The Metedeconk River is a tributary of Barnegat Bay in Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. The Metedeconk River flows from its North and South Branches to their confluence at Forge Pond, where the river widens (up to just over ) and flows southeast for into Barnegat Bay. It contains both fresh and salt-water portions. Like many area streets, waterways and towns, Metedeconk is the original word or phrase used by the Indigenous Peoples to name themselves or to name themselves after their geography. Its name a direct reference to the Metedeconk Tribes who had two settlements, one on the North Side of the river bordering the Beaver-dam Creek in the region now called CedarCroft, and one on the south side. Geographic relation to nearby water features At its most eastern face the river meets the Barnegat Peninsula, a populated but narrow strip (less than wide) of New Jersey separating the Metedeconk from a direct connection with the Atlantic Ocean. Here, the river joins the Barnegat Bay to the south and the narrow, man-made Point Pleasant Canal to the north. This canal provides a convenient connection to the Manasquan River, which would otherwise be completely separated from the Metedeconk by about of land. The Manasquan River is directly connected to the Atlantic Ocean, as is Barnegat Bay. Interactions with ocean waters The river is of the floodplain type and is tidal, being indirectly connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Barnegat Bay and the Manasquan River. The Metedeconk's main oceanic interactions are through the Manasquan, via the Point Pleasant Canal. In fact, before the canal was opened in 1926, the Metedeconk and the upper part of the Barnegat Bay were mainly fresh water environments and non-tidal. Today, due to ocean tides, the waters of the Bay and the Manasquan are both inlets and outlets of the Metedeconk. Since the canal, the waters of the lower Metedeconk have been brackish to salty and the ecology of the area has changed considerably. A visual indication of the river's connection to the ocean is the cream to brown colored foam that sometimes collects where the Metedeconk's waves beat the sandy shores or manmade bulkheads. This foam consists of the microscopic organic material that naturally builds up in the presence of aquatic life; the process of filtering organics from water through wave-like action has been mechanized in most aquariums and is known