Y
et for Riethof these images were not surprising, or tragic for that matter. “The island has changed
shape over the years,” he says. “For every area that has been eroding I’ve seen other areas accreting.
Hurricane Sandy and the subsequent nor’easter took about twenty feet off the entire southern shoreline of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. I flew over several times in the subsequent weeks and saw most of this sand undersea just offshore. About a month later, that twenty feet of beach was all back onshore.” Riethof says that while ‘Sconset Bluff seems to be “marching steadily into the ocean” and that “the south shore from Madequecham to Fisherman’s Beach seems to be shrinking,” in terms of net change the land has mostly just shifted. Unfortunately, this shift is happening where people own homes. “While I sympathize with those whose houses have been threatened or destroyed by this erosion, I did not see the event as tragic,” Riethof says. “First of all, those who built or bought houses near the coastline, particularly unstable coastlines, knew this was coming. Secondly, these were not photos of destruction, these were images of natural events, change, and the force of nature.”
(Top) NOAA satellite image of Hurricane Sandy, (bottom) aerial photo of ‘Sconset Bluff by George Riethof.
The shape of Nantucket is bound to change in the years to come, hewn by storms and rising sea levels that will continue to give and take. The streets will flood again and again. Beaches will be lost and more homes destroyed. And perhaps there is nothing a Nantucketer can do but adapt. Many talk about the high price of living on-island. These winter storms may just be another expense we’re forced to pay. Whether or not one subscribes to global warming and climate change theories, what can be said is that over the long term we are all just renting our land from Mother Nature here on Nantucket.