Moriches Inlet is an inlet

Inlet

An inlet is a narrow body of water between islands or leading inland from a larger body of water, often leading to an enclosed body of water, such as a sound, bay, lagoon or marsh. In sea coasts an inlet usually refers to the actual connection between a bay and the ocean and is often called an...

 connecting Moriches Bay

Moriches Bay

Moriches Bay a lagoon system on the south shore of Long Island. The name Moriches comes from Meritces, a Native American who owned land on Moriches Neck.Two Townships both Brookhaven and the Southampton share Its shoreline in Suffolk New York....

 and the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

. The name Moriches comes from Meritces, a Native American who owned land on Moriches Neck.

It forms the eastern border of Fire Island, New York

Fire Island, New York

Fire Island is one of the outer barrier islands adjacent to the south shore of Long Island, New York. It is approximately long and varies between broad. Fire Island is part of Suffolk County. It comprises a number of hamlets, census-designated places , and villages, all of which lie within the...

 and the western border of the barrier island

Barrier island

Barrier islands, a coastal landform and a type of barrier system, are relatively narrow strips of sand that parallel the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen...

 on which West Hampton Dunes, New York

West Hampton Dunes, New York

West Hampton Dunes is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, U.S., on the South Shore of Long Island. The population was 11 at the 2000 census, making it the least populated municipality in the state of New York.-History:...

 is the closest community.

The inlet which split West Hampton from Fire Island was formed by a Nor'easter

Nor'easter

A nor'easter is a type of macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada, so named because the storm travels to the northeast from the south and the winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada...

 in 1931.

The 1931 storm created a geographic quirk for the eastern tip of the West Hampton island which is in the town of Brookhaven

Brookhaven, New York

The Town of Brookhaven is one of the ten towns into which Suffolk County, New York, United States, has been divided. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is located in central Suffolk County and is the only town in the county that stretches from the North Shore to the South Shore of Long...

 but in order to access it via land from Brookhaven a person must go through several miles of Southampton (town), New York

Southampton (town), New York

The Town of Southampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, U.S., partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town had a total population of 54,712...

.

Between 1933 and 1938 Moriches Inlet widened to 4000 feet (1,219.2 m) wide and deepened with sand being deposited on both the bay and ocean. The widening subsided in 1938 when the Great Hurricane of 1938 opened up the Shinnecock Inlet

Shinnecock Inlet

Shinnecock Inlet is the easternmost of five major inlets connecting bays to the Atlantic Ocean through the narrow 100-mile-long Outer barrier that stretches from New York City to Southhampton, New York on the south shore of Long Island. It splits Westhampton Island from the peninsula extending from...

 further east between Shinnecock Bay and the ocean.

In an attempt to stabilize the deterioration of the barrier island, local authorities built groines on the inlet in 1952–1953. Local authorities have consistently urged that the inlet be kept open to allow boats from the mainland of Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

 to have access to the ocean. The United States Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

 took over the maintenance of the inlets and jetties in the 1980s.

The Corps in turn ran into controversy with claims that the groynes and jetties were blocking the natural east to west longshore drift

Longshore drift

Longshore drift consists of the transportation of sediments along a coast at an angle to the shoreline, which is dependent on prevailing wind direction, swash and backwash. This process occurs in the littoral zone, and in or within close proximity to the surf zone...

 that replenished sand.

The inlet and groynes were to be blamed for a loss of 8–10 million cubic yards of sand on Fire Island—representing a loss of 100 feet (30.5 m) of beach and a depth of 12–16 feet along the entire 32 miles (51.5 km) Fire Island beach zone.

The inlet was the primary water access route for recovery ships following the July 17, 1996, crash of TWA Flight 800

TWA Flight 800

Trans World Airlines Flight 800 , a Boeing 747-131, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 20:31 EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff, killing all 230 persons on board. At the time, it was the second-deadliest U.S...

. News reports noted that it crashed in the ocean about 10 miles (16.1 km) due south of the inlet.