OCEAN CITY, Md. - Beach replenishment is nothing new to towns like Ocean City. The Army Corps of Engineers complete beach replenishments along the coast every four years unless a natural disaster occurs and they are needed earlier.Â
The last time Ocean City got replenishment was in 2021. For people who like to surf, the effects of that replenishment are well known. Chris Shanahan is a longtime surfer and owner of K Coast Shop in Ocean City. He said the replenishment is a necessary evil.
"It seems like, when the beach replenishment happens, it eliminates those sandbars and it actually creates a situation where the swells that are coming in tend to come all the way in to the actual beach to break on the beach," Shanahan said, "which it makes it pretty much impossible to ride as a surfer."
While the replenishment might affect the waves for surfers, there are noticeable drop-offs along some of the beach and the Ocean City Beach Patrol said the blame can't all be put on beach replenishment.
Mike Stone, a lieutenant on the beach patrol, said some things that happen with the beach are just nature.Â
"It's been rough the last couple days and when the waves are breaking on shore, and you have all that sand there, it's going to take some of the sand away," Stone said.
Maxwell Anderson, who lives in Ocean City year-round, said the beach replenishment and the changing of the waves aren't on his radar.
"With them replenishing the sand, to me the beach looks like it did when I moved here," Anderson said. "But I'm not out there surfing or doing too much, I'm just sitting there enjoying the water."
Although over time the Ocean City surf has been affected by the replenishment, some surfers said it's something they've grown to deal with.
"There are probably more people who go to the beach than there are surfers, so the tendency would be to satisfy their needs first," Shanahan said. "Surfers will find a place to surf."
The Army Corps of Engineers expect the next beach replenishment in Ocean City to take place in 2024.