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The Surf’s Up Surf Report :

Beach re-nourishment continues on the long time surf spot Upham, a spot that was once a point-like wave that wrapped around the artificial structure in place to hold up the touristy building’s proclaimed front yard. Sand being pulled from offshore is being pumped into the beaches. Rocks are being piled up on the beach around a rock placeholder.  It’s a beach project like no other. Only like the previously identical one at Honeymoon Island, of course. What should you think of all this?

Will this benefit the surfers?  Probably not any more than they would have benefited by having a public place to surf.

Will the rocks be an eyesore? Yea, for sure. When you look at a sunset you want to see the beach, the ocean, and the sun, not a big pile of fake beach rocks and cement on the beach.

Will this impede your ability to walk along the edge of the water? Yep, that too. If this project is like the last, quickly after the ocean washes away the sand, the rocks will only be partially buried, and you’ll have a set of them to step over (hopefully not trip over) every 100 yards or so.

Will most of the sand be washed away in less than a year? Yep, I would guess it will probably be like the honeymoon project and actually take less than 6 months, too bad. Like flushing millions of dollars down the toilet.

And what exactly is occurring when we start dredging up all that sand? My guess is that it’s having a seriously toxic effect on creatures like bivalves (the things that are housed in seashells) and fishes who depend on a healthy environment for survival.

This looks to me like a really unfortunate continuation of ignorant beach preservation and a way of harming the fish and other creatures of the ecosystem that depend on water clarity and a normal environment to survive. Of course, this is nothing new. Dredging has been going on for decades. But these new t-groins are something really terrible, that’s for sure. Why not add a jetty we can surf behind and maybe make it something we can fish from instead of such a short useless t-groin into the water that serves little purpose other than to be an eyesore?