A 35-year-old Florida man who was recording the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean died when a sand dune collapsed on top of him, sheriff's officials said.
A beachgoer saw a portion of the man's body protruding from the sand on Hutchinson Island early on Monday and called for help, Martin County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post.
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Professor Alexandre Valance, of the Institute of Physics of Rennes, France, is a member of a group of scientists who studied sand dunes in the Gulf region and discovered dunes can breathe. The study findings were published in the 'Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface'. All photos: Michel Louge -
Lead researcher Prof Michel Louge, of Cornell University in the US, carries out an experiment on sands to the west of Mesaieed, about 40 kilometres south of Doha in Qatar. -
Patrick Chasle, of the Institute of Physics of Rennes, at work with Prof Michel Louge. -
While collecting data in Qatar, the researchers found that when the wind blew over the surface of a dune, it skimmed off the upper layer, creating imbalances in the air pressure that resulted in weak air currents and "evanescent" or fleeting waves of moisture passing down through the dune. -
Monitoring equipment at work in Qatar. Until the latest study, the way that sand dunes 'inhaled' and 'exhaled' water vapour was poorly understood because scientific instruments lacked precision. -
Study leader Prof Michel Louge, of Cornell University in the US. -
Patrick Chasle of the Institute of Physics of Rennes prepares an experiment. -
Prof Michel Louge’s research is the latest to reveal the hidden life of sand dunes, with a 2020 study from the University of Cambridge indicating that turbulence in the air or water created by one dune influenced neighbouring dunes.
The man was apparently beneath the dune while recording the sunrise when the hill of sand collapsed, detectives said. They said it appeared the man died as a result of being trapped underneath the sand.
Detectives do not suspect foul play, but they are awaiting results of toxicology tests before it can be confirmed as a “tragic accident,” the post said.
Hutchinson Island is north of West Palm Beach on Florida's Atlantic coast.
