A vessel that was seen in the ocean off 75th Street in Harvey Cedars last week has been identified as a jacked-up work barge, according to Mayor Jonathan Oldham.

The barge was first seen by beachgoers on Tuesday, August 1 but had left the area by the next day.

“It had been in Maurice River and is now on its way to Dorchester (Mass.),” Oldham said. The barge, which was approximately a half mile offshore, was being used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for preparatory work on an upcoming LBI beach replenishment project, he said.

“They were likely measuring wave heights,” he said.