Every time a big swell batters the Sunshine Coast, it takes a piece of Bribie Island with it.
The breakthrough on the island's northern tip is having flow-on effects for the mainland, with a direct path from the ocean to the Golden Beach foreshore.
A recent east coast low generated waves along the foreshore, causing further erosion.
A Sunshine Coast Council survey found 1,320 cubic metres of sand had been lost between Oxley Street and the TS Onslow navy cadet base in the three months from December to February.
Photographer Doug Bazley, who has been capturing aerial images of the area since 2017, said he was shocked by how much Golden Beach had changed.
"We've lost another probably 15 to 20 metres of grassed area where people relax on weekends and enjoy," Mr Bazley said.
"Are we going to lose another 20 to 30 in another two or three months?
"Where will it stop before something gets done?"
Coastguard 'landlocked' at low tide
The new crossing has caused tonnes of sand to shift and settle in the passage.
Residents can walk across to Bribie Island from the mainland at low tide.
It has created a logistical nightmare for the Caloundra Coast Guard.
Commander Roger Pearce said it has become very difficult for his crew to cross the main Caloundra bar at low tide.
Access to the south has also been challenging.
"Dead low tide, and we're landlocked completely," Mr Pearce said.
"We take our secondary boat, a seven metre vessel, on the trailer down to the powerboat club ramp and launch there."
That process adds an extra half hour to their response time for rescues.
"It's not ideal," Mr Pearce said.
"The state scientist ... has said all along that they will let nature take its course and we understand that completely.
"It's just a shame that it's broken the passage in two which is limiting its use."
Calls for action
The coastguard is calling for sand dredging to clear a safer path for boats.
Sunshine Coast Council has a Bribie Island Breakthrough Action Plan in place, with dredging scheduled next month.
Volunteer group Take Action Pumicestone Passage has planted mangroves and installed coir logs to try to reduce erosion along Golden Beach.
Mr Bazley said more action needed to be taken to protect properties on the mainland.
"Nature didn't give approval for homes and properties to be built along the foreshore," Mr Bazley said.
He said the council and state government needed to step up to protect them.
"I would have thought at least a rock wall would have been put in," he said.
A state environment department spokesperson said the organisation had been monitoring northern Bribie Island through satellite imagery and ground surveys.
"The new entrance has stabilised at about 750m wide, with a deep channel about 170m wide," the spokesperson said.
"Following storm erosion events, recovery and re-establishment of dunes and dune plants occurs naturally.
"The department is not considering any remedial works but will continue to monitor the situation."
A Maritime Safety Queensland spokesperson said the organisation was undertaking further hydrographic surveys of the passage as channel conditions were still changing.
"Maritime Safety Queensland will then determine the feasibility of doing any dredging works or placing new navigation aids to mark the best water available," the spokesperson said.
