The Shark River is a river in eastern

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

that rises in eastern Monmouth County and flows southeast for ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed April 1, 2011 continuing through Neptune Township and Wall Township. The river continues towards the

Shark River Inlet The Shark River Inlet is an inlet that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Shark River (New Jersey), Shark River, located entirely in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The Shark River Inlet acts as a borde ...

, an

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

that feeds into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

between Belmar and Avon-by-the-Sea.

History

Originally called Nolletquesset by the Lenni Lenape Indians, the name Shark River appears on the 1686 John Reid manuscript map of East Jersey which is the earliest existing detailed map of Monmouth County. Due to the location of the county poor farm in what is now Shark River Hills, the river and surrounding area was given the nickname of Shirk River due to the shiftless folks lazing about on the banks of the river near the poor farm. "Shack River" was also derogatorily used in describing the area in relation to the shacks and shanties in which the poor shirkers dwelled in. Revolutionary soldiers gave the nickname of Hogs Pond to the area as wild hogs roamed freely throughout the woods near the salt works there. One 1812 map of New Jersey has Shark River titled as "White Creek" in reference to the White family who founded the Whitesville section of Neptune.

River or bay

There is some disagreement about the Shark River actually being a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

, as it closely resembles a tidal basin: a tidal,

salt water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...

region separated from the open sea by a land formation, or barrier, and primarily influenced by oceanic tidal fluctuations. The area commonly referred to as the Shark River (not the

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine geogra ...

with its bulkhead) is actually a small

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

of approximately eight hundred

acres The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ya ...

which includes the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of four

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

streams, adjacent

mud flats Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

salt marshes A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

, the open water, and the inlet which connects the bay to the Atlantic Ocean. The term "river" generally refers to an aquatic entity that sustains a substantial amount of moving

. The primary

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...

supplying fresh water to the Shark River tidal basin are; Shark River Stream, Jumping Brook; Musquash Brook, and Laurel Brook. These four streams, while draining a sizable

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

, only provide a negligible amount of fresh water to the basin when compared to the large amounts of

entering via the normal tidal fluctuation. This small amount of fresh water entering the bay, the relatively small size of the bay itself, and the substantial amounts of salt water that enters the bay (via the inlet), better describes the Shark River as a "tidal basin" than a river.Belmar Website, Residents > Municipal Boards > Environmental Commission > Natural Resources, Zone 5, http://www.belmar.com/Default.asp?Section_ID=623 The river (or stream) travels through sediments deposited during the Late

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

and Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

periods. Fossils of reptiles, mammals and shark teeth and other fish remains can be found along its banks.

Monmouth County Park – Shark River Park

Shark River Park Shark River Park is located in the townships of Neptune, Wall and Tinton Falls in coastal New Jersey and is part of the Monmouth County Park System.List of New Jersey rivers This is a list of streams and rivers of the U.S. state of New Jersey. List of New Jersey rivers includes streams formally designated as rivers. There are also smaller streams (''i.e.,'' branches, creeks, drains, forks, licks, runs, etc.) in the ...

* Shark River Hills

References

External links

AllRefer.com: Shark River, New Jersey

USGS Stream Flow Conditions of the Shark River at Belmar, NJ
{{authority control Rivers of Monmouth County, New Jersey Rivers of New Jersey