I have chosen to study public Kamala beach that is located on the west coast of Phuket island in Thailand (7.949606, 98.277419). It is a sandy/rocky flat beach with lots of tropical vegetation (however conifer trees are present too) with an area of about 38 sq.km. (Area that I’m studying. Total area of the beach is approximately 600 sq. km).
Kamala beach has 3 major rivers/stormwater canals flowing into the gulf that increase or decrease the amount of flow of freshwater into the open sea depending on precipitation. The location that I’m studying has 2 rivers flowing into the open sea, their width changes depending on the amount of waterfall (from 5 to 20 meters approximately). Also there are random small flows of water occur in different places along the beach during heavy rainfall.
The area is very interesting for observations due to tides and low-grade beach slope. During low tide a huge area of sea bed opens that attracts a great number of avian species (sparrows, gulls, grey and white herons, red-backed sea eagles). The 24-hour cycle of tides consists of 2 low tides and 2 high tides. The low tide in Phuket area can be about 0.1 meters while high tide can reach up to 2.5 meters. Phuket island is approximately 900km away from the equator and according to Köppen climate classification it has tropical monsoon climate. There is little variation of temperatures during the year (annual average high of about 32 C and annual average low of about 25 C).
Date and time of first visit: 21/11/2022, 12:51
Weather: ~32C, wind SE ~3-5 m/s
Humidity 81%,
Low tide 1.3 meters.
Three questions I have about this study:
- How level of tides increase/decrease level of activity of birds feeding in the area of temporary opened sea bed?
- How stormwater flowing into the sea after heavy rains effect on presence of birds in estuary?
- How the flow of stormwater changes the topography of the beach?
