Shoreline changes that follow beach replenishment projects spark complaints from wave riders — and safety concerns from others Jim McGrath isn’t certain of the the beach was closed. Lifeguards posted exact day. But sometime in July 2014, signs warning that it was not safe to ven - he wandered down to the beach from ture into the water. his Bethany Surf Shop and noted how Of course, Delaware’s Atlantic rough the surf was. beaches have always had their occasion - “There must have been a storm out al days of heavy surf — days that wave Break in the ocean,” he says. “Whatever it was, riders of all sorts welcomed with relish. the swell was big and there were some But in recent years the state’s shoreline really nasty shore breaks.” has changed so much that a day at the By Lynn R. Parks | Photographs by Chuck Snyder The waves were crashing onto the beach, heavy surf or not, sometimes sand with such intensity, he recalls, that isn’t as much fun as it used to be, “people were getting hurt like crazy.” He McGrath asserts. told a nearby member of the Bethany Sand replenishment projects have Beach Patrol that the beach should be made the slope steeper, he notes, and closed. “Swimming in that was a good have covered up groins and jetties that way to get killed,” he recalls. used to make waves start to curl farther And sure enough, a short time later from shore. Now, waves don’t break until An incoming wave carries a line of surfers and boogie boarders to shore. 42 Delaware Beach Life I August 2015 August 2015 I Delaware Beach Life 43 People familiar with coastal Sussex beach condi - tions say renourishment projects have reshaped Groins and Jetties the shore break, creating dangerous conditions Although many Delaware for swimmers like these young women, surfers beachgoers refer to the rock-and- and people just wading in shallow water. timber structures jutting out from local beaches as “jetties,” they are more accu - rately called “groins.” they hit the shore, making many of the state’s beaches tively impacted Groins are built perpendicular to the shore - obvious,” he says. “I saw a big difference as unsuitable for surfing. surfing in Delaware by line. Intended to control erosion, their purpose soon as the first replenishment project was “In the old days, we used to surf for an hour a day, or steepening shore slope is to trap sand being carried along the coast, done. Now just a 2-foot wave is potentially even two,” McGrath says. “Now, that’s all gone, gone, angles, causing waves to suspended in the waves. dangerous.” gone.” break closer to shore, Jetties are much larger structures, typically Joe Donnelly is captain of the Bethany Colin Herlihy agrees. A native of Bethany Beach and and by burying groins in constructed to stabilize shorelines along water - Beach Patrol. He acknowledges that follow - owner of the Wave Riding School in Ocean City, Herlihy sand,” the report says. ways, such as at Indian River Inlet and Roosevelt ing replenishment projects, waves that roll has been surfing for 30 years — since he was 4: “I would The beaches it cites Inlet in Lewes. I ashore aren’t great for surfing. ride my bike to the beach every day to surf. Now, I don’t where waves are no “Beach nourishment changes the topo- even try. They have ruined it for surfing. Sometimes, I just longer good for surfing: graphy and the way that waves break and stand on the boardwalk and look out over the ocean. It Cape Henlopen at Gordons Pond, Rehoboth Beach, we don’t get those rolling waves that peo - definitely makes me sad.” Dewey Beach, Delaware Seashore Tower Road, the north ple like to ride,” he allows. When Herlihy and McGrath want to surf, they head side of the Indian River Inlet, Bethany Beach and Fenwick But he disagrees that the beach is less south to Assateague Island. There has been no beach Island. safe than it used to be: “There is a notice - replenishment project at that barrier island, and the And to some, there’s more to this situation than simply able difference in the beach and I under - waves break the same as they always have. a loss of surfing spots. Herlihy and McGrath both say that stand that for a lot of people, that’s a very In a 2014 report titled “The State of Surfing in the new beach conditions are dangerous — for swimmers emotional issue. And I know that it’s a Delaware,” the Delaware chapter of the Surfrider Foun - as well as for surfers and even anyone who just likes to common belief among a lot of surfers that dation (an international group dedicated to protecting wade in the shallows. the beach is more dangerous. But there is the world’s beaches) says that of the nine coastal Sussex “The waves now come in with such force,” McGrath