Surging swells severed Chappaquiddick from the Vineyard during a breach at Norton Point that has been growing since it formed New Year’s Day. 

Edgartown officials anticipate the breach will last throughout the year due to its size, which as of Thursday morning is stretching 502 feet wide. The rupture changed tides in Edgartown harbor and raised concerns about erosion on Wasque.

“If it does anything like the last one it’s going to be at least a year,” said Andrew Kelly, a town parks commission member. 

This is the first breach the area has seen since 2022. Breaches occur when ocean water naturally cuts through the barrier beach creating an opening between the sea and Katama Bay. 

Mr. Kelly said it is located nearly 2.5 miles from the Norton Point entrance west of South Beach and is between 4 and 5 feet deep at the center. 

The breach is a curiosity to onlookers.

Dana Gaines

The breach is a curiosity to onlookers.

Dana Gaines

The barrier beach is owned by Dukes County and the town took over managing the area from the Trustees of Reservations in 2023. The town began monitoring the breach on Jan. 2 and Mr. Kelly said the parks department does not know the time it formed. 

 The breach formed on New Year's day under high tides and heavy gusts of winds, which reached average speeds as high as 18 knots, according to data from the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory. 

Mr. Kelly said the town will mark where the water reaches every day using stakes and drones for an overhead view. 

As of Thursday the breach is about half a mile west from the Trustees property. The conservation nonprofit said in an email that it was keeping an eye on the breach and is concerned about erosion at Wasque, where there has already been significant erosion of the uplands and coastal banks. 

In 2023, a summer home owned by Sue and Jerry Wacks was demolished during a breach that opened the year prior. The house was situated on a bluff that was eroding due to the encroaching ocean.

The current breach has impacted tides in Edgartown harbor where Peter Wells leads operations for the Chappaquiddick Ferry.

“I was just talking to my drivers this morning and he described the tides as wonky,” Mr. Wells said.

Mr. Wells said he purchased the Chappaquiddick Ferry in the early spring of 2008, during a large breach that spanned eight years. He said the largest impact to the ferry is its run time. 

“Sometimes you’d head out and you’d get swept way down, and then you turn and you’d fight your way back up and get slipped,” Mr. Wells said. “Sometimes it could take a whole three minutes.” 

Changes to the bay could mean erosion, more birds and slower ferries.

Courtesy town of Edgartown

Changes to the bay could mean erosion, more birds and slower ferries.

Courtesy town of Edgartown

The run time for the ferry so far during this breach is 30 seconds longer compared to the average minute-long trip. Overall, the time loading passengers remains the real determinant on how fast a trip can go, Mr. Wells said.

Dana Gaines, an artist and waterman that lives in Edgartown, hiked out to Norton Point on Jan. 2 when he first saw a Facebook post noting the breach. When he went back to the breach on Tuesday, he said it was twice as wide. 

“It’s amazing how Mother Nature moves and [it’s] just astonishing how much sand can be moved,” Mr. Gaines said. 

Anytime there’s a breach Mr. Gaines said he likes to try and be the first person to kayak through it, but this year he’ll wait until the waters are warmer. 

People often find fun during a breach, Mr. Kelly said. He talked to bird watchers while on the scene Wednesday who observed significant activity at the cut. Fish enjoy swimming through the surging water and the birds take it as an opportunity to catch dinner.

“People will try to swim in those things because it’s kind of fun but it’s also very dangerous,” Mr. Kelly cautioned.

Mr. Kelly said the breach is fascinating to simply watch. He described a swirl of currents, the water spilling out from the harbor fighting with the Atlantic surge, which reaches a bit higher.

“Mother Nature has a way of taking care of itself,” Mr. Kelly said.