[Vector]

You know why ?
Back in the old days , The Marsh extended from the bay to almost Merrick Rd. Then the developers moved in and put houses on the marsh area and its all developed now. The marsh wasn't good to build on, so the developers illegally dug up sand from Merrick bay and filled in the marsh so they could build houses on it. Thats why Merrick bay has deep holes. Too bad theres no flounder anymore.
You can still see remnants of the Marsh off Merrick Rd. Drive past Levy Preserve in Merrick and theres Marsh right up to Merrick rd by the Meadowbrook pkwy.
The next hurricane we'll see what happens when we mess with mother nature. There was a reason the marsh extended so far inland.

 

[Aquarius]

Why do you say that developers "illegaly dug up sand"?

If you look up historical charts on line, you will see back in the 30's what Merrick Bay and surrounding areas really looked like. Some of the channels like Swift Creek were dug out and the mud and sand used as fill for the Meadowbrook Parkway.

There are "Borrow Pits" all over the south shore. East Bay, Baldwin Bay, that is were the fill came from when the south shore was developed. I do not think back then it was illegal.

 

[RookieHook]

Confused!!!

Wasn't your last post about destroying a part of Fire Island to develop another Inlet? What now makes you so worried about the marshes ? Don't you think we would experience Mother Natures wrath cutting a new inlet, just as we may from destroying the marshes?

Also, if they were going to cut a new inlet, don't you believe it should be in Eastern Suffolk, assuming the fact that Shinne**** and Moriches Inlets are among the most dangerous, and they are within 15 miles of eachother? Probably never will happen, and it will somehow be linked to the Piping Plovers!!!

 

[tom_loves_cod]

I kept a boat up in bellmore from 1976 to 99. Here is the story I heard from the guy I used to rent a slip from and his neighbor who was a bayman. He owned the last house on one of the creeks. Or he did before they filled in the next mile or so of the marsh's to create housing as an earlier poster stated.
From Nicks Point off to Whale Neck Point, there is a 40 foot hole.. The hole was created by a dredge that was put in place to dig sand etc to fill in the marsh. The crew however, liked to partake of a few drinks...especially at night when there was nobody around to notice they were not there. So they would spend the nights at the bar that at the time was at Nicks Point. The regulated depth was supposed to be 30 feet, but they didnt bother to move the dredge at night since there wasnt enough crew or their was no crew....hence the big hole in the bay from the pump just sucking up the bottom in the one place. I don't recall the name of the bar, but I do recall having drinks there in the late 70's with friends.
That hole was always a good spot for fluke as there was a series of edges/hills running NW to SE all the way up to Whale Neck Point and then down to the S turn that leads to Haunts Creek.

 

[MakoMike]

Vector wrote:
You know why ?

Yep, Beacuse the bottom is further down!

 

[Squeri Boy]

It was not illegal back then. Much of the south shore was all marsh land and made land from dredged materials. Half of the canals in freeport are manmade. The area where the nautical mile is was built up and the mile wasn't always straight going back to the early 1900s.