S T U D E N T S ’ S E E D S • F I S H E R I E S F A C T S • S E A A N G E L S • A M E R I C A N E E L S
CoastwatchN O R T H C A R O L I N A S E A G R A N T • A U T U M N • 2 0 1 6 • I S S U E 4 • $ 3 . 7 5
FOCUS ON FRAN +20 : IMPROVING NORTH CAROLINA’S RESILIENCE F R O M T H E E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R
NC Sea Grant’s Resilience Efforts Meet Varied Needs
The height of our hurricane season seems to a longer time frame, such as changing land-use and be an appropriate time to consider how resilient our weather patterns that continue to affect our coastline North Carolina coastal communities and ecosystems and across our state, including the individuals who are when faced with a significant hazard. Certainly our live and visit here. Coastwatch communities continue to learn lessons from past storms You’ll find numerous examples of coastal to better prepare for, and recover from, future storm resilience incorporated throughout the stories, images events. We anticipate those actions will point to greater and poetry in this issue that will draw you into the levels of resilience — or a community’s ability to recover power, beauty and bounty of our coast. from extreme events. Community, economic and ecosystem resilience Earlier this year, resilience was one of the monthly are intricately linked. North Carolina Sea Grant
themes as the National Sea Grant College Program Roger Winstead is committed to ensuring that we are not simply celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2016. The national and reacting to single events that affect the coast. Rather, Susan White state programs highlighted efforts to build resilience we are actively working with communities to among coastal communities nationwide. develop and apply knowledge gained from research, For example, North Carolina Sea Grant contributed pieces to education, technology and innovations to be prepared for change, and a national “story map” on resilience. Learn more at go.ncsu.edu/ also to better position ourselves to be as resilient as possible in the face resiliencemap. On page 4, read about this and other themes during the of change. anniversary celebration. On social media, look out for #SeaGrant50. My thanks go out to our donors who are helping our program itself In North Carolina, the term resilience carries a range of definitions be more resilient by financially supporting the work we do. Check out for our varied partners. Each interpretation depends on the stakeholders who they are on page 4. or audience for a particular collaboration. Examples run a gamut, from I also hope you make the time and take the opportunity to join us technical engineering solutions for infrastructure — such as houses, at any one of the coastal festivals being held this fall in celebration of roads, bridges and living shorelines that can withstand significant energy the many resilient communities — humans, plants and animals alike — forces — to developing workforce training opportunities to strengthen that make the North Carolina coast their home. employment opportunities, and understanding changes in biological I’ll look forward to seeing you by the water, and hearing your components of estuarine systems that sustain numerous animal perspectives on ways to continue to improve coastal resilience there. populations. Or as always, you can email me at [email protected] or follow me at There also is a temporal aspect to take into account when @snwhitenccoast. understanding coastal resilience. Certainly there’s an immediate context, Happy fall y’all. such as after a hurricane. But also we consider building resilience within —Susan White, Executive Director, North Carolina Sea Grant
Alleghany Northampton Currituck I N T H I S I S S U E Stokes Rockingham Granville Vance Gates Ashe Surry Caswell Warren Camden Person Hertford Pasquotank Watauga Perquimans Wilkes Yadkin Forsyth 85 95 Guilford Alamance Halifax Chowan PKY Orange Avery Winston-Salem 40 Bertie Contributing Writers:Mitchell Durham Nash Franklin Nags Davie Greensboro Edgecombe Caldwell Alexander Durham Wake Head Jay Barnes Ashley Chafin Yancey Diana Hackenburg Iredell Rocky Mount Martin Madison Chatham Tyrrell McDowell Washington Terri Kirby Hathaway E-Ching Lee Katie Mosher Nichole Riddle Raleigh Dare Buncombe Rowan Davidson Burke Asheboro Wilson Janna Sasser Cynthia Sharpe 40 Emily White EmilyCatawba Woodward Johnston Pitt Asheville 77 85 Randolph Washington Beaufort Hyde Swain Haywood Lincoln Rutherford Lee Greene 26 Cabarrus Graham Cleveland Montgomery Harnett Contributing Photographers: Charlotte Moore Jackson Henderson Polk Gaston Stanly Wayne Lenoir Craven Macon Transylvania Jay Barnes Steve Brumfield Tom Crawford Carolyn Currin Fayetteville Cherokee Mecklenburg New Bern Pamlico Clay Union Richard Davis Kristen Downs Jessica Eveleigh Dave Gately Anson Richmond Sampson Duplin Jones Hoke Cumberland Diana Hackenburg Jane Harrison Jenny Holder Onslow Scotland Jacksonville Morehead City Rob Landwehrmann Vanda Lewis Jeffery Merrell Carteret Robeson Gloria Putnam Kevin Raskoff Rhett Register Kelly Riley Bladen 40 Spencer Rogers Lisa Schiavinato Frank Sherman Pender Rick Sullivan Patricia Thibodeau Jack Thigpen Mike Voiland New Hanover Columbus Susan White Jessica Whitehead Roger Winstead Wilmington
Brunswick North Carolina’s diverse coast offers countless interesting subjects. The map indicates story settings in this issue — including Dare, Carteret and Hyde counties; Raleigh; and Topsail Island. CoastwatchF E A T U R E S • COASTAL TIDINGS...... 2
