CHATHAM, Mass. (AP) Boaters used to taking a shortcut from Nantucket Sound to the Atlantic Ocean are being forced to change course.

A fierce Thanksgiving Day storm tossed up enough sand along the narrow South Beach peninsula in Chatham to close down the popular shortcut by connecting remote South Monomoy Island to the mainland for the first time in 50 years.

The storm surge filled in what was once a wide inlet that allowed boaters to pass between the island and mainland.

The shifting sands are now forcing boaters to travel another nine miles to reach the ocean.

Wildlife officials have also spotted coyotes on the new land bridge and are worried the coyotes will have access to piping plovers and other rare birds on the island.

“We spend so much time trying to harness the forces of nature that this is a good reminder that Mother Nature is very, very powerful,” said Maggie Geist, executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod.