The "Life In The Sand Dunes" Story

It was an ordinary day.  The second day of vacation at Stone Harbor, New Jersey.  Carol and I arrived yesterday after driving through a blowing rain for a bit over three hours.  After we arrived we headed to our destination along Second Street near the south end of what is known as the Seven Mile Island which is comprised of both Avalon and Stone Harbor.  We are guests for a week with my brother Steve and sister-in-law Kathy as well as nephew Matt and his wife Katie and their one-year-old son John.  

Access to the beach has been restricted.

As we pulled into the driveway, which is about 100 yards from the beach, we could see that the beach had been barricaded and the sand dunes had been drastically changed due to a week of bad weather and the prospect of another bad week and possibly the arrival of a hurricane by the end of our stay.  We unpacked, ate lunch and tried to plan the rest of the day.  

When we were able to use the pathways you had to
walk through waist deep sand dunes.

Some decided to try and reach the beach to see what damage might have been done while I decided against it since I am still recovering from back surgery and am wearing a supporting harness.  From the second floor balcony I could see the sand dunes and the fact that they are doing exactly what they were meant to do...that being a narrow ribbon of sand that is nestled between the high-tide line of the beach and the landscaping of the beachfront homes that butt up against it.  

Here you can see the height of the dunes in the background.
The sand in the foreground was deposited there by the waves.
Here you can see the sea grasses that helped stop the sand and ocean.

The dunes of the Seven Mile Beach rise close to 14 feet with a few higher areas and in most places they form a single ridge.  Beaches automa- tically know the level of the sea and at times tend to move either landward or seaward.  In Avalon and Stone Harbor the Army Corp of Engineers, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Management and both boroughs spend millions of dollars annually to try and keep the beach to hold its same position.  The success of holding its position is dependent on the whims of Mother nature.  Having a healthy dune line and wide beach can change dependent on the time between storms.  

Another view showing the sand that was
washed into the dunes from the ocean.

The dunes are the first line of defense in a storm.  They have to sacrifice themselves to absorb the incoming wave attacks.  Following a storm the dune is cut back, leaving a steep cliff face to a beach that tends to be eroded.  Dunes are very fragile, yet resilient.  The plants are an important part of the dune.  American beach grass is the native grass and is adapted to life in harsh conditions.  The grass thrives in conditions of shifting sand, sand burial and high winds.  Their strong root system is the key to their survival.  The plants actually need the over wash of the ocean to deposit seaweed which supplies nutrients to feed the grass.  One of the few things that negatively affects dune grass is people walking on it.  That will kill the dune grass and harm the structure of the dunes.  Its imperative to use walkways designed to allow passage to the beach.  

Other plants bloom amongst the sea grasses.

There are also other plant species that live in the dunes.  One, known as Seaside goldenrod, shows its late summer and fall yellow flowers that draw monarch butterflies to them as they head to wintering grounds in Mexico.  Other birds and small mammals use the dunes for food, shelter and nesting.  On the beach-face dunes, Ghost crab burrows are always abundant.  When fall arrives mass groupings of tree swallows feed in the coastal dunes.  

The bulldozer cleared the pathways for beach traffic.

These birds consume close to 2,000 insects each day.  During migration they also feed on berries that grow in the dunes.  In the winter the snowy owl can be seen in the dunes as they move south from their northern homes.  The dunes that we witnessed during our week stay were dunes that definitely had protected the homes along the west side of the dunes.  Large piles of sand covered the dune fences which told us that the wind and waves had forced the sand from the ocean floor onto the dunes.  The plant life also helped save the homes from destruction as they helped stop the water from advancing.  

Here a Ghost crab is clearing his home of sand.

On our fourth day of vacation we were able to access the beach and bulldozers arrived to push the sand that had covered the pathways with close to five feet deep sand mounds.  The sea is a beautiful creature, but can be destructive.  The destruction can be halted if towns can prepare by planning their sand dunes accordingly.  We certainly witnessed that feat during our vacation.  The planning saved the homes along the shoreline and the beach plantings were a big part of that planning.  Congratulations to all involved in the constant restoration of the sand dunes along beaches all over the World.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Every day of vacation was as this one.  The sea mist kept you from seeing more than perhaps 100 yards and the sun was absent from our vacation this year.  Very few people frequented the beach.