I saw this news about repairs to the ocean pool at Austinmer north of Wollongong. I have been interested for a while in the issue of the height of the oldest ocean pool walls and how they might relate to historic survey heights and modern survey heights – on the basis there should be another line of evidence here establishing the rate of sea level rise over a century or more.
Wollongong City Council have www page about their pools and there is a downloadable 9 page pdf report – Future of Our Pools Strategy 2014-2024 –
I thought – surely there must be comments here about sea level rise. Not so – not a word about sharks hoiking themselves over the walls during King tides and carrying off the odd swimmer. But I noticed this gem at the end of a string of bullet points on page 7 –
And earlier in the report was this graphic showing declining attendance figures –
All seems logical to me.
Hmmm, so how many tidal swimming pools have had to be abandoned due to rising sea levels? My guess would be, none.
Next question: how many pools have needed their heights raised due to sea level rise? My guess would also be none, though I have no evidence.
COOL!
You hit the nail on the head Anto – what we have is a large natural experiment that has been running for ~100 yrs and with some research into surveying archives – plus a few hours worth of modern surveying here and there near ports – might well provide a line of hard evidence on sea level movements.
If any readers can assist with information – please let us know.
“Historical attendance figures at outdoor pools closely correlate(s) to seasonal weather variations.” For once, this statement makes sense, and its implications in the graphic make sense too. Often the truth comes out is the fine print, the details, and hidden right at the end of an article in a harmless little graphic.
Maybe the declining attendance reflects increasing shark activity.