Large Shoal Develops In Manasquan Inlet, Dredging Already Planned, Army Corps Says

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to survey Manasquan Inlet to see the extent of shoaling along the south jetty and could dredge some of it possibly as soon as Tuesday, conditions permitting, an Army Corps official said Monday.

Photos and video of the inlet circulating on social media showed a swath of sand that extended nearly to the middle of the inlet.

Andrew Meli, a charter boat captain, said he had been traveling on the Manasquan side of the inlet going out of the inlet Monday morning.

"If a commercial boat or a head boat was coming in I’d have nowhere to go," said Meli, who shared video he took of the shoaling with Patch. (See it at the bottom of the article.)

The Army Corps "is aware of the shoaling within the Manasquan Inlet inside of the south jetty," said Steve Rochette, public affairs officer with the U.S. Army Corps Philadelphia office. "Currently, USACE is working to obtain hydrographic surveys of the current inlet conditions."

In addition, Rochette said the dredge vessel Murden is scheduled to be dredging in the inlet later in August and may do some dredging early this week — "as early as tomorrow," he said — depending on the weather and the ocean conditions.

The survey, which will show the water depths through the inlet, will be posted by the Army Corps on its website once it is completed. Boaters will be able to view the survey online and it will be shared with the U.S. Coast Guard, Rochette said.

Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Doug Vitale on Monday morning said he had been speaking with the Army Corps and with Rep. Chris Smith about the shoaling and addressing safety concerns it poses, and said he had posted on his social media accounts urging people to stay off the shoal.

"I am aware of the sand shoaling on the south side of the inside of the Manasquan Inlet due in large part to the southerly wind we've been having," he wrote on his Facebook page. "I trust the US Coast Guard is monitoring and will ensure safety of the Inlet. I am monitoring the situation as well and understand the gravity of the situation: safety, navigability, and the blockage it causes for our fishing industry."

Vitale said the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Bureau of Coastal Engineering are involved as well.

"Please stay off the shoal as it is extremely dangerous," Vitale wrote. In an email to Patch he said the Point Pleasant Beach Police Department and security staff with Jenkinson's will be monitoring and forcing people to get off the shoal because of the dynamic nature of the inlet and sea conditions. People can report dangerous activity to the Point Pleasant Beach Police Department at 732-892-0500.

Rochette said that while the Army Corps has dredging planned, "the Manasquan Inlet is dynamic and conditions within the inlet can rapidly change. Significant shoaling has frequently occurred within the Inlet and often dissipates due to changing wind/wave conditions."

In August 2022 a significant shoal developed along the south jetty, prompting calls for a survey and dredging. A survey at the time found the inlet was safe for boat traffic, and in September the shoal dissipated as storms washed the sand away.

Manasquan Inlet was dredged in early 2023.

Rochette said the immediate concern about shoaling could result in the Murden doing some dredge cycles as it goes back and forth to Shark River before it gets full attention, similar to the dredging in January 2023. The Murden has a more extended dredging operation scheduled for Manasquan Inlet later in August.

Smith, who represents the 4th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, urged the Army Corps to act immediately, saying the shoaling "has reached unprecedented proportions. This is not only a grounding hazard to vessels, but the waves created inside the inlet as a result of this shoaling are enough to capsize boats that regularly traverse the channel."

Smith said the Army Corps had been scheduled to perform maintenance dredging on the inlet this week before a mechanical failure postponed the work.

Manasquan Inlet, which is 450 feet across and about 11 feet deep, is one of the entry points for boats that want to sail down the Intracoastal Waterway, a 3,000-mile stretch of natural and some man-made inland waterways that stretch from New England to the Gulf of Mexico.