The scientists conducted experiments in a lab to study how ebb tidal shoals change during storms. They used a model of an inlet in Florida and tested different scenarios with and without jetties. They found that ebb tidal shoals grow and shrink depending on the tide, and removing part of the shoal can make beach erosion worse. Natural inlets have more severe channel shoaling and beach erosion compared to jettied inlets. Overall, the ebb tidal shoal tends to grow during ebb cycles and shrink during flood cycles.