Geological, Physical, and Biological Responses to the 2012 Old Inlet Barrier Island Breach

A Workshop Sponsored by New York Sea Grant with Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

About this workshop
For videos from the workshop see below  

In November 2014, New York Sea Grant hosted the workshop “Geological, Physical, and Biological Responses to the 2012 Old Inlet Barrier Island Breach” which looked at the changes and responses of selected resources associated with the barrier island breach in the Fire Island Seashore's Wilderness Area caused by "Superstorm" Sandy.  This meeting featured presentations by scientific experts on research being conducted to document the effects of the breach since its inception. Topics covered include geological impacts (breach evolution, stability and shoreline change), physical impacts (tides, water levels, salinity) and biological impacts (shellfish and benthic invertebrates, finfish, submerged aquatic vegetation, plankton communities, and water quality parameters). The purpose of the meeting was to increase awareness of the work being done in this area; present preliminary findings, where available; and encourage information sharing and collaboration, where appropriate. The meeting provided an opportunity to update the information provided in the 2001 report Impacts of Barrier Island Breaches on Selected Biological Resources of Great South Bay, New York, (pdf)

Videos of the individual presentations by the researchers can be accessed by clicking on the appropriate links below.


Welcome/Introductions/Background (Presentation Video)
Jay Tanski (NYSG), Henry Bokuniewicz (SoMAS)


Geological Responses

Breach inception and evolution (Presentation Video)
Charles Flagg (SoMAS)

USGS Hurricane Sandy studies at Fire Island and the development of a breach morphodynamic evolution model (Presentation Video)
Timothy Nelson (USGS)

Physical Responses in the Back Bay Environment

Tidal dynamics and water quality parameters (salinity, temperature) (Presentation Video)
Charles Flagg (SoMAS)

Storm surge and residence times (Presentation Video)
Robert Wilson (SoMAS)


Back Bay Water Column and Benthic Primary Productivity Responses

Water quality parameters (nutrients, light, indicator bacteria) and phytoplankton species (Presentation Video)
Christopher Gobler (SoMAS), Jackie Collier (SoMAS)

Submerged aquatic vegetation (Presentation Video)
Bradley Peterson (SoMAS)


Back Bay Fauna Responses

Bivalve shellfish (Presentation Video)
Robert Cerrato (SoMAS)

Hard clam growth (Presentation Video)
Christopher Gobler (SoMAS)

Mobile fauna - shallow water seine results (Presentation Video)
Bradley Peterson (SoMAS)

Mobile fauna - trawl results and the overall community and relationships (Presentation Video)
Michael Frisk (SoMAS), Robert Cerrato (SoMAS), Janet Nye (SoMAS)

    
Discussion and Concluding Remarks (Presentation Video) 
What have we learned? Developing a framework to better respond to future breaches


Closing remarks and adjourn
All, Jay Tanski (NYSG), Cornelia Schlenk (NYSG)


Partial funding for this work was provided by Save Our Seashore, Inc.

More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NSGCP engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources. Through its statewide network of integrated services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources since 1971.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG also offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/coastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published several times a year.