If it is summertime, you can be pretty sure that most New Jersey residents have plans to make it to the beach. And with so many miles of wonderful coastline, why wouldn’t they? Whether it’s for a day trip or a whole week, New Jersey beaches are prime locations for summer fun in our great outdoors.
This poll was created in 2008 as the New Jersey’s Top Ten Beaches Survey to encourage stewardship and pride in the state’s beaches while promoting a little healthy competition between New Jersey’s favorite beach towns. It is a way to celebrate everything there is to love about the Jersey Shore. We’ve conducted this poll since 2008 to call attention to New Jersey’s amazing beaches. Over time we’ve learned a thing or two — mostly that New Jerseyans are passionate about all the beaches up and down our coast. So, in order to better recognize every inch of our wonderful coastline, this year we will recognize a number one beach in each of New Jersey’s four coastal counties as well as a favorite beach overall.
This year after nearly 10,000 votes cast in a public poll, New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium revealed the winners in Ocean City, the defending champion of the poll.
As summer approaches, sharks are often the center of media attention as swimmers enter the water and habitat of these creatures. However, only 6 deaths occur worldwide due to shark attacks while more than 100 people per year die as a result of rip currents in the United States.
Throughout the summer, Dr. Amy Williams will discuss the important of her exciting new trivia game – fittingly deemed Ocean Hazards: Rip Currents vs. Sharks – at libraries and schools throughout local coastal communities. Dr. Williams, New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium Coastal Ecology Extension Agent will present on June 22 to raise awareness about rip currents and what to do if you are caught in one.
For additional information on New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s Rip Current Awareness program, please visit https://njseagrant.org/ripcurrents/.
Sea Grant works with coastal communities around the country to strengthen their ability to plan, adapt, and recover to coastal hazards. As part of an effort to visualize the wide breadth of community resilience projects across the National Sea Grant program, Delaware Sea Grant developed this interactive story map.
Take a spin at the Climate Hazards Game with Dr. Michael Schwebel on June 5. Learn firsthand about the decision processes that emergency planners and public officials now face.
Schwebel, Community Resilience and Climate Adaptation Specialist at the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium and Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute, developed the game as a way to educate audiences of all ages about pressing threats coastal communities face and steps that can be taken to deal with them. Players spin wheels that show the likelihood of various coastal hazards taking place and are challenged to allocate a limited amount of funding to deal with each of them.
Dr. Schwebel’s presentation will take place on June 5 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m at the Eatontown Community Center at 58 Broad Street, Eatontown, N.J.
Take this opportunity to learn the basics about climate change and coastal resiliency and answer the question of the difference between weather and climate. You will also learn what it means to choose eco or ego solutions.
No reservations are needed and the event is recommended for ages 10 and up. Light refreshments will be served.
The event is sponsored by the Eatontown Environmental Commission. For more information, email EEC@yahoo.com or call Sara at 732-890-6772.
Despite the winter storms that worked their way through New Jersey this year, the state’s beaches are ready for the summer influx of beachgoers.
Last week New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium hosted its 14th Annual State of the Shore media event. Each year, this press conference features Dr. Jon Miller’s State of the Shore report — an update on the condition of the state’s beaches. Dr. Miller is New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s coastal processes specialist and a research associate professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. This report has been an invaluable tool for those interested in the coast, especially in the years after Sandy.
While New Jersey was spared from a direct hit from a storm such as Sandy, the winter storms that impacted the state did leave their mark, leaving behind narrowed beaches. However, beaches are in a rebuilding mode and are expected to reach their typical width by mid to late summer. Read the full State of the Shore report here.
Miller reported that conditions beneath the waves are important as well. The sand that winter storms Jonas and Joaquin moved off the beaches in many areas have now taken the form of sand bars. The flow of water between these sand bars and the shore could result in rip currents. Dr. Miller cautioned that beachgoers should be extra alert this year for this beach hazard. Read more about rip currents here.
NJDEP Commissioner Bob Martin shared the agenda with Miller and assured that the water quality in New Jersey is excellent and launched their new interactive public access map.
The Commissioner may have summed it up best when he said New Jersey would not be the same without the Jersey Shore. With more than 2900 access points, New Jerseyans have their pick of where they can enjoy the coast.
