We Go A-Fishing 123 



Shinnecock and Peconic bays, may create a 

 current oceanward which will carry the sand 

 out to sea. The reason for this greater activity 

 upon the part of the Shinnecock people is that 

 without communication with the ocean, Shin- 

 necock Bay would soon become a fresh-water 

 and a very unhealthy pond. Even now it is 

 impossible to grow clams in Shinnecock Bay, 

 once the best clamming spot along the coast, 

 because the water is not salt enough, and if 

 the canal does not help matters, the time is 

 not far distant when, notwithstanding the 

 yearly cleaning-out of the inlet, all fish and 

 oysters will disappear. 



At the upper end of the Great South Bay 

 the effect of filling up the inlets communicat- 

 ing with the ocean has been felt chiefly by the 

 fishermen. As there is no communication with 

 the ocean, no sand of any consequence is thrown 

 into the bay by winter storms. For the last 

 twenty-five years the bottom of the Great 

 South Bay has undergone no changes, and 

 the soundings made by the government many 

 years ago are still trustworthy. In the great 

 storms of winter the spray of the ocean some- 



