Gold Coast Seaway

Before the bypass system was implemented the mouth of the Nerang River moved northwards at a rate of 60 metres per year.

[1] This northward drift was responsible for the unstable and shifting conditions of the bar, which made crossing it hazardous for small boats.

[5] The Gold Coast Shoreline Management Plan is reviewing this practice and examining the concept of Island welding to determine if 85% of the sand (80,000 cubic metres per year) can be sustainably recycled to Surfers Paradise.

[6] The sand, which is naturally moving northwards is pumped via a tunnel under the seaway to South Stradbroke Island, thereby making dredging unnecessary.

Many surfers and body boarders regularly paddle across the seaway on their boards from the mainland to South Stradbroke Island.

In 2014, scientists from NatureServe in the US traveled to Australia to find a pipefish species first photographed by a diver in the seaway in November 2009.