Sandy Hook--including Gunnison Beach--reopens today

Sandy Hook reopens today after the calamity caused by another Sandy, Superstorm Sandy, which devastated beaches and uprooted thousands of residents in nearby communities.

"We have been looking forward to this moment since the storm hit us, and we've worked hard to make it happen this soon," said Pete McCarthy, Sandy Hook unit coordinator for the National Park Service. "Employees and volunteers have literally dug out beach centers and parking lots, and pumped out flooded basements, and we've even rebuilt sand dunes and replanted beach grasses."

In an unexpected development, the Park Service also will reopen Gunnison Beach--Sandy Hook's clothing-optional beach--starting today. Lifeguards will not be in place until the Memorial Day weekend. During the summer season, Gunnison will have lifeguards from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Expect some changes when you visit:

• Because of storm damage to parking lots, Sandy Hook will accommodate only 2,500 cars, or 60 percent of its normal capacity. Arrive early if you hope to find a place to park. Signs will be placed along Route 36 north and south of Sandy Hook to alert motorists when the parking lots are full.
• Work will continue this summer as more services are restored and roads continue to be repaved. The sewage system was incapacitated by the storm, and work continues to return it to service. In the meantime, portable toilets will be available. Electric and water services are largely but not entirely restored.
• Most of Sandy Hook remains inaccessible for bicyclists. Most of the multiple-use path was severely damaged. Work continues on returning it to service.
• Electric, telephone, water and sewage services were all incapacitated by storm.  These services are largely but not entirely restored. Throughout the summer, the park will continue to rehabilitate damaged beach centers, sections of the multi-use path and other affected areas. Details are still being worked out for food service but it will be limited for the summer. The Visitor Center at Spermaceti Cove was one of several buildings damaged by the hurricane and will remain closed indefinitely.

Beach parking is free until Memorial Day. During the summer season, beach parking will be $10 per car, the same it has been for several years.

On April 27 Clean Ocean Action held its annual Beach Sweep to spruce up Sandy Hook. About 720 volunteers collected 80 tons of maritime debris on the bay side of Sandy Hook's beaches.

The Park Service and dignitaries, including U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, a Democrat, will mark today's reopening with a ceremony at 10 a.m. Pallone pushed hard for Congress to appropriate emergency funds for rebuilding Sandy Hook and the devastated communities nearly. If you visit Sandy Hook, you're apt to see damaged housing and businesses--and many who are rebuilding after the calamity from October's hurricane.

Earth movers restoring a beach to normal condition

Damage from storm damage at Gunnison Beach plaza in October 2012

Sandy Hook's shorebirds

For beach-goers in northern New Jersey, Sandy Hook is a haven for sunbathers and swimmers, including those of us who shun clothing. But Sandy Hook also is a vitally important habitat for shorebirds.

Adult Piping Plover

Sandy Hook's relatively undisturbed dunes and beaches provide an excellent site for feeding and nesting. The nine-mile-long peninsula attracts some 70 species of birds during the summer. That diversity has led New Jersey to place Sandy Hook on the state's list of Important Bird and Birding Areas. The National Audubon Society includes Sandy Hook as a globally significant birding habitat.

Piping Plover on nest

The most protected of these birds is the Piping Plover, which has been listed as endangered along much of the Atlantic Coast. Only 2,000 adult pairs remain in existence, according to the National Park Service.

Eggs are laid in a depression in the sand

The Park Service takes special measures to protect the birds. Rangers and volunteers section off areas of beaches, including clothing-optional Gunnison Beach, to protect Piping Plovers for nesting and feeding. The fencing remains in effect from mid-March to September.

After traveling thousands of miles from their wintering grounds along the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, Piping Plovers have now returned to Sandy Hook to their summer breeding sites. It usually isn't until beach season that sun-seekers realize that the birds are back.

Parent and chick

Chick hunting for insects

The Piping Plover is a cute sparrow-sized shorebird whose sandy beach-like color camouflages it from predators. The adult has orange legs, a black ring around the neck, and a black band across the forehead from eye to eye. The only reliable way to tell the sexes apart is that the chest band is larger in males. They forage for food on beaches, moving in short bursts, around the high tide zone and along the water's edge. They mainly eat insects, marine worms and crustaceans. Their call is a soft, whistled peep peep. The alarm call is pee-werp.

In each breeding season, the female lays up to four eggs in a shallow, scraped depression in the sand. Both sexes share in the incubation, which lasts about 30 days. Once a chick hatches it is able to feed within hours. However, they are flightless for about 30 days. The parents show them how to find insects for food, and brood them for protection from the elements and from predators.

Predators include foxes, skunks, feral cats and gulls. But the biggest problem for Piping Plovers is human disturbance. Stay away from posted areas, and keep to the shoreline to avoid crushing eggs or chicks. Keep your dog on a leash or at least in check. And never feed the gulls. That entices the gulls to remain close to shore, leaving Piping Plovers, their chicks or their eggs prone to attack.

The Park Service has a great slide show about the natural life of the Piping Plover and the work being done to safeguard the birds from extinction. Gunnison Beach isn't just for naked men; it's also home to the Piping Plover. Give these birds the respect they deserve.

Beach days are nigh

Men, men and more men

Felix; photo by Doug Vetter

Jiri in London, photo by Vincent Keith

Rear-ended