover
The green sea turtle (threatened) and the loggerhead and leatherback turtles (endangered) nest along
the stretch of beach in Satellite Beach and both to the north and south of the City. The beach
provides habitat and food for ghost crabs and mole crabs as well as several bird species such as
willets, plovers, sanderlings, terns, pelicans, and gulls. That portion of the beach from the foredune
to mean low water exposed at low tide overlies a coquina shelf which forms irregular outcrops along
the shoreline.
The Brevard County, Florida Shore Protection Project Review Study Feasibility Report completed in
1995 by the US Army Corps of Engineers reports that the coquina outcrops total approximately 32
acres in the area between Patrick Air Force Base and Paradise Beach Park in Indialantic, with the
best developed portion in the area immediately off Satellite Beach. In the same report, the US Fish
and Wildlife Service reports that approximately 5 to 10 percent of these outcrops are inhabited by the
reef-building tube worm Phragmatopoma lapidosa, citing the reef-rock habitat as "a unique
biological feature of importance to the marine exosystem." The presence of the coquina outcrops,
tube worms, and associated biological community of 350-plus identified species and, perhaps,
another 350 yet to be identified (personal communication, Dr. Walter Nelson, Florida Institute of
Technology) has resulted in a decision by those investigating beach renourishment south of Port
Canaveral to not place sand on the beaches between Patrick Air Force Base and Paradise Beach Park.
Vegetated sand dunes are found along most of the beach's length and provide the major defense
against storm events. Native plant species found on the dunes include sea oats, palmetto, sea grape,
railroad vine, dollar weed, coral bean, Spanish bayonet, wax myrtle, yaupon holly, and several grass
species. More salt-tolerant and wind-tolerant species, such as sea oats and railroad vine, are found
predominantly on the ocean side of the dune, while other dune vegetation species do not generally
Coastal Management/Conservation Element
Data and Analysis 5-3