By Dan Alexander / NJ101.5 staff reporter - 

A large sandbar that has developed along the Point Pleasant Beach side of the Manasquan Inlet may be getting attention before it grows any further.

Mayor Doug Vitale said in a statement on his Facebook page the shoaling was likely caused by constant southerly winds in recent weeks.  Fishing boat Capt. William Egerter Jr. told the Asbury Park Press that the sandbar is taking up a third of the channel connecting the Manasquan River and the Atlantic Ocean.

“The build-up of sand on the Point Pleasant side of the inlet against the jetty has reached unprecedented proportions,” U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. 4th District, said in a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers.  “This is not only a grounding hazard to vessels, but the waves created inside the inlet as a result of this shoaling are enough to capsize boats that regularly traverse the channel.”

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The congressman requested "immediate corrective action" by the Corp. Dredging was scheduled for the inlet this week but was postponed because of mechanical problems. He suggested a "more urgent response" was needed because of the busy summer season that brings increased recreational, for-hire and commerical vessel traffic.

Vitale said that the dredging vessel Murden is currently scheduled to conduct dredging operations within the inlet later this month and may bump up the operations depending on weather and sea conditions.

The mayor said people should not go onto the shoal because of the "dynamic nature of the inlet and sea conditions."

A similar shoal developed in 2022 even after being dredged twice. Wave action from a storm helped break down the sandbar that some described as a "mini beach."