The 2016 Fish and Wildlife marine recreational fishing regulation cards are in. The cards are provided free of charge by New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The cards provide information on the correct minimum size, possession limits and season of catch. The laminated cards are convenient to bring on any fishing outing, complete with built-in ruler measure your catch and make sure they are above the minimum size. Cards are distributed to the public by New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium.
Fish are measured from tip of snout to tip of tail, with the exception of black sea bass and sharks. No species of fish with a minimum size limits listed on the card can be filleted or cleaned at sea.
The cards also serve as a reminder to register to fish. It is free and can be done at SaltwaterRegistry.nj.gov.
Ocean Fun Days are here again! Enjoy two days of free family fun at this annual event focused on New Jersey’s coastal environment. On Saturday May 21 Ocean Fun Days takes place at Island Beach State Park in Seaside Park, N.J. and on May 22 the event will be held on Sandy Hook at New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s headquarters in the historic Fort Hancock section of the park. Both days are rain or shine from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and admission and parking are free.
Bring the entire family for a day of coastal crafts, touch tanks, energy conservation exhibits, energy scavenger hunts, eco tours, youth fishing clinics, face painting, giveaways and our famous fiddler crab races. On Sunday, there will also be an open house of the NOAA Marine Lab at Sandy Hook and tours of Fort Hancock’s historic sites.
Be sure to enter the free drawing for a chance to win a Jenkinson’s Family of Five Fun pack. This prize includes passes to the beach, amusements and mini golf, plus admission to Jenkinson’s Aquarium in Point Pleasant Beach.
New for this year is the “Picture-This, Caption That!” challenge. Students in grades 3-5 and 6-8 created photos with captions depicting how they conserve energy and help preserve our natural resources. At Ocean Fun Days, visitors will be able to cast their vote to select two winners who will receive guided field trips for their entire class to either Island Beach State Park or Sandy Hook.
Ocean Fun Daysis presented by founding sponsor New Jersey Natural Gas, in partnership with New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, Asbury Park Press, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“Each year we look forward to partnering with New Jersey Natural Gas and all our partners and exhibitors to offer this free event to the public. Everyone involved is truly committed to our state’s incredible shoreline and shares in our goal to educate the public about its sustainable use and care,” notes Claire Antonucci, executive director of New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium.
Please join us on May 19th for a special screening of Ocean Frontiers II at Maris Stella Retreat and Conference Center in Harvey Cedars, N.J., followed by a Q&A with a panel of local and regional experts on ocean stewardship and the Mid-Atlantic’s first-ever regional ocean plan! In a region steeped in old maritime tradition, the film tells the story of a modern wave of big ships, offshore wind energy and a changing climate, and how people are coming together to plan for a healthy ocean off their coast.
New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium presented awards to two students at the 54th Annual Monmouth Junior Science Symposium. The symposium took place March 17 and 18 at Monmouth University with the goal to promote research and experimentation in the sciences, engineering and mathematics at the high school level. Another important component is to recognize these students for outstanding achievement.
“I was highly impressed with the caliber of research and the motivation of these young scientists,” notes Claire Antonucci, executive director of New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium. It was an honor to recognize their hard work with these two awards.”
New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium has announced its latest round of Sea Grant-funded research projects. Projects were selected from dozens of proposals received in response to a request for proposals (RFP) issued by NJSGC in December 2014.
The RFP specified research priorities that were determined through a collaborative process that received input from stakeholders, NJSGC’s advisory boards and partners, and the public. The final projects were selected based on relevancy and scientific rigor using a competitive, peer-reviewed process. As a result, funded projects reflect local concerns and seek solutions to New Jersey’s most pressing marine and coastal issues. The current cycle covers a wide range of topics from communicating about flood risk to new species development for New Jersey’s shellfish farmers.
While these projects span a variety of topics, they all contribute towards NJSGC’s mission to provide sound scientific data to promote wise decision-making about New Jersey’s coastal and marine resources.
Projects are funded in part through a grant from NOAA/National Sea Grant which NJSGC has successfully managed in the state of New Jersey since 1976. NJSGC’s next research RFP will be issued in December 2016.
