So much was said about the Balluta Bay project last summer, which saw a sandy beach developed at the St Julian’s Bay. But once the winds changed and winter started, the beach began to suffer.

The winter seas and, in particular, the horrific storm that the Maltese Islands experienced two weeks ago, have not been kind to the little beach. Recent photos have surfaced, showing how it has practically disappeared after the sand that was dredged up to form the bay has been carried back out to sea again.

Last year, marine biologist Adrian Mallia explained that the experimental replenishment project was to see whether the beach could actually replenish itself. The project began in summer, which saw quite a few people flocking to the 'new' beach to soak up some sun. But once rougher seas hit our shores, the question became: what would become of the beach?

Back in November, when the first big storm hit, the beach did experience a loss of sand as expected, but a lot still remained in the system. I spoke to Adrian again, who explained what happened. “The storm destroyed the system, which wasn’t a surprise. However, right up until the day before the storm, the beach was still there and thriving.”

Adrian explains that the matrix that was rebuilt over the summer was destroyed to the extent that sand was blown into the square opposite, as well as pushed back out to sea. "The only part of the matrix that was left were stones, which are probably not strong enough to rebuild the beach. The bay might grow slightly as time passes, but it is unlikely that the sand will come back and the beach will grow again. Honestly, I would be really surprised if it does," he says.

“No one could have predicted the storm, and had there not been one, the beach would still be there and we would have probably had a large beach come summer time.”