DELAWARE - Prolonged freezing temperatures have partially frozen the Delaware Bay, disrupting ferry service and creating striking winter scenes along the coast.
Snow and sand merged along the shoreline as cold weather lingered, drawing visitors who stopped to take in the unusual view.
“It’s just magical, actually, just to see the difference in the transition,” said Holly Hopkins, who was photographing the scene, while reminiscing on her summer at Lewes Beach. “And it’s still beautiful, but it’s a little cold out.”
The Cape May–Lewes Ferry canceled several trips over the past two weeks because of ice conditions, though ferry officials said conditions briefly improved, with no cancellations Thursday.
Director of Ferry Operations Heath Gehrke said open water increased compared with earlier in the week.
“You can see there’s much more open water than what I saw two days ago,” Gehrke said. “It was frozen all the way out to the inner breakwall, which was probably a mile, mile and a half.”
Gehrke warned that changing temperatures could refreeze slushy ice, creating new challenges.
“Every day is different, and we’ll just keep a good eye on it,” he said.
The Pilots' Association for the Bay and River Delaware, located right next to the ferry in Lewes, tells us they had to rely on alternate routes through the Indian River Inlet for two days earlier this week.
David Cuff, president of the Delaware Pilots' Association, says the winds and the currents packed the ice in substantially at their dock.
"On Sunday night, the ice was so bad that we actually had a tug boat from Northstar Marine there to also try to assist us to break the ice and the tug was unsuccessful," said Cuff.
Cuff emphasized that shifting to the inlet allowed them to keep the port open continuously throughout the cold.
"But the problem with the ice in Lewes is it really takes a beating on our equipment; on our pilot boats," said Cuff.
The U.S. Coast Guard's Delaware sector said operations are continuing as normal, including ice-breaking efforts, with a focus on keeping buoys in place to ensure safe navigation.