ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — *Editor's Note: The video referenced in this article does contain an expletive.
Cell phone video taken by a young woman in North Florida now has created a movement. It shows a dune being washed out in Southern St. Johns County and waves washing over A1A highway during Tropical Storm Nicole.
That video is taking on a life of its own as a fundraiser and environmental education campaign.
A St. Augustine woman named Devon Ramia shot the video.
She's the manager of the Sea Turtle Hospital at the UF Whitney Marine Lab in southern St. Johns County.
She was on her way to prepare the hospital for the storm Wednesday morning because there were turtle patients there. While trying to shoot video of the conditions in order to inform her colleagues, a dune that protects the highway and supports wildlife gave way to the storm.
In the video, you hear her exclaim "Dune down! Dune down! That is the Atlantic Ocean already crossing A1A."
She told First Coast News, "I just came up with it. I think it was just me in my natural element, driving to work, Fleetwood Mac playing."
Ramia continued, "I was just videoing. I came about it, and it just started washing over. And I was like, 'dune down, dune down!' Like, problem! Our dunes are so important to the coastline and especially our sea turtles."
Just as the video spread quickly, so did the phrase she created “Dune down”. So Ramia and her co-worker created a t-shirt which states "#DuneDown. Hurricane 2022" with a sea turtle on it.
The money raised from the shirt sales will go toward the UF Sea Turtle Hospital.
The hope is to also raise awareness about how dunes are necessary for gopher tortoises, sea turtle nesting, other wildlife, and the coastline in general.
The shirts can only be purchased online for the next six days.
As for the hospital, Ramia said it is okay. The staff has learned how to use door dams and sand bags to protect the treatment room. The turtles patients are okay as well.
Warning: The following video contains language some may find offensive. This occurred Wednesday afternoon in the Marineland area.