By Mike Busch 12-23-19
I took a ride to on Sunday morning to one of my favorite spots in Bellport to see how much Ice formed overnight. As soon as I turned off my truck I heard a sound that reminded me of a waterfall with breaking glass. It turned out to be sheets of ice being pushed up onto the beach with the rising tide. It reminded me of a mini tsunami. I quickly grabbed a new digital camera that I borrowed from Nikon (Z6) and captured some video. This phenomenon is called an Ice Shove, where wind and tide can push ice up onto the shore. It is more common on the Great Lakes where it can do serious damage to structures on the shoreline.
I have never witnessed it happening live, but it happens quite a bit in this same spot when the bay thaws after a hard freeze and results in huge ice stacks built up on the beach. I captured some video and drone footage of this happening last year, click here.
I filmed the ice movement for about 5 minutes when it suddenly stopped as if somebody flipped a switch. I also captured some drone footage above the ice I will post later.