HURRICANE FRAN REVISITED Lessons From a Benchmark Storm Jay Barnes looks at what North Carolina experts learned from Hurricane Fran — and what has changed in hurricane planning and response since 1996...... 6 FROM SEEDS TO SHORELINE: Expanding Minds and Restoring Marshes Emily Woodward goes Spartina planting with fifth-graders in a program that has students helping to restore salt marshes...... 13 ACCOUNTING FOR THE BOUNTY OF THE SEA This pullout offers 2015 data on North Carolina’s commercial and recreational fisheries...... insert
• SCOTCH BONNET: An Invasion of Naked Sea Butterflies Terri Kirby Hathaway explains what caused a swarm of naked sea butterflies to appear on the Outer Banks...... 17
• CURRENTS: A Cohesive Strategy Diana Hackenburg introduces a statewide partnership working to protect and restore our local watersheds...... 18 • Sharing Water Moments Sea Grant staff explain what water means to them...... 19
• PEOPLE AND PLACES: Story Map Reveals Oyster Treasures Jane Harrison hunts for a new way to share geographic and other data in the digital age...... 21
• NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK: The Quiet Decline of the Humble Eel Janna Sasser talks with Sea Grant researchers about the status of eels in North Carolina’s tidal creeks...... 24
• SEA SCIENCE: Sharing Perspectives on Community Adaptations: Whitehead Joins Panel for Sustained National Climate Assessment From Hurricane Hugo recovery in her youth to helping N.C. coastal communities plan for the future, Jessica Whitehead brings her range of experience to a new federal committee...... 28
• MARINER’S MENU: A Little of This, A Little of That: Variety is the Spice of Seafood Emily White shares recipes that feature various cooking methods...... 32
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 1 R I P C U R R E N T S • U NC D E RO W A T AE R S SO U NT D S CA A P E SL • P H Y TT O P L IA N KD T O NI M ON N I T GO R I NS G • M A R I T I M E F O R E S T S
NorthCoastwatch Carolina Sea Grant • 2016 • Autumn • Issue 4
Editor Katie Mosher Managing Editor E-Ching Lee N O R T H C A R O L I N A S E A G R A N T • S U M M E R • 2 0 1 5 • I S S U E 3 • $ 3 . 7 5 Contributing Editors Coastwatch Debbi Sykes Braswell SUMMER SHOWCASE: Diana Hackenburg coastal nc state parks Designer Linda Noble Circulation Manager Sandra Harris
The North Carolina Sea Grant College Program is a federal/state program that promotes stewardship of coastal and marine resources through research and outreach. It joined the National Sea Grant College Network in 1970 as an institutional program. Six years later, it was designated a Sea Grant College. Today, North Carolina Sea Grant supports research projects, an extension program and a communications staff. Susan White is executive director. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Cutline for photo. Cutline for photo. Cutline for photo. Cutline for photo. Cutline for photo. Cutline for photo. Cutline for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, photo. Cutline for photo. Cutline for photo. Cutline for photo. and the state through the University of North Carolina. Coastwatch (ISSN: 1068-784X; USPS Periodical # 010464) is published five times a year (January/February, March/April/May, June/July, August/September/October, November/ Coastwatch Wins APEX Award December) by the North Carolina Sea Grant College Program, North Carolina State University, Box 8605, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8605. oastwatch, North Carolina Sea Grant’s by science teacher Katie Neller. Telephone: 919-515-2454. Fax: 919-515-7095. C Subscriptions are $15. magazine, has received an APEX Award for “It makes us very proud to receive this Email: [email protected], Publication Excellence. This honor highlights award again,” notes Katie Mosher, Sea Grant [email protected] exceptional publications. communications director. “The Green award URL: ncseagrant.org The summer 2015 issue of Coastwatch reflects the contribution that the magazine has Periodical Postage paid at Raleigh, N.C. was recognized in the Green Magazines, had across the state, as well as beyond North Journals and Tabloids category. Carolina. We’re honored.” POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The issue’s cover story focused on The Sea Grant communications team Coastwatch, North Carolina Sea Grant, North Carolina State University, Box 8605, North Carolina’s coastal state parks, for also includes Diana Hackenburg, science Raleigh, NC 27695-8605. the 100th anniversary of the legislation that writer/editor; Sandra Harris, circulation established them. In addition, Sea Grant manager; and E-Ching Lee, managing editor. ATMOSPH ND ER A IC IC A N D A M E I C N I O S L T and N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Mariner’s Menu blogger Vanda Lewis; A R
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N A N Estuarine Research Reserve joint fellow interns Rebecca Nagy, Nichole Riddle and U E S C D R E E P M A M RT O MENT OF C Shannon Brown wrote about her research Cynthia Sharpe; and several freelancers also on summer soundscapes — the collection of contributed to the winning issue. The magazine FRONT: Cover photo of damage caused by Hurricane Fran sounds from biological, physical and human is designed by Linda Noble. The cover photo by Dave Gately, FEMA. sources — in the Rachel Carson Reserve. of Jockey’s Ridge State Park is from the N.C. Table of contents graphic based on photo Other writers highlighted Sea Division of Parks and Recreation. of Oriental Harbor Marina by Roger Winstead. Grant-funded rip current research; unique This year, the awards attracted more than maritime forests throughout the coast; and 1,600 entries for 100 categories of recognition. PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER. the water-monitoring efforts of students at For a complete list, visit www.apexawards.com. First Flight High School in Kill Devil Hills, led — E.W.
