Tag Archives: changing inlets

Flight Over the Shifting Inlets of Hutchinson Island 1515-1900, St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon

Hutchinson Island 1947, via archives of Sandra Henderson Thurlow.
From bottom  to top: Atlantic Ocean, Hutchinson Island, Indian River Lagoon, Sewall’s Point, St Lucie River, Stuart…1947. One notes here Hutchinson Island– so thin… (Fairchild aerial survey ca. 1940s-photo courtesy of Sandra H. Thurlow)
My mother's business card shows a map with the St Lucie Inlet right across from mid S. Sewall's Point. This area is not an inlet today as it was in the 1800s. (Sandra Thurlow)
Look closely–My mother’s business card shows an historic map of the mid 1800s with an Inlet across from Sewall’s Point at today’s A1A and SP Road. This area is not an inlet today as it was in the 1800s. (Sandra H. Thurlow)

Inlets, the shifting sands of time on our barrier islands. Fascinating, and a reminder of the power of Nature and the limited control of human endeavors….

Recently I looked closely at my mother’s business card and asked “Why is the St Lucie Inlet so far north?” Looking closely one can see it once was located midway across from South Sewall’s Point. “It looks like it was there, because at that time, it was,” she replied.

Such is the matter-a-factness of coastal change…

Today, I am going to feature one of my brother Todd’s amazing flight videos incorporating historic maps and today’s Google images to show the changing sands of time, our barrier islands, in a way you may never have seen before. Todd has a talent for this rare communication format and he will be teaching us more before the end of the year!

This is his write up”

This video is a time capsule review of the inlet of Hutchinson island that appeared on maps between 1515 and 1900.  It is a rough draft of a larger project that I wasn’t going to post yet.  I planned to drop the music and break it down into 5 shorter videos which were kind of the chapters of the long one: 1.  1515 to 1871 Freducci, Jeffreys and Romans 2.  St. Lucie Sound 1763 to 1834 – 5 maps 3.  Gilbert’s Bar 1850 to 1861 – 4 survey maps 4.  Hurricanes and The Gap 1871 to 1882 – hurricane tracks and 2 maps 5.  Digging the St. Lucie Inlet 1887 to 1900 – 2 maps   I believe there was an inlet, referred to on the old maps as “The Gap”, that reappeared in the mid 1800s.  It was in the general area of today’s Florida Oceanographic Society and probably opened and closed many times like the other inlets.  Coincidentally the area was struck by back-to-back Cat 2 and Cat 3 hurricanes around that time (sound familiar?).  “The Gap”  will be the topic of another project the I would like to post some day on Jonathan Dickinson because I believe that it could be described in his journal.   I will update this summary later… Todd Thurlow

Don’t lean too far out of the airplane; enjoy!

 

Link to video: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhYQz4P1ELM&feature=youtu.be)
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Todd Thurlow PA: (http://www.thurlowpa.com)

FCIT Changing Coastlines, Florida: (http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/teacher/science/mod2/changing.coastlines.html)

Four Inlets South of the St Lucie Inlet? And How Much Sand Has Washed Away… Really? SLR/IRL

Comparison of 1947 USGS map/natural inlet break 1.1 miles south of St Lucie Inlet and an aerial from Google Earth 2014.
Comparison of 1947 USGS map/and Google Earth aerial 2014–Shows natural inlet break 1.1 miles south of St Lucie Inlet in 1947 and how much Jupiter Island has migrated towards the coast since then.

“The only thing that is constant is change…” Heraclitus

In a world that is constantly in flux, it is natural to try to make things permanent. Nonetheless, this is to no avail. Nowhere is this as strikingly apparent as our barrier islands off the U.S. Atlantic coastline, right here at home, along our beautiful Indian River Lagoon.

As you know, over thousands of years, storms, winds and tides, along with other forces, have caused the openings of natural inlets along the Indian River Lagoon. Since the late 1800s, humankind, with the help of the Army Corp of Engineers, has “determined” where “permanent” inlets should be located, and filled in those otherwise forming…

My brother, Todd Thurlow, (http://thurlowpa.com) has finalized his Time Capsule Flight video of “The Inlets of Peck’s Lake and the Jupiter Narrows,” that I first shared with you in “trial version” last week. His result is even more remarkable.

Through the overlay of Google Earth, historic aerial photographs, NOAA, and USGS maps, his work provides a look back in history to see that our coastline south of today’s St Lucie Inlet has broken through at least four times to form four natural inlets since 1947.

They are: 1947 (1.1 mile south); 1952 (0.5 miles south); 1958 (1.1 south again or another in close proximity; and 1962 at Peck’s Lake during the famous Ash Wed storm.

Watch Todd’s awesome video here:  “The Inlets at Peck’s Lake and Jupiter Narrows:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO650JyADwQ

I find these “visions” absolutely beautiful.

At one point, I tried to pin Todd down about the number of barrier island breakthroughs. This was his reply:

“Jacqui – at least four breaks sounds right, but I am sure there have been an infinite number of breaks over the centuries – Joes point, Herman Bay, the Cove at IRP, Big and Little Mud creeks… “

I also tried to get an answer out of him that I have been wondering about for years: “How much shoreline along Jupiter Island near Peck’s Lake  has “disappeared?” Todd was quick to say that it is “not that easy” and that this area has probably been coming and going for a long, long  time…

Nonetheless, it is cool to think about. Here is his map. According to Todd, the red polygon in the attached image measures 445 Acres – approximately the amount of land that disappeared between Peck’s Lake and the Inlet since the 1887 NOAA chart. The yellow line measures 1770 feet – a third of a mile.

Yikes! 🙂

Shoreline loss since 1887 map as determined by
Shoreline loss close to Peck’s Lake since 1887 map.

I am excited that Todd is sharing his “evolved” Thurlow map talents, and I am looking forward to a 2015 where he is a regular guest on my blog, taking us all to a high and fluid perspective where we can see change along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon in a way never before.

Happy Flying!

( Again ) Watch Todd’s awesome video here: “The Inlets at Peck’s Lake and Jupiter Narrows:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO650JyADwQ

To contact Todd directly you can post on the video itself, or email him todd@thurlowpa.com

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Peck’s Lake Ash Wednesday Storm post: (http://jacquithurlowlippisch.com/2014/12/17/mystery-revealed-exact-date-of-peck-lakes-inlet-break-through-ash-wednesday-storm-1962-indian-river-lagoon/)