Shinnecock Inlet is the easternmost of five major inlets connecting bays to 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 ...

through the narrow

Outer Barrier The Outer Barrier, also known as the Long Island and New York City barrier islands, refers to the string of barrier islands that divide the lagoons south of Long Island, New York from the Atlantic Ocean. These islands include Long Beach Barrier ...

that stretches from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stret ...

on the south shore of Long Island. It splits Westhampton Island from the peninsula extending from Southampton Village. The inlet was formed by the Great Hurricane of 1938, which killed several people when it permanently broke through the island in

Hampton Bays, New York Hampton Bays is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Southampton in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. It is considered as part of the region of Long Island known as The Hamptons. The population was 13,603 at the ...

. The name comes from the Shinnecock Indian Nation. Maintenance of the inlet has been controversial. It saves boaters in

the Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one o ...

several miles in access to the Atlantic Ocean. The inlet is almost directly lined up with the

Shinnecock Canal The Shinnecock Canal (also known as the Shinnecock and Peconic Canal) is a canal that cuts across the South Fork at Hampton Bays, New York. At long, it connects Great Peconic Bay and the north fork of Long Island with Shinnecock Bay and the A ...

between Shinnecock Bay and the

Peconic Bay The Peconic Bay is the parent name for two bays between the North Fork and South Fork of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is separated from Gardiners Bay by Shelter Island. Peconic Bay is divided by Robins Island into the Gr ...

, which allows a shortcut to the ocean for boaters on the north fork of Long Island. Consequently, management has been geared to keep the inlet dredged and open. However, the inlet has interrupted the flow of sand (which normally flows east to west) and consequently there has been major beach erosion on the west side of the inlet including the November 1992

Nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use ...

that wiped out much of West Hampton Dunes, New York. The phenomenon is called longshore drift. Efforts to prevent erosion with groines have just pushed the problems further west resulting in serious beach erosion problems on

Fire Island Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also Lo ...

. West Hampton Dunes was incorporated in 1993 specifically to have legal standing in the skirmishes with Corps of Engineers regarding the practice. In 2010, the inlet was dredged and the sand deposited on the beach at Road K as part of the West of Shinnecock Inlet Interim Plan to replenish the sand. In 1996, following the crash of

TWA Flight 800 Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31pm. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy Internationa ...

off the coast of Long Island, Shinnecock Inlet, to the northeast of the debris field, served as the primary water access route for vessels transporting wreckage and human remains to shore for most of the recovery effort. The other major inlets on the barrier beach are: *

Rockaway Inlet Rockaway Inlet is a strait connecting Jamaica Bay, wholly within New York City, with the Atlantic Ocean. It separates the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens from the Floyd Bennett Field (formerly Barren Island) in Brooklyn. Rockaway Inlet is bounded b ...

East Rockaway Inlet The East Rockaway Inlet is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean which separates the Rockaway Peninsula from the barrier island which includes the Nassau County, New York communities of Atlantic Beach, Long Beach and Lido Beach. The inlet is on the south ...

Fire Island Inlet Fire Island Inlet is an inlet on the south shore of Long Island, New York. It connects the Great South Bay with the Atlantic Ocean, passing between Robert Moses State Park (the western end of Fire Island) on the south and Oak Beach and Cap ...

Moriches Inlet Moriches Inlet ( ) is an inlet connecting Moriches Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The name Moriches comes from Meritces, a Native American who owned land on Moriches Neck.The Indian Place-Names on Long Island and Islands Adjacent, with Their Pro ...

Jones Inlet Jones Inlet is located at the westernmost end of the long Jones Beach barrier island that runs along Long Island's south shore. The inlet separates Jones Beach State Park's West End from the community of Point Lookout and connects South Oyste ...

References

External links

USGS Page on 1992 Westhampton Nor'easter

Google Satellite Image

Press Release for 2010 dredging

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