Beach erosion creeping up on coasts of Lee County

After all the rain over the past few days, there is not much beach left to enjoy along the coasts of Lee County.

Beach erosion has been creeping up around Sanibel Island and Fort Myers Beach Saturday.

“Like almost splashing up the steps,” Ronald Bertram said. “There was a little bit of beach erosion, but it seemed to do a good job of cleaning all the garbage off the beach.”

A parking lot was brimming with cars following a slow week. But not too full to keep beachgoers like Bertram from this unusual setting for the Gulf.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Bertram said. “The surf you don’t get to see that often. It’s like a California surf or an East coast surf.”

Joseph Rodriguez said rushing water brought him a closer look at sea life.

“The waves were like coming up and then the dolphins their faces were coming up the water and then some of their face was showing because the waves for a really high,” Rodriguez said.

Hannah Smith serves at the Sunset Beach Tiki Bar and said over the past few days customers couldn’t walk by it on the beach.

“Waves coming over, they were having waves coming over the rocks. They came up really far,” Smith said.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, in weeks and months following a storm, sand is returned to the beach by calm-weather waves.

Smith said the incoming warmer weather and calmer breeze has customers returning to her place of work.

“Today was great honestly,” Smith said. “It picked up a lot the sun was out and it warmed up a lot so it was good.”