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A high tide at Cottesloe Beach has forced the organisers of Sculpture by the Sea to move at least six exhibitions.
The high tide, combined with a weekend storm, threatened sculptures at the popular outdoor installation, which attracts tens of thousands of viewers each year.
A spokesman for Sculpture by the Sea, David Hanley, said organisers were forced to start moving them to higher ground early this morning.
"Overnight the sea came up, as we all know there was quite a storm coming through Perth, and it whipped up the surf and as a result of that the beach has diminished a lot," he said.
He said it was the third time in 13 years they had been forced to move sculptures due to beach erosion.
"We were losing a metre of beach an hour this morning," he said.
"Fortunately we have been able to get the equipment down here to move the sculptures and get them out before the sand was even more washed away. It's been really quite exciting.
"We aren't too sure what the weather is going to do, we may have to move another one of the installations from the far end of the beach.
"If we lose too much more sand it will have to to be up here in the park."
Mr Hanley said none of the sculptures had been damaged, but the beach had lost up to 18 metres of sand.
The lifeguard watch house at Cottesloe and North Cottesloe beaches also had to be rescued.
The weather is expected to worsen this afternoon.
An excavator will move the relocated sculptures in their new positions by late Tuesday morning.
A wooden remanent of Cottesloe pier has reappeared with all the sand erosion.
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, visual-art, contemporary-art, cottesloe-6011, wa
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