Beach Pumping’s Impact On Rip Currents, Waves Discussed; Patrol Captain Maintains Data, Research Show No Link Joanne Shriner, Staff Writer OCEAN CITY – Resort officials dismissed the notion this week that there is a link between beach replenishment and swimming injuries in the ocean. Last Thursday, The Dispatch posted to Facebook a story about a victim suffering neck and back injuries on the beach near 55th Street around 1 p.m. and being transported to PRMC in Salisbury via helicopter. The majority of The Dispatch’s followers, as has happened in the past with reports of other rescues, voiced their opinions that beach replenishment is to be blamed for the changing dynamics of the ocean floor causing shore breaks and rip currents in higher frequencies than before. “The surf line in Ocean City is not what it was 40 years ago when I was growing up. Back then there was always a sandbar 200 yards out from the shore … you got the nicest waves for bodysurfing, nice rollers,” posted Marty Etzel. “Now you get this ‘flop’ right at the shoreline. Is this because of beach replenishment?” Todd Lester responded, “Absolutely. We had nice sandbars just prior to the replenishment, and now they have not only wrecked Ocean City for surfing, but have created a very dangerous situation for folks who aren’t accustomed to the ocean ... rips and heavy shore breaks are definitely attributed ...” There was another water rescue last Thursday that required Maryland State Police helicopter assistance, as well as two others on Sunday in Ocean City and in Assateague. The ocean was particularly rough on Sunday and over the weekend from a passing system off the coast. On June 25, a 69-year-old suffered a fatal neck injury while bodyboarding in the ocean. The man was revived on the beach but passed away days later at the hospital as a result of the traumatic injury. Facebook posters again pointed to last winter’s beach replenishment project for the injury. Ocean City Beach Patrol Captain Butch Arbin said on Wednesday there has not been any kind of scientific correlation or rescue statistics that prove beach replenishment is related to an increase in rescues or neck and back injuries. “Whenever anything happens, people ask if it relates to beach replenishment not only with shore break but also the rip current,” Arbin said. “We have been looking at this for a long time.” Looking back to the first year the Army Corps of Engineers conducted the beach replenishment project in Ocean City in 1988, Arbin reviewed the number of neck and back injuries in the areas of the beach that were replenished and not replenished. “Fifty percent occurred on beaches with replenishment and 50 percent occurred on beaches that had never been replenished, so that is a flip of a coin. Statistically, there is no correlation between beach replenishment and the shore break,” he said. Arbin furthered, currently the University of Delaware through Sea Grant is conducting research and preliminary reports show there are no statistically significant correlation between beach replenishment in Delaware and injuries, and Delaware has suffered more injuries then Ocean City has, according to Arbin. More: click below
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 12:16:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015