Updated Jan. 14
A sudden and dramatic squall that landed on the Island on New Year’s Day caused a break through of the thin spit of land between Chappaquiddick and Norton Point, and the wide breach is expected to remain at least through the summer.
Estimated at 500 feet wide, the breach was discovered by Edgartown town park officials on New Year’s Day in the aftermath of the unusually powerful waves and wind that came with the squall. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the sudden weather change brought heavy snow, winds blowing at around 20 knots, and waves up to six feet.
This unexpected turn in the weather was part of the same New Year’s Day squall that led to the deaths of two beloved Islanders in a scallop boat accident, when one of the most experienced fishermen on the Island was caught off guard by the shifting weather conditions off Cow Bay in Edgartown.
Andrew Kelly, an Edgartown parks commissioner and deputy fire chief, said the size of the breach surprised town officials, since the squall on Jan. 1 only lasted about an hour. Kelly highlighted that even the powerful winter storm that pummeled the Island in 2024 had not caused a breach this wide. He added that the breach that occurred two years ago was between 50 and 100 feet wide.
“We assume … that this breach will be here for at least a year,” Kelly said, although there is a possibility the breach could take years to mend. In one instance, a 2007 breach took eight years to become sealed through a natural cycle in which the tides in the area moved sand and sediment until the gap was shut.
Kelly said that, historically, breaches tend to move slowly in the direction of Wasque Point on Chappaquiddick as the coastline is restored. Breaches are nothing new to the thin strip of land connecting Norton Point and Chappaquiddick, with maps from as far back as the 18th century showing openings in the beach.
But this eastward movement that repairs the breach will subject Wasque to “immense erosion,” according to Darci Schofield, the Trustees of Reservations’ islands director.
“It currently has such a massive, beautiful beach our visitors have been enjoying for two years since the last breach,” Schofield said. “This situation is demonstrative of the magnitude of changing beach conditions and the unpredictability of climate change impacts on the weather and the beaches.”
Meanwhile, Kelly said there isn’t an immediate public safety concern, since people don’t swim in the area during the winter.
However, Kelly said warnings will be issued as the summer gets closer so that beachgoers can be aware of the risks swimming in the breach can entail. Photos of the breach, taken via drone by the Edgartown Police Department, show that the current between the segments of land differs from that in the surrounding water. Kelly said the two currents that meet in the channel form a depth of four to five feet at the center of the breach and could be risky for people who enter it. He said he’s been a part of rescues for people pushed out into deeper waters while swimming too close to a breach. “It’s basically like jumping into a washing machine,” Kelly said.
And the warning to stay away wouldn’t be just for swimmers. Gary Kovack, Edgartown harbormaster, said he’d “highly advise” against others on the water, such as those aboard a boat or kite sailing, from traversing the area. He underscored that it is a risky place to sail, and if something were to go awry, many people could be placed in harm’s way in a rescue effort.
“It’s not a navigable channel,” Kovack said, highlighting the breach as a shallow area with shifting depths. “The depth changes daily because of the way the sand moves.”
The sandy terrain between Norton Point and Chappaquiddick is the only stretch of land that connects Chappaquiddick to the rest of the Vineyard, so the breach cuts off the one land-based access point. Park department staff will be at the breach on a daily basis to monitor the situation, according to Kelly.
Kara Shemeth, Edgartown conservation agent, said the area where the breach occurred is flat and low with little vegetation, so it frequently experiences washovers, but the land usually doesn’t break. She also expects a coastal waterbird technician will be sent out to the area, since the breach occurred where a large tern colony tends to live. Shemeth said town staff will be working closely with the trustees, which owns property a half-mile from the breach.
“Our immediate concern is the shorebirds breeding on that barrier beach at Norton Point,” Schofield said. “We will continue to work very closely with Edgartown to collaborate and coordinate on shorebird protection programs to ensure the greatest success for the endangered shorebirds.”
But all town officials can really do right now is to wait and see.
“Mother Nature always wins,” Shemeth said.
