The Bayshore, today

The Bayshore, today.

Above the Hook's own photographs of the shore as it is now — the boats, the docks, the water. Free to use, for anything, with credit.

Everything here is licensed CC BY 4.0: use it for any purpose, commercial included, as long as you credit Above the Hook. Each photograph has a full-resolution download on its archive page.

Clammers & fishing boats

A maroon-hulled commercial fishing boat numbered 2197 running out across calm bay water in profile, a low barrier beach and power-line towers on the far shore, morning sun glinting on the waterThe Pratter, underwayFree · CC BYA maroon-hulled commercial fishing boat, numbered 2197 and lettered NJ6808FX and "Pratter," moored among weathered pilings at a bayshore dock, a picking boom rigged above the deck, trees and bayfront houses behind under a clear skyThe Pratter at the dockFree · CC BY

On the bay

A small center-console boat on calm bay water below a wooded shoreline, framed through tall brush on a bluff in the foregroundA boat below the bluffFree · CC BYA bright windy day on the bay with whitecaps — a small catamaran under a rainbow-striped sail in the foreground, several kitesurfers with colorful kites off a barrier spit, and a container ship on the horizonA windy afternoon on the bayFree · CC BYA small white center-console boat crossing calm bay water near a sandy spit, two people aboard with one standing at the console and a red-and-white diver's flag flying, framed past dark dock rigging in the foregroundA small boat crosses the bayFree · CC BY

The bay

A wide view over blue bay water to a low sandy barrier spit, a kitesurfer on the water and a hazy far shore under a bright skyThe spit and the open bayFree · CC BY

The city across the bay

The Manhattan skyline low across blue bay water beyond a long low green barrier spit under a bright hazy skyThe city over the spitFree · CC BYThe Manhattan skyline lit against a deep blue twilight sky, seen across dark water from a height with a dark foreground ridgeThe city at blue hourFree · CC BYThe Manhattan skyline hazy and distant across the water, seen through blurred wind-bent beach grass in the foregroundThe city through the grassFree · CC BYThe full Manhattan skyline low on the horizon across the water, seen from a height over a dark band of treetopsThe city from the ridgeFree · CC BYA fishing boat with figures aboard passing a green channel buoy on the bay, the Manhattan skyline low across the horizon behindFishing past the channel buoyFree · CC BYA small open boat passing a large green channel buoy on choppy bay water, the Manhattan skyline stretched low across the horizon behindA boat and the buoy, the city beyondFree · CC BYThe Manhattan skyline glittering as a band of light low across a dark bay at night, seen over the peaked rooftops of shore houses, a single beam of light rising into a deep blue skyManhattan across the bay, nightFree · CC BYThe distant Manhattan skyline low on the horizon across a wide bay at dusk, seen over a barrier spit and salt marsh from an elevated vantage, a single tower standing on the sandManhattan across the bay, eveningFree · CC BY

Sundown

A row of people and beach chairs silhouetted on the sand against a vivid orange-and-grey sunset sky over the waterWatching the sun go downFree · CC BYA large golden sun low over calm bay water at sunset, a dark shoreline in the foreground and a faint sail on the horizonSundown over the bayFree · CC BY

The lighthouse

The lantern of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse close up at dusk — a red domed lantern room with a large lit Fresnel lens glowing behind the glass, a black gallery railing belowThe Sandy Hook Lighthouse lanternFree · CC BYThe Sandy Hook Lighthouse at dawn — a white octagonal tower with a lit red-domed lantern glowing, rising above a dark treeline under a pale skyThe Sandy Hook Lighthouse at dawnFree · CC BY

The town

A long row of peaked-roof shorefront houses with porches across a strip of water, warm in low golden sunset lightShorefront houses at sundownFree · CC BY

Wildlife

A white-tailed deer buck with antlers standing among dense green maritime brush and small trees, looking toward the cameraA buck in the brushFree · CC BYFour gulls standing in shallow water on a tidal flat, their reflections beneath themGulls on the flatsFree · CC BYA deer crossing an empty two-lane road in warm low-angle golden light, a lamppost and a building in the backgroundA deer crosses the roadFree · CC BYA deer grazing on open ground silhouetted against a low golden sun at dusk, a sign and shoreline behindA deer at sundownFree · CC BY

From the air

Aerial photograph at dawn of Highlands, New Jersey — town lights on the hillside, Sandy Hook Bay, the barrier spit reaching north, and the Manhattan skyline faint on the horizon, 2026Highlands at first light, 2026Free · CC BYAerial photograph of the Route 36 bridge crossing the water from the Highlands to Sea Bright, the town and marinas at its foot and the ocean beyond, 2026The Route 36 bridge, 2026Free · CC BYAerial photograph of the mouth of the Navesink River opening toward Sandy Hook, houses along the far shore and a pier reaching into the channel, 2026The mouth of the Navesink, 2026Free · CC BYTop-down aerial photograph of a Highlands marina, rows of boats in slips along the docks with a road and buildings at the edge, 2026A Highlands marina from above, 2026Free · CC BYAerial photograph of Sandy Hook from the north, the wooded spit and public beach in the foreground, the towers of Manhattan on the horizon, 2026The Hook and the city, 2026Free · CC BYAerial photograph of the Sandy Hook barrier spit curling north into Lower New York Bay, ocean on the right, bay on the left, the Manhattan skyline faint on the horizon, 2026Sandy Hook from the air, 2026Free · CC BY

Storms & the sea

Rough grey ocean surf with breaking whitecaps under an overcast sky, the Manhattan skyline faint and hazy on the horizon behindA rough day, the city behindFree · CC BY