Real time data from the Bellport dock is presented on the Great South Bay Observatory page.

Hurricane Sandy caused significant over washes and three breaches in Fire Island in the area between the historic Old Inlet area and Moriches Inlet.  Aerial video and photos were obtained Saturday, November 3rd, 5 days after the storm’s passage.  A short description and photos of the breaches is available here while youtube videos are listed to the right.

As a follow-up to the November 3rd aerial survey and after the nor’easter that occurred on November 7 and 8, a second aerial overflight of the Old Inlet area was carried out on November 11, 2012.  Photos and a discussion of the results of that flight are available here.  In addition, we recovered an oceanographic sensor from the Bellport marina on November 10, 2012 which had recorded the sea level, temperature and salinity variations caused by the hurricane and subsequent nor-easter.  Click on the thumbnail to the right to see the time series plots of the data while a discussion of the data is given here.  The youtube video of the November 11th flight is below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MyMhwf8ihA

Another weekly aerial survey of the inlet was carried out on Sunday November 18th which showed that the sand island connecting Pelican Island to Fire Island had been cut by a new channel to the west.  A series of photos showing the evolution of the inlet is given here.

On Saturday December 1, 2012 there was a meeting at Bellport’s community center to discuss the breach in the Old Inlet area.  A power point presentation given at that meeting shows how the dynamics of the Great South Bay and the ocean resulted in the formation of the breach and how the breach has affected the tides, wind driven storm surge and the salinity of the eastern end of the Bay.

A follow-up meeting on the developments of the breach, now referred to as New Inlet, took place on March 23, 2013 at the Bellport Middle School.  Charles Flagg gave a power point presentation to the meeting attended by about 500 people to hear position reports from the FINS and the NYDEC, and presentations by Charles Flagg, Kevin McAlaster and Joe Gagliano.

Presentations by Charles Flagg, Christopher Gobler, Chris Soler, Jim Gilmore, Tony Graves and Joe Gagliano took place at the Bellport Middle School on December 21, 2013 to outline the current status of the New Inlet and initiation of the NPS’s Environmental Impact Statement project.  Flagg’s power point presentation is available here.

A series of reports on the breach development are listed below.

December 14, 2012 report on the new inlet through November is available here.
On January 5, 2013 another aerial over flight took place and a photo summary of the evolving breach at Old Inlet to the present is available here.
January 14, 2013 report on the inlet that goes through December is available here.
The January 30th report on the status of the inlet is available here.
The February 27th report on the bay and inlet with new bathymetry of the inlet is here.
The March 15th report on the inlet and the impact of east-coast wide water level fluctuations is here.
The June 28th report on the inlet’s evolution. the cross-sectional area and changes in the Bay-wide salinity is here.
The 10th report on the inlet’s condition, issued Dec 12, 2013 is here.
The 11th report on the inlet’s condition, issued Oct 20, 2014 is here.
The 12th report on the inlet’s condition, issued Jan 9, 2015 is here.
The 14th report on the inlet’s condition, issued Aug 7, 2015 is here.
The 15th report on the inlet’s condition, issued March 16, 2016 is here.
The 16th report on the inlet’s condition, issued Sept 14, 2016 is here.
The 17th report on the inlet/breach’s condition, issued July 12, 2017 is here.
The 18th report on the inlet/breach’s condition, issued Oct 28, 2017 is here.
The 19th report on the inlet/breach’s condition, issued Oct 29, 2018 is here.
The 20th report on the inlet/breach’s condition, issued Feb 15, 2019 is here
The 21th report on the inlet/breach’s condition, issued Sep 24, 2019 is here.
The 22th report on the inlet/breach’s condition, issued Feb 15, 2020 is here.
The 23th report on the inlet/breach’s condition, issued Jan 14, 2021 is here.
Peer reviewed publication by Hinrichs et al (2018) on the impact of the breach on Great South Bay