By Megan Sam
When Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck Florida’s Gulf Coast in 2024, they dramatically reshaped the shoreline, creating two new openings in barrier islands just 29 miles apart. One storm reopened Midnight Pass, restoring a long-lost tidal connection between the Gulf of America and Little Sarasota Bay. The other carved Milton Pass through Stump Pass Beach State Park, linking the Gulf to Lemon Bay. Though the inlets formed just two weeks apart and under similar storm conditions, they’re behaving very differently. Milton Pass is gradually closing, while Midnight Pass remains open.
Understanding what drives their diverging paths could help coastal communities better predict how barrier islands respond to major storms and prepare for future change. A multidisciplinary team led by Nina Stark, Ph.D., director of the UF Center for Coastal Solutions, is working to find the answers.
Funded by the National Science Foundation EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) program, the project aims to build a comprehensive longitudinal dataset of both breach sites, capturing high-resolution data in the aftermath of the storms and tracking how conditions change over time.
“Understanding what drives these changes isn’t just important for Florida; it matters anywhere barrier islands are exposed to intense storms,” Jaq Mueller, a Ph.D. student in civil and coastal engineering at UF working on the project, said. “If we can pinpoint those drivers, we can help coastal managers better prepare for these events.”
A team spanning nine institutions is pooling its expertise to follow the shifting interplay between water movement, sediment behavior and the changing shape of the coastline over time.
Since November 2024, the team has completed three field campaigns, each adding new tools and expanding the dataset. They’ve mapped the seafloor and shoreline, analyzed sediment characteristics like grain size and strength, and used drones and acoustic instruments to capture detailed images above and below the surface.
During their most recent deployment (Feb. 27- March 2), researchers introduced new instruments to measure erosion rates, map subsurface layers and detect subtle variations in sediment composition — offering a clearer picture of how each inlet is changing.
“What really makes this project special is the team,” said Alexandra Schueller, Ph.D., endowed professor at the Koblenz University of Applied Sciences and land survey lead. “It’s highly collaborative, with everyone bringing fresh ideas and a willingness to experiment and blend different methods.”
With continued support, the team plans to collect data twice a year, with the next campaign planned for Fall 2026. All datasets are publicly available through the DesignSafe platform, supporting future research and helping coastal managers better prepare for storms and environmental change.
Project information: Partner institutions include the University of Florida, University of South Florida, University of Central Florida, UC Davis, North Carolina State University, Woodshole Oceanographic Institute, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, the U.S. Geological Survey and Koblenz University of Applied Sciences.