This weekend I went to my beach house on the Jersey Shore to close it up for the season. While there, I walked to the beach where they had piled up the sand to prevent the beach from eroding. It was high tide and mid day on Saturday and the waves were 15 to 20 feet high because of the storm. The waves were frothing brown foam and few brave souls had gone onto the beach to take pictures. Even where there is such danger, people are always intrigued by the ocean.
The winds are whipping and are at least 40 mph. Some of the sand has made its way on to the street and will need to be swept back underneath the boardwalk. After Super Storm Sandy this beach had to be replenished by adding more sand from the deep ocean and pumping it up onto the shore. So is this man made beach really still nature? Or is it artificial?
Bethany, that is such an interesting thought. When we bring nature in in such a manmade fashion, is it still nature? I guess when you think about it the erosion of those beaches is a natural process, so by trying to counteract it it is unnatural. However, maybe the erosion occurs at such a rate as a result of develop and bringing sand back in is our way of compensating and trying to restore the sand we are contributing to the erosion of. I wonder which way most people would sway on whether it is still nature or if it is artificial.