no evidence to support that. The statistics beaches that used to attract surfers, only two — at Cape says. “Even a small wave throws you down so hard that don’t back them up.” Henlopen State Park’s Herring Point and the south side you can be injured.” The Army Corps of Engineers, which of the Indian River Inlet — remain surfable. Dan Herlihy, Colin’s dad, has been surfing Delaware oversees the replenishment projects, echoes “Most surfers agree that beach nourishment has nega - waters for more than 50 years. “The changes are quite this. “It’s important to bear in mind that the oceanfront itself is an inherently haz - 44 Delaware Beach Life I August 2015 August 2015 I Delaware Beach Life 45 Beach replenishment work takes place in Rehoboth in 2012. Supporters say Jason Wilson, of Dewey, says the new surf conditions are pumping sand to widen beaches and fortify dunes helps offset erosion and favorable for skimboarding, but detrimental to surfing and A Physician’s Perspective A Fisherman’s View lessens damage during storms. even swimming. While the University of Delaware and the state study Surfers aren’t the only people com- whether Sussex beaches are different from how they used to plaining about the effects of beach be, Dr. Paul Cowan, chief of emergency medicine at Beebe nourishment. Rich King, a regular surf ardous environment,” says Edward Voigt, spokesman for the corps’ deposits of sand mean that waves, traveling over an Healthcare, is conducting an investigation too. It has nothing fisherman and owner of the website Philadelphia office. “The presence of lifeguards in almost every uneven ocean floor, start curling sooner than they would to do with beach replenishment; rather, he is trying to figure Delaware Surf Fishing, says that with beach community is testament enough to that fact. We simply otherwise. out what environmental variables make it more likely that the seaward beach extensions, the have found no statistical, factual basis for directly correlating In addition, replenishment projects made the beaches someone standing or swimming in the surf will be injured. fishing isn’t as good as it used to be. beach nourishment one-on-one with swimming or surfing higher, creating a steeper slope down to the ocean. Waves The variables being examined include water temperature, “Replenishment changes the ‘struc- injuries.” are affected by their “swell period,” the length of time that wind speed and direction and wave height. ture’ — holes, sandbars and shoals — they travel over shallow water. As the friction of the ocean What the numbers say The Beebe study, being done in collaboration with that hold fish,” he says. “When that floor slows them down, the wave energy is pushed DNREC, the University of Delaware and five ocean beach structure is filled in, it no longer holds Delaware’s first major beach project was done in 2005 in upward, causing an increase in height. A gradually slop - patrols, is in its sixth year. It started when Cowan noticed fish.” Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach and Fenwick Island. Major ing ocean floor makes for a taller wave as well as one that that people coming to the emergency department with surf- Over time, King says, currents move projects followed in Bethany Beach and South Bethany in 2008. curls over more slowly, something that surfers love. More related injuries seemed to come in clusters. “Some days, we sand around, which re-creates the Beaches were extended seaward to provide more room between steeply sloping bottoms result in a faster wave with a would see a lot of injuries, then we would have a period of structure. But that process can take a the surf and oceanfront properties and to allow space for more upright face. time where there were very few,” he says. Cowan wanted to couple of years. construction of grassy protective dunes. Jason Wilson, owner of Alley-Oop Skim in Dewey find out why that was, so beachgoers could be warned of King would like to see the planning Replenishment projects were done again in 2009 (Rehoboth, Beach, says that for skimboarders, especially experienced conditions more likely to cause injuries. for beach replenishment have a broader Dewey, Bethany and South Bethany), 2011 (Bethany, South ones, the new surf conditions are good, because they can He keeps a record of people who arrive at the emergency focus. “Recreation is never considered Bethany and Fenwick Island) and 2012 (Rehoboth, Dewey, ride up the waves that roll onto the beach. “We like heavy department during the summer months with injuries incurred by these projects,” he said. “Planners Bethany and South Bethany). Another project in 2013 at all five shore break,” he says.