2 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org C O A S T A L T I D I N G S Carolyn Currin/NOAA
Natural vegetation creates a buffer between land and water, providing an ecofriendly shoreline-stabilization option.
Steve Brumfield VISIT A BIRD-LOVERS’ PARADISE Creating Living Barriers Migratory birds pass through North Carolina in autumn, heading south. Diving Deeper, a podcast sponsored by he 20th anniversary of the Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival is set for Oct. 18 to 23. The six-day T NOAA National Ocean Service, connects event includes activities such as birding, paddling, photography workshops and tours. Participants also may see a variety of wildlife, ranging from black bears to alligators. This year, the audience with coastal news and coordinators are offering additional art classes, involving pencils, watercolors and pastels. In addition, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore is keeping all of the Outer Banks National marine life. Recently, Carolyn Currin of Park Service campgrounds open throughout the October event to create a more immersive NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal experience. A second session is scheduled for Dec. 9 to 11, to view more migratory birds and waterfowl. Ocean Science in Beaufort discussed To learn more, visit wingsoverwater.org. — A.C. living shorelines and their benefits. She explains that living shorelines Duke Graduate Student help stabilize shorelines without damag- Receives National Fellowship ing coexisting habitats. Natural vegeta- Anna Birkenbach is a 2016 National Oceanic timing and interspecies substitutions — using tion and native habitats create a resilient and Atmospheric Administration’s National the Northeast Multispecies Sector Program,” transition between land and water. Sea Grant Office and NOAA Fisheries Birkenbach says, referring to a management joint fellow. She is a doctoral student in area that includes New England and the Mid- Currin discusses how living environmental policy at Duke University’s Atlantic. shorelines are beneficial to the Nicholas School of the Environment. “This research aims to inform ongoing Birkenbach evaluates how management discussions about the role of catch shares environment and property owners alike. of catch shares, or quotas, affects fishing season in fisheries management, as well as possible This method tends to be more resilient lengths and ex-vessel prices in U.S. fisheries. means of fine-tuning these policies to Her advisor is Martin Smith, an environmental maximize the value generated from the to storms and has the potential to be economist at Duke. resources and balance the goals of ecological more cost-effective than other traditional This two-year fellowship in marine resource and economic sustainability.” economics will enable her to answer a new set Birkenbach holds a master’s degree measures, such as sea walls, bulkheads of questions arising from her initial research, in applied economics, and master’s and and riprap. issues that require a more sophisticated bachelor’s degrees in public policy, all from approach and finer-scale data on fishing activity. Duke. To hear Currin’s entire discussion, “As a NMFS fellow, I will explore how catch For more about this fellowship and to listen to the podcast at oceanservice.noaa. shares influence microlevel decision making on apply, go to seagrant.noaa.gov/FundingFellowships. the water — including decisions on targeting, aspx and select NMFS/SG Fellowship. — E.L. gov/podcast. — A.C.
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visit visit provinces. Canadian four as well as represented, been have states 37 years, past In register. to encouraged are abilities all of 10 82. Cyclists to from ranging ages their event, the in part taken Beach. Atlantic in ends and Jacksonville, and Clinton Sanford, Burlington, Lexington, Wilkesboro, to stretches Elk, Banner in begins route The ride. 440-mile full, the on Carolina North of topography riders. for options eight-day and three- offers ride bike cross-state This 8. 1through Oct. place take to tour, set is Coast to Mountains the C ycle North Carolina’s biggest event, event, biggest Carolina’s North ycle cnc.ncsports.org/ To learn more about CNC events, events, CNC about more To learn have participants many past, the In changing the experience will Cyclists Atlantic Beach Beach Atlantic Banner Elk to Banner to Elk participate in this annual ride. ride. annual this in participate Cyclists come from all over to to over all from come Cyclists Ride from from Ride | 5 www.ncseagrant.org .
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.C. .C. HURRICANE FRAN R EVI S IT E D Lessons From a Benchmark Storm By Jay Barnes
Jay Barnes is the author of four books on hurricanes, and often appears on media outlets such as The Weather Channel, NBC Nightly News and The Discovery Channel. He is director of development for the North Carolina Aquarium Society. For more on Barnes, go to jaybarnesonhurricanes.com.
