Port Eynon - What is actually happening?

Port Eynon overview:

All too often, Port Eynon is presented as the pivotal example of the effects of sand dredging. Pictures of the bay's demise are synonymous with the sand dredging debate, and indeed it cannot be argued that what was once a predominantly sandy beach, arguably rivalling Rhossili in the beauty stakes, now has far more rock than sand. Port Eynon has been the subject of numerous debates surrounding the changing coastline, such as the following news report from the Evening Post in December 2007:

"MP'S SHOCK OVER BEACH'S DECLINE" (South Wales Evening Post.)
09:00 - 08 December 2007

Action is needed to halt the decline of Port Eynon beach in Gower, the shadow Secretary of State for Wales has said.Cheryl Gillan visited the beach with fellow Conservatives from Swansea and Gower, who have launched a petition calling for independent monitoring of the environmental impact of dredging, which they believe is responsible for the beach's condition. Ms Gillan said: "I cannot believe what has happened to this beach."When I was a girl, my family came here regularly. The lack of sand is devastating." We need to do everything we can to stop this disastrous situation getting even worse. "Byron Davies, Gower Conservative Parliamentary candidate, said the petition now had thousands of signatures. Local people were desperately concerned, he said. "I was brought up in Port Eynon, and am devastated by the current state of the beach," he said. Swansea councillor Paxton Hood-Williams said the petition would be handed to the Assembly this month. "When we launched the petition, we knew people were concerned, but we did not realise we would get such a massive response," he said.

Furthermore, Explore Gower's website refers to the sand dredging epidemic as it states that:

"Suffering like no other beach on the peninsula, Port Eynon's once wide stretch of sandy bay has now receded drastically behind newly revealed rocky outcrops that had hitherto not been exposed here since prehistoric times."

Yet, while there remain concerns about Port Eynon's dramatic change, there are still those in favour of sand dredging who claim that what is occurring down on the beach is simply a natural process, and not the result of the sand being obtained from the offseas Helwick Bank. Such a claim has never really sat properly in my mind, and it is because of this that I decided to take a trip to Port Eynon on Bank Holiday Monday to see how bad the situation has got, and whether tourism has been affected to the degree that some campaigners fear.
Before presenting the findings of my day out, I have included two photographs of Port Eynon over the years, which I feel speak for themselves.

Port Eynon, 1981:Port Eynon, 2008: