Florida has the longest coastline in the contiguous United States with about 8,500 miles of tidal shoreline.
While a waterfront view seems idyllic, the reality is, communities and their residents are dealing with the pressures of rising sea levels.
Global warming has elevated Florida's water by about eight inches since 1950. And it's expected to keep growing an inch every few years in some areas.
Public officials have been slowly adapting over the past decade or so by taking the lead on a nature-based way of stabilizing the coast called living shorelines.
WUSF is kicking off NPR's Climate Solutions Week with a look at some of these initiatives around the Tampa Bay region.
Pinellas County
Mesh bags filled with oyster shells are strategically stacked to create a barrier between Old Tampa Bay and red mangroves at Philippe Park in Safety Harbor.
This is an example of a living shoreline. It's the opposite of a hardened shoreline that uses concrete or other material to build a seawall.
"We know that there used to be oysters in this part of the bay," said Stacey Day who heads up this effort for Pinellas County.
Her team has been reviving the oyster population there.
Oyster reefs along the shore help break up waves and prevent the land from eroding. Plus, it keeps the bay healthy.
"Each adult oyster can filter a lot of water up to 50 gallons a day," Day said.
Pinellas has eight living shoreline projects at this park, alone: oyster bags, oyster rag pots, oyster castle blocks, oyster volcanoes, oyster pallet cakes, loose shell, reef domes, and marsh grass.
An offshore oyster reef installed in 2023 helped minimize flood damage from hurricanes the following year, Day said.
"It didn't move at all in the storms," she said.
It's not just oysters. Living shorelines can be made with sand, rocks, and plants, too.
And these natural barriers get stronger as they get older - unlike traditional seawalls, which weaken over time before ultimately crumbling.
Manatee County
That's the case for one seawall 50 miles south at Rose Park along Palma Sola Bay in Manatee County.
"This seawall is very old, and where we're standing today, you can see the giant cracks, and you can see the rebar that is in the old concrete that was used to establish the wall," said Sherri Swanson with the county.
This seawall wasn't able to stop floodwaters from submerging the park during Hurricane Helene in 2024.
"The storm water came over the seawall, and it went into the park, and some of the trees were killed by the salt water, and other ones were knocked over by the wind," Swanson said.
Now, Manatee is replacing this seawall with a natural slope made up of oyster bars, artificial reefs, and native plants
"The waves will be able to gently roll up the slopes, versus crashing into these abrupt seawall edges that are currently here," Swanson said.
Sarasota County
Another 40 miles south at Blackburn Point Park in Sarasota County, the Gulf water is lapping onto mangroves tree roots and loose shells.
Armando Ubeda, with the university-based program Florida Sea Grant, said this didn't exist 10 years ago.
"You wouldn't be able to stand at this spot because it was a big drop," he said.
The county used coconut fiber logs, mangroves, oysters, and shells to build out the nonexistent shoreline.
A decade later, this project is now considered a success.
"The shoreline has been restored, basically. The soil is in there. The park is still here, and we're getting more people coming now, fishing and doing things so it's great," said Ubeda.
So far, most of Florida's living shoreline restoration has happened on public lands by local governments. The state has also made some adaptation funds available through its Resilient Florida program.
There are 33 such projects listed across the state on an interactive map monitored by Florida Sea Grant and partner organizations. There are even more which aren't recorded there.
Private homeowners
But there's a huge missing piece to this resiliency puzzle, Ubeda said.
"We need private homeowners to get involved," he said.
Residents own more of the state's coastline than the government does – about 60%.
So, Ubeda and other collaborators published an informational website on living shorelines. They also offer a course that teaches people to navigate the design and permitting process.
And a new state law passed this year helps streamline the red tape, which has historically made living shorelines a lot more complicated to install than traditional seawalls.
Some Tampa Bay area homeowners have actually started implementing these more natural practices.
Later this week you can learn from Floridians who are taking the plunge and meet the "living shorelines guru" who's helping them.
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