The summer of 1996. It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years. Atlanta was prepping for the summer Olympics, DVDs were the new technology from Japan, and two new websites called eBay and Amazon were about to forever change the way we shop. But for me, it was hurricanes Bertha and Fran that made the summer of ’96 so memorable. At the time, I was living at the coast, my home tucked into the maritime dunes of Pine Knoll Shores just a few hundred feet from the Atlantic. When the wind was right, I could hear the thumping surf from my backyard. Both hurricanes were born off the African coast — Bertha in July, Fran just weeks later in early September. I watched each one closely as they strengthened and churned westward, mindful of what they could mean for our coastal communities. Just a year earlier, UNC Press had released my first book,North Carolina’s Hurricane History, so I had added reason to monitor their every move. I remember Bertha was no lightweight. Its arrival during the heart of the tourist season was most unwelcomed by vacationers and business owners from Myrtle Beach to the Outer Banks. Strengthening to Category 2 intensity before landfall, Bertha came ashore between Wrightsville and Topsail beaches on July 12, buffeting the coast with sustained 80 mph, Category 1 winds. Pines snapped and tumbled, shingles flew, and many along the coast experienced the first hurricane-force winds of their lifetimes. Many coastal residents from Wilmington to Morehead City who had moved into the area since 1960, or most born after that time, had probably never experienced sustained hurricane-force winds — 74 mph or greater — in their communities until Bertha. I fit that criteria. I was born in Southport in 1958, lived in Carteret County after that, and Bertha brought the first true hurricane-force winds I witnessed. The cleanup was still underway when Fran first appeared as a green swirl edging across our computer screens. Many whose property was damaged by Bertha worked hard that summer to rebuild their docks, patch their roofs, and haul away mountains of tree limbs and debris. Their work was stopped in its tracks when it became clear that Fran would strike near Cape Fear as a stronger, Category 3 storm. Ultimately, its inland course over farms, fields and cities would make Fran North Carolina’s most destructive storm to date.
C o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 9 Spencer Rogers
6 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org Many were astounded by the damage Hurricane Fran left in its wake, such as in this community in North Topsail Beach.
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 7 1 Courtesy NC Emergency Management
4 Spencer Rogers
5 Courtesy Coastal Resilience Center
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2 Dave Gately/FEMA
3 Richard Davis/NCDMF
1. The N.C. Division of Emergency Management now has moved to a more spacious facility. 2. One scientist described the Triangle’s soil as “pancake batter” that caused trees to topple rather than snap. 3. On North Topsail Beach, storm surge from Fran brought down entire rows of buildings. 4. Hurricane Bertha preceded Fran by several weeks, bringing significant destruction to Topsail Island. 5. The new Emergency Operations Center integrates state-of-the- art communications among emergency planners and various state agencies. 6. Even though Fran made landfall near the time of low Dave Gately/FEMA tide, storm surge caused tremendous destruction in some areas.
8 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org In its wake, many were astounded by at NC State, and he described it as ‘pancake Army and the Baptist Men — mean that Fran’s toll. New Hanover County beach towns batter.’ You didn’t see a lot of snapped trees future disasters will be met by well-trained experienced storm-surge flooding comparable here. They just came down, root ball and all.” and coordinated teams of responders. to that of Hurricane Hazel, the gold standard for Tar Heel hurricane disasters. Winds gusted Being Prepared Making Investments above 100 mph, pounding many of the same A lot has changed in emergency In the years since Fran, other key buildings, billboards and forests first punished management over the last two decades. investments are helping the state better prepare by Bertha. “I remember Fran well. I was totally for future storms. As Fran churned inland, rivers crested unprepared for it,” recalls Mike Sprayberry, “The importance of pre-disaster hazard at record levels, fatalities quickly mounted, director of the state’s Division of Emergency mitigation planning paid off in Kinston,” and the Triangle was hammered by a Management, or DEM. At the time, he was a notes Gavin Smith, director of the Coastal destructive hurricane for the first time in major in the Army National Guard. Resilience Center of Excellence at the more than 40 years. “I was at home in Clinton. I left my wife University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. So few hurricanes made landfall here and dog in the bathtub, and went to the armory. He advised Gov. Jim Hunt on long-term in North Carolina during the 1960s, ’70s, National Guardsmen know to head on in to recovery in North Carolina after Hurricane ’80s and early ’90s that Bertha and Fran work when the wind stops blowing.” Floyd. were a wake-up call of sorts — reminding us Sprayberry now oversees North One year after Fran, the state purchased how vulnerable we are to dangerous tropical Carolina’s disaster preparedness, response 360 of Kinston’s most flood-prone homes, with cyclones. Looking back two decades later, it’s and recovery from the $53-million state another 600 acquired after Floyd. Eventually, easy to let our memories of the ’96 storms blur Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh. this effort became one of the nation’s largest with others that followed, especially Bonnie Completed in 2012 with the help of federal single-state acquisition programs. in 1998, and Dennis and Floyd in 1999. Floyd stimulus funds, the center brings together “All told, the state acquired more than was, by any measure, another benchmark emergency managers, the National Guard, and 5,000 homes and elevated another 1,000 disaster for the state, causing greater damage state-of-the-art communications for the N.C. following hurricanes Fran and Floyd,” and more fatalities than Fran. Department of Transportation and Highway Smith adds. But for many reasons, memories of Patrol. It’s an impressive facility, and a far cry The Resilience Center, established in Fran resonate. from the cramped, basement conference room 2015 and funded by the U.S. Department of “I guess to the layman, it looked like on Jones Street that served as the operations Homeland Security, comprises 22 universities a bomb went off,” remembers Greg Fishel, center during Fran. and colleges throughout the country. The WRAL-TV chief meteorologist in Raleigh. “We’ve come a long way since Fran. center conducts research and education for the As Fran’s core first approached the We’ve put in place so many programs and next generation of hazard practitioners. Key Triangle, Fishel wasn’t convinced the storm improvements. And there’s a lot of money research focuses on coastal infrastructure, was going to be so destructive. coming in to make these happen — from the building resilient communities and coastal “We started seeing gusts of 50 or 60 feds, from the state, Homeland Security. It’s a hazards modeling. mph, and that didn’t get my attention at first. big investment. But it’s an investment worth Under Smith’s leadership, UNC-CH also We can have that in a severe thunderstorm. making.” established a graduate certificate program in I don’t think we ever even recorded sustained Regional urban rescue teams, climate- natural hazards resilience. hurricane-force winds,” he says. controlled mobile operating rooms, new Mitigation and resilience are more than “I was in the studio, and my wife called products for coastal storm-surge modeling and just buzzwords for those working to keep us me and said, ‘Have you been outside?’ So a mobile app — ReadyNC, which displays safe and protect our property. But how far we had the idea to broadcast out behind the real-time evacuation information — are just a can we go to reduce losses in the next big studio. Well, my glasses blew off and my shoes few of the division’s many initiatives in recent hurricane? filled with water in about a minute. It was just years. But according to Sprayberry, his highest “In another storm like Fran, in general remarkable. And that destruction — it was priority isn’t in Raleigh. we’d see similar flooding,” warns Blair the difference between one gust at 60 and six “Around here, people know my mission Hinkle, stormwater program manager for the hours of 60 mph winds.” statement: What have you done for the counties City of Raleigh. “We’d hope that our upgraded Fishel notes that as a meteorologist, it’s today?” infrastructure would reduce the duration of the important to understand not just how much In North Carolina, county-level decision flooding. Water that stood for four hours or six wind and rain you measure, but the impact making is the model that works best, and hours during Fran now might stand for only they can have on where you live. DEM’s job is to be a good broker by providing two hours. But most pipes and catch basins “I learned a lot. I didn’t have an tools and resources. That, combined with high- are designed to handle a 10- to 25-year flood. understanding of our soil type here in the level coordination with volunteer groups — Fran exceeded 100 years, based on chance Triangle. Afterwards, I talked to a professor such as the American Red Cross, the Salvation C o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 1 0
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 9 3 Courtesy Coastal Resilience Center
1 Jay Barnes Courtesy Coastal Resilience Center 2 4 Richard Davis/NCDMF
1. Hurricanes and winter storms frequently overwash N.C. Highway 12 near Rodanthe, after which crews move sand to keep the fragile road open. 2. The Rotary Dog Park was built on floodplain buyout land in Kinston. 3. The Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence’s graduate certificate program provides students with academic and practice-based experiences in natural hazards resilience. 4. Prior to Hurricane Fran, Hazel in 1954 was the last major storm to hit southeastern North Carolina. occurrence. It would be cost-prohibitive to try close.” The variation was much wider in First, there are storm-damage reduction to design for the 100-year level.” neighboring Brunswick County. projects, such as those conducted by the U.S. Like in Kinston, Hinkle notes that Rogers, who has spent his career studying Army Corps of Engineers in the mid-1960s in buyouts of flood-prone structures have been coastal dynamics and the structures built in the Carolina and Wrightsville beaches. Kure Beach a focus for the city, reducing repetitive-loss region, notes that one solution is pretty obvious. was added in 1997 after Fran. The Corps’ claims. Another priority: upgrading Raleigh’s “Building above the floodplain is design cross-section includes building beach 75 to 80 nonregulated ponds — many of required, but adding even more elevation helps. and dunes, which are key to preventing storm which overtopped or failed during Fran — Adding elevation is relatively inexpensive, surge, erosion and waves from reaching the by rebuilding dams to be taller and stronger. depending upon how it’s done. The costs are buildings and infrastructure. often quickly repaid with savings on things like Next, smaller beach nourishment projects Raising Structures flood insurance.” widen the beach to address long-term erosion, Along the coast, where populations On a larger scale, elevating our beaches often paid for by cities, counties or the state. mushroomed since Fran — Brunswick through sand nourishment is sometimes “Fran was a 120-year storm. The Corps County’s, for example, has nearly doubled controversial public policy. But in the aftermath design did what it was supposed to do. In Fran — local officials and planners know their of Fran and Floyd, it proved effective. and Floyd, the dunes were consumed by design, communities remain vulnerable. Winds “The hurricanes of the ’90s were a allowing water to go through, but prevented are fierce, but it’s storm surge from a major convenient test for beach nourishments. The erosion around buildings — the most likely hurricane that poses the greatest risk. performance was obvious during Fran — cause of building failures. After Dennis and “With Fran, we saw the highest water it was the higher test.” Floyd, there were 968 erosion-threatened since Hazel in 1954,” says Spencer Rogers, Rogers explains that there are different structures in North Carolina, but none behind North Carolina Sea Grant coastal construction scales of nourishment projects, two of which the projects in Wrightsville, Carolina or Kure and erosion specialist and a longtime New are designed projects that require regular beaches.” Hanover County resident. “And here on maintenance. A third is sand disposal from Fran also tested building code changes Whiskey Creek at the Masonboro Boat Yard, navigation projects, where the goal is to find a for near-ocean buildings implemented in 1986. the marks from Hazel and Fran were very place for dredged materials. C o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 1 2
10 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org Courtesy National Weather Service 1 Jay Barnes 4
5 Richard Davis/NCDMF
2 Richard Davis/NCDMF Richard Davis/NCDMF 3 6 Courtesy Historic Yates Mill County Park
1. Beach nourishment projects have been used for erosion control on a number of North Carolina beaches, such as Nags Head in 2011. 2. Storm tide, in combination with crashing waves, destroyed beachfront dunes and overwashed many locations along the barrier islands of North Topsail Beach. 3. During Fran, dunes constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were destroyed, a design intended to protect the structures behind them. 4. The beach towns of New Hanover and Brunswick counties were evacuated on Sept. 5, 1996, several hours before Fran came ashore near Cape Fear. 5. In many neighborhoods in North Topsail Beach, Fran left no building untouched. 6. Hurricane Fran blew out the Yates Mill dam in Wake County and tore the mill shed away from the main building.
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 11 1 Jay Barnes
2 Spencer Rogers
4 Richard Davis/NCDMF
1. Elevating a home is one way to protect the structure from storm surge, waves and flooding. 2. Homes on North Topsail Beach that adhered to building codes implemented after 1986 weathered Fran fairly well. 3. Storm surge and waves from Fran exposed pilings in coastal homes. 4. Fran 3 Spencer Rogers brought water, sand and wind damage to these homes in Surf City.
The updated standards, which Sea Grant helped depth test that helped confirm that the surviving them off guard, just like Fran did,” Sprayberry develop, significantly improved structures’ post-1986 structures that sustained damage admits. “Preparedness is so important. resistance to storm surge and waves. were not built to code. Sometimes, after time goes by, we see people This was apparent on Topsail Island where Even with the work that’s been done in develop ‘hurricane amnesia.’” more than 97 percent of the newer buildings North Carolina since Fran — the money spent, I think that’s all the more reason to reflect constructed after the code changes survived the mitigation efforts, the removal of flood- — and learn from the storms of the past. the storm. Of the 205 buildings identified as prone structures and the preparedness drills This is the second in a series about built after 1986, only five were destroyed. In — we know the next great hurricane will test Hurricane Fran. Jay Barnes recalls the comparison, more than 180 older buildings us again. So what can we expect when the next immediate impact and aftereffects of were destroyed in the same area. Fran or Hazel strikes? the storm in the Summer 2016 issue of In addition, Sea Grant developed a piling- “I think for a lot of people, it will catch Coastwatch.
12 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org Expanding Minds and Restoring Marshes BY EMILY WOODWARD
• EMILY WOODWARD is the public relations coordinator with the University of Georgia Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant. She is a former communications specialist with the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve. Frank Sherman
• Many hands make light work of removing the seeds from Spartina alterniflora, or smooth cordgrass, for a program that introduces students to salt marsh restoration.
Armed with shovels and planting trays, 12 determined fifth- South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, the South Carolina Depart- graders make their way down to the water’s edge to plant smooth ment of Natural Resources or SCDNR, and Clemson University cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, at the living shoreline demonstration Cooperative Extension Service. Participation in South Carolina has site on Pivers Island. The members of Team Spartina, as they call grown from eight schools in 2011 to more than 40 in 2016. themselves, gently pull seedlings from the trays and say their “Students learn about the importance of the salt marsh goodbyes before planting them in clusters along the shoreline. ecosystem through the cultivation and transplanting of Spartina, These Beaufort Elementary School students grew the plants the dominant plant in southeastern salt marshes,” explains E.V. in their classroom as part of the From Seeds to Shoreline program, Bell, South Carolina Sea Grant marine education specialist, who designed to teach students about estuarine habitats and marsh coordinates the program. restoration. In 2014, South Carolina Sea Grant and SCDNR received a grant “The From Seeds to Shoreline program captured the students’ from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to pilot the program interest right away because they were able to get their hands dirty,” in North Carolina and Georgia. says Frank Sherman, the students’ science teacher. Bell worked with the N.C. Coastal Reserve and National “Learning about living shorelines and how they create more Estuarine Research Reserve, or NCNERR, and North Carolina Sea natural habitats was more interesting and meaningful for students Grant to bring the program to educators and students in the state. because of the hands-on component,” he adds. “Our goal at NCNERR is to help humans understand natural From Seeds to Shoreline engages students in grades K to 12 in systems, their connections to them and the benefits derived from restoring salt marshes. It began in 2011 as a partnership among the C o n t i n u e d
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 13 them,” says Lori Davis, NCNERR education coordinator. “From Seeds to Shoreline accomplishes this by offering students an opportunity to participate in hands- on science that not only addresses N.C. Essential Standards, which are statewide courses of study, but also strongly emphasizes environmental stewardship.” According to Terri Kirby Hathaway, North Carolina Sea Grant marine science educator, the program aligns well with all Courtesy NCNERR the National Sea Grant College Program’s focus areas: environmental literacy and workforce development, resilient communities and economies, healthy coastal ecosystems, and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. “We’re building students’ conservation ethic by having them be a part of restoring and taking care of coastal ecosystems that are important to North Carolina,” Hathaway says.
RESTORING SALT MARSHES “I picked Spartina alterniflora because of its role as a founding species in the salt Courtesy NCNERR marsh. Spartina, because of its root system, holds on to sediment and creates salt marsh,” Bell says. “Also, it is • TOP: At the very visible as students and parents are going to and from work and kickoff meeting, school. They see Spartina readily and they identify with it, even if they NOAA’s Carolyn don’t know its name or use.” Currin, standing According to the N.C. Division of Coastal Management, North right, discussed Carolina boasts more than 10,000 miles of estuarine shoreline, about her research 7,500 miles of which are salt marsh. These marshes provide a wealth on shoreline of benefits to our coast, from filtering pollutants and stabilizing stabilization. shorelines to serving as nurseries for commercially important fish. • BOTTOM Kelly Riley Spartina also is common in North Carolina’s intertidal marshes. LEFT: Lori It can tolerate tidal flooding, a range of salinities and varying water Davis, education coordinator for the N.C. Coastal Reserve and temperatures — important attributes for a plant that prefers a habitat National Estuarine Research Reserve, harvests Spartina seeds that requires these survival abilities. However, human activities and for the students to grow in their classrooms. • BOTTOM RIGHT: natural processes have introduced threats to salt marsh survival, Students from the Tiller School in Beaufort build a portable including sea-level rise, erosion and coastal development. greenhouse for growing the Spartina plants. Protecting and restoring this habitat can offset some of the negative effects that humans can have on the environment. In the The pilot project in North Carolina kicked off in summer 2015 From Seeds to Shoreline program, students learn about the impor- with educators from public and private schools. tance of salt marsh ecosystems, and actively contribute to all steps in Hathaway and Davis incorporated educational and scientific the restoration process — including harvesting, storing, germinating, perspectives during the teacher training, including a discussion on cultivating and planting Spartina along the coast. salt marsh ecology by Carolyn Currin, from NOAA’s National Centers Educators hope this experience will inspire students to be for Coastal Ocean Science in Beaufort. Participants also toured stewards of coastal and estuarine ecosystems. restoration sites on Pivers Island to see how Spartina stabilizes the “I want them to be interested in science and interested in the shoreline, reduces erosion, and offers habitat for birds, fish and world around them. We live on the coast, so the students can connect crustaceans. with living shorelines and shoreline restoration,” Sherman says. “Providing educators the opportunity to learn about research
14 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org happening right in our backyard from a local expert was an excellent way to convey just how important and impactful this program can be in North Carolina,” Davis says. Educators received step-by-step instructions and a small greenhouse for growing the plants, as well as ready-made interactive lessons on salt marsh ecosystems. “I am always working to provide authentic, real-world learning experiences. This was the perfect addition to our curriculum: an opportunity to have the kids working outside the classroom with a real audience working together to solve an authentic problem,” says Lisa Giacomelli, who teaches sixth- through eighth-grade science at the Wilmington Academy of Arts & Sciences. “Playing a small role in the protection of our salt marshes was a bonus.”
HANDLING SETBACKS Davis harvested Spartina seeds from Pivers Island, Masonboro Island Reserve and Rachel Carson Reserve for the participating schools. Masonboro Island and Rachel Carson reserves are protected and managed by the NCNERR for research, education and stewardship. The plan was for the students to plant the Spartina at these sites at the end of the academic year to restore marshes and stabilize shorelines. The students quickly discovered that growing the harvested seeds into seedlings was no easy feat. The first step involved storing the seeds. Wild Spartina goes through a dormant period after the seeds drop from the plant into the mud. To simulate this process in the classroom, students placed
Courtesy NCNERR seeds in a bag or container filled with water and stored them in a fridge for six to eight weeks. “Our challenge was that our refrigerator kept freezing our seeds into solid chunks of ice — and not once, several times over. It was the perfect example of how science doesn’t always work. It can sometimes be a one-step-forward, two-steps back process, but there is always something to be gained and it was important to allow our ‘failures’ to drive us,” Giacomelli says. Each time, Giacomelli and her students thawed the seeds and placed them back in the fridge. They eventually were able to plant the seeds but they didn’t grow very well. “Just because our results were not exactly what we expected, we still learned a lot and valued the experience much more than the end result. My kids learned that sometimes unexpected results can lead your work in an entirely new, often great, direction,” she adds. Sherman’s students at Beaufort Elementary experienced a different problem. “The greenhouse was missing pieces. This gave the students the opportunity to problem solve and come up with a solution. We
Frank Sherman talked about scientists in the field having to be creative in solving problems,” he recalls. • TOP: Stands of Spartina alterniflora serve as habitats and Following seed storage, the students moved to their next nurseries for animals in the tidal salt marshes of the Atlantic and challenge: germinating the seeds. As the seeds began to sprout, Gulf coasts. • BOTTOM: Although participants reported varied they were removed from the containers, planted in seed-starter success in growing the grass, teachers and students valued the trays and placed inside the greenhouses. hands-on experiences. C o n t i n u e d
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 15 Courtesy NCNERR Courtesy NCNERR
• ABOVE: This spring, students from Beaufort Elementary School replanted the marsh grass they grew in their classroom at a living shoreline in Pivers Island. • TOP RIGHT: Lori Davis explains that the program allowed the NCNERR to use their sites to educate children. • BOTTOM RIGHT: Frank Sherman, Beaufort Elementary School science teacher, noted that his students enjoyed having a long-term project to work on throughout the academic year.
Ideally, the greenhouses would keep the sprouting seeds warm and moist enough to survive through winter. Weather, however, threw an unexpected wrench in that plan. In February 2016, coastal North Carolina was hit with severe storms that brought heavy rainfall, flooding, high winds and even a tornado in Carteret County. The lightweight greenhouses, Courtesy NCNERR designed to be easily assembled and transported, were no match for 50-mile-per-hour winds. Carlin Patterson and her fourth-grade classmates at the Tiller grow the program and foster the next generation of estuarine School in Beaufort made it through the storage and germination stewards, one Spartina plant at a time. phases. They were in the midst of cultivating the seedlings when “We definitely know we had success in participation. They unforgiving weather rolled through. “I was a little disappointed did the process the best they could. Kids had ownership and when the storm destroyed our greenhouse and the plants inside. teachers had ownership,” Hathaway says. The hardest part was starting the process over,” Patterson says. “I think it was a huge success. Students got the opportunity Losing the plants after caring for them daily was a tough to see the process fully through,” Davis adds. “They were hurdle for the students, but according to Patterson, challenging able to hold the seeds, count the seeds, hear about shoreline moments like this made the project enjoyable. stabilization — no textbooks or presentations needed.” She plans They managed to restart the process using back-up seeds to work with the same teachers in the upcoming academic year from Davis. In the end, the students were able to grow a handful of to perfect the growing process. plants. The North Carolina program will go forward without EPA Participating educators noted that the hands-on learning funding, which covered the one-year pilot run. However, Bell experience was a success regardless of how many plants went in sees great opportunities emerging out of the strong partnership the ground at the end of the academic year. Teachers were able between Sea Grant and NCNERR. to connect students to their surroundings and instill a stronger “The stewardship message is constant,” Bell adds. “How you appreciation for natural ecosystems. get there is the exciting part. There can be a unique spin on how “I want my kids to really take in and think about the you can achieve that.” environment around them and ways they can contribute to Giacomelli already is looking forward to growing more the better care of the world around us. I also want them to be Spartina in the next academic year. empowered to know that they can make a difference, and they can “I would absolutely do this again,” she says, adding that she have an impact on our community in positive ways,” Giacomelli would get her students participating earlier, including collecting explains. seeds. “The seeds were their ‘babies’ and I think involving Davis and Hathaway plan to continue the program next them from the very beginning would make it all even more year, applying lessons learned from the pilot project so they can worthwhile.”
16 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org ACCOUNTING FOR THE BOUNTY OF THE SEA For several years, Scott Baker, North Carolina Sea Grant fisheries specialist, has given an update on the recreational and commercial fishing industries at the North Carolina Catch Summit and other venues. He outlines highlights of both industries, adding interesting facts about the state’s fisheries. Baker worked with Sea Grant communicators Diana Hackenburg and E-Ching Lee on this series of infographics to share the most recent data from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.
When it comes to seafood, North Carolina commercial fisheries fifth for the value of that catch out of the 15 Atlantic Coast states with provide lots of local options for our plates. And recreational anglers bring commercial fisheries. more choices to their own tables. Here, we share some interesting numbers NOAA also noted that North Carolina commercial fishermen landed to give you a little food for thought. the most diverse array of seafood along the East Coast in 2014. In 2015, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries data show the commercial The recreational industry tells the tale of two fisheries. fishing industry was valued at $104 million, landing 66 million pounds The smaller inshore and nearshore species comprise the most of fish. The recreational industry caught 11.6 million pounds, or 10.2 million numbers of fish. However, the offshore species landed by larger boats fish. Both sectors increased from 2014 totals. farther from shore collectively combine for the most weight. In the top 10 seafoods consumed in the United States as determined Consider wahoo and yellowfin tuna, both in the top five species by the National Fisheries Institute, a U.S. seafood trade association, there caught by weight. Wahoo and yellowfin, which are found offshore, can are five species — shrimp, tilapia, catfish, crab and clams — either caught or weigh as much as 150 and 400 pounds, respectively. Compare this with the grown in North Carolina. top five species by number — kingfish, pufferfish, spot, bluefish and pigfish However, up to 90 percent of seafood consumed in the United States — that are caught closer to shore and typically weigh less than 10 pounds is imported, according to www.fishwatch.gov, which is maintained by the per fish. National Marine Fisheries Service in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Bluefish, caught anywhere from the sounds to the nearshore reefs past Administration. About half of the imported seafood is wild-caught. the inlets, makes the top five in both pounds and number of fish landed. According to data from NMFS, North Carolina sits in the middle of the For some species — such as dolphinfish, also known as mahi mahi, pack for the volume and value of seafood it lands. and spotted sea trout — recreational anglers bring back more than In terms of pounds, North Carolina came in 15th out