This is SeaTalk: Ocean News from the University of Delaware.

Winter can be one of the most relaxing times to visit the shore. You may notice the beach looks a little different as you stroll along the sand on a crisp, chilly winter day – both tourists and sand are missing, leaving the beaches both less crowded and narrower.

Mid-Atlantic beaches can have very different profiles throughout the year due to a natural, seasonal cycle during which waves shift sand from one place to another. The strong, high-energy waves that are typical of winter storms wash sand from the beach, depositing it onto submerged sandbars. The sand is stored in these offshore bars until the return of summer, when fair weather brings gentler waves that carry sand back onshore, just in time to make the beach wider for visitors who enjoy beachcombing, sunbathing, and fishing.

This is SeaTalk, a public service announcement from the University of Delaware, the Delaware Sea Grant College Program, and this station.