It was feared that a Sandy-created breach at Fire Island National Seashore would flood nearby communities, but the breach remains three years later.

The breach formed after the 2012 superstorm is five football fields wide. Many expressed flooding concerns after it formed, but Friends of Bellport Bay co-chair Thomas Schultz says the opposite has occurred. According to Schultz, tides come in earlier but there is no flooding. He also says the water is cleaner and fishing is better.

"I consider the inlet a silver lining from Mother Nature because it has dramatically improved the water quality in Bellport Bay almost overnight," says Schultz.

Friends of Bellport Bay plan to seed the water with a million oysters. They say it'll purify the water and improve shellfishing.

Stony Brook University professor Charles Flagg says his studies show nothing but positive results from the inlet formation.

"The clams are growing faster, there's much more fish, there's a different variety of fish," says Flagg.

Patchogue Village Mayor Paul Pontieri does say that the breach is causing flooding and disrupting waterfront neighborhoods.

"It seems to me the tides have been a bit higher," says Pontieri. "They have to make a decision, either you make it into an inlet - you harden it, or you close it."

A final decision on what to do with the breach will be made later this year by the National Park Service.

The inlet breach also brought another surprise: amateur archaeologists believe they've found remnants of the S.S. Savannah, which sank in 1821.