A collaborative effort of the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce, the South Jersey and Central Jersey Geocaching groups, this trail is designed to bring geocachers to experience what the "18 miles" of Long Beach Island has to offer.
The LBI Geotrail launched November 16, 2013 with over 30 caches. A Trackable Geocoin will be awarded to the first 150 geocachers, while supplies last, for locating at least 25 LBIGT caches.
LBI GeoTrail Geocoins are no longer available.
Thanks to all those who participated.
To be eligible for the coin, geocachers must download a passport from the LBI Geotrail website. Geocachers must find and log at least 25 finds, record the code word from each cache on their passport. After discovering at least 25 required caches, email a photo or copy of your completed passport to lbigeotrail@gmail.com and we will make arrangements for you to get your coin.
This Earthcache will bring you to the location of a relic, buried deep in the sand.
What you will find here is what remains of a former sea scalloper, the Sea King. The mast marks the grave of this ship, beached in Feburary 1963 at Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, NJ. The Sea King was towing another boat when it got its rope caught in a propeller and drifted onto the beach.
A number of years ago, prior to the construction of the south jetty, the Mast was over a 1000 feet from the shoreline, but with the completion of the south jetty to Barnegat Inlet millions of cubic yards of sand has accumulated. At one time the beach was even with the outermost end of the south jetty. The wind has generated vast dune fields and vegetation is altering the landscape moving toward a maritime forest creating a major new habitat along the New Jersey shoreline for wildlife.
Long Beach Island, LBI, where this ship lies, is a barrier island, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The sand here, is half of the average diameter of that found on beaches further north and contains a completely different set of trace minerals. This indicates that this sand supply has either been derived from different sources than that in Monmouth County or that geologic reworking on the continental shelf has modified the original sediment prior to its inclusion in the barrier island.
Tidal inlets divide the barrier islands from each other. These inlets serve to segment the littoral distribution of beach sand into cells roughly corresponding to the distance between the individual inlets. The gentler seaward slope of the southern New Jersey coastal plain has allowed a wider coastal zone and the inclusion of estuarine regions between the upland edge and the barrier islands.
To claim this Earthcache you must email the answer to the following questions:
1. Observe the sand under your feet at the posted coordinates. Describe the size and color of the sand.
2. How does the sand differ from that of other areas where sand is found and explain why you think it's different?
3. The mast mentioned in the description above used to be 1000 feet from the shoreline. The answer will vary depending on the tide, but estimate the footage between the mast (posted coordinates) and the current shoreline. Explain why you think the geology of this area has had such a drastic change.
4. OPTIONAL - Post a photo of yourself and the mast with LBI behind you.
***NOTE: Special thanks to OReviewer, Ericles, Njdc24, TeamFreeman, Nikcap, Museofidiots, TDK, Billdavidsaurus, JoeNSue, RedHotRutabaga, Chaseonthego and ThePrintshop for their help in making this geotrail possible. It would not exist without their help! ***