They cite towns such as Seaside Park, which had 20-foot high dunes and was far less damaged during Sandy than nearby Seaside Heights and Mantoloking.

WSJ: Homeowners Draw a Line in the Sand Over Dunes

Kara Strafaci used the Facebook page "Jersey Shore Hurricane News" to get help for her grandmother, trapped in the Seaside Park area without her medication.

CNN: Social media make helping personal

In green design news, a new architecture competition challenged designers to transform the Costa Concordia shipwreck off the coast of Italy into a new seaside park.

ENGADGET: Inhabitat's Week in Green: invisibility cloak, a Hobbit House and a portable washing machine

In 1970, Mr. Mesanko opened Grog's Surf Palace, a Seaside Park shop that held competitions and attracted stars of the sport such as Shaun Tomson, Gerry Lopez and Corky Carroll.

WSJ: Wipeout of Pier Is Blow to Town's Surf Scene

Soon after taking up the sport in 2009, Ms. Brabec met Jim Purpuri, a 60-year-old Seaside Park carpenter while in New Jersey and started riding with the veteran Seaside Heights surfers.

WSJ: Wipeout of Pier Is Blow to Town's Surf Scene

Sand dunes helped protect the New Jersey town of Seaside Park more than its dune-less neighbor Seaside Heights when Superstorm Sandy hit last fall, said Laurie Mcgilvray, a government coastline science expert.

WSJ: Americans oppose paying for storm-ravaged beaches

Researchers found the bracing seaside air had a more positive effect than the countryside or an urban park.

BBC: People really do like to be beside the seaside, study says