It's been almost half a century since Merewether Beach lost as much sand as it did this week.
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A southerly swell and some big tides combined to strip tonnes of sand from the iconic beach, leaving a rock sea wall standing as the last line of defence.
Long-time locals compared the erosion to the aftermath of the famous May 1974 Sygna storm.
"I haven't seen it as bad as this at Merewether for quite a few years," Newcastle Herald's Coastlines correspondent Dave Anderson said.
"It wasn't this bad even after the (2007) Pasha Bulker storm."
This week's erosion was caused by a predominantly southerly swell whereas the Sygna storm, which left the entire Bar Beach to Merewether strip devoid of sand, generated swell from three directions.
"If it's from the east it takes it off in the middle and as it moves around to the north it takes it off at Bar Beach," Merewether National Surfing Reserve chairman Tim Ryan said.
"What happened with the Sgyna storm is we ended up with three swell events that all came from different directions which scalloped the whole beach out."
More than 40 years passed before the next major erosion event - the April 2015 Superstorm - occurred along the Bar Beach to Merewether strip.
It was followed by another significant event in July last year, which stripped the sand off Pogonoski's.
"These erosion events definitely are getting closer together and they likely to be linked to global warming," Mr Ryan said.
Locals believe the the sand movement is part of a natural dynamic that forces sand offshore before it returns.
"Our best waves are often after erosion events such as these," Mr Ryan said.
"The Merewether-Bar Beach stretch from our understanding and observations over the past 50 years is that it is a contained headland, in that the sand does not substantially move from between the headlands and moves offshore after east coast lows and returns to the beach with the northerly drift of summer north swells and winds.
"Merewether Beach can grow five or ten metres width in a few days, it is quite remarkable."
Despite its age and recent battering, the Merewether sea wall, which was built in 1975, appears to be holding up well.
"Currently there are long shallow banks about 100 metres offshore. Nature will take its course and if history repeats, as it surely will, the sand will return before summer," Mr Ryan said.
"We understand the council is investigating a sea wall of sorts at Bar Beach to protect the pavilion, footpath and road.
"If it is constructed similar to Merewether's we would see it as a prudent investment."
Merewether wasn't the only part of the Hunter's coast that copped the brunt of this week's weather system, with erosion also occurring at South Newcastle and Nobbys.
Friday's 11am high tide saw waves take more sand from already exposed sections of Stockton Beach.
Newly exposed erosion was evident in front of Stockton Caravan Park as well as around Corroba Oval to the north.
The Newcastle Herald reported on Friday that the sea had broken through a section of foredune near the Fullerton St sports complex just days after the completion of a $3.9 million seawall.
There appears to be little hope of stopping the surge eating further into the area's unprotected foredune in coming months.
Stockton landcare coordinator Paul Johnson estimated at least half of the work the group had done near Eames Avenue over the past decade had been lost.
"We abandoned it because we were just chasing our tails," Mr Johnson said.
"It's very disappointing to watch the ocean encroach on a lot of hard work over all those years.
"Sadly there was some remnant vegetation from pre-white occupation that has also been lost."
Work to secure the long-term viability of the Stockton foreshore took a significant step forward last August when the state government certified a coastal management program for the area.
It was the first such program to be certified under the state government's Coastal Management Act.
The large tides, which contributed to this week's erosion along the NSW coastline, have subsided.
"The two nights when it happened we had 1.8 and 1.9 metre tides. They have dropped back to 1.6 and 1.5 at the moment," Mr Anderson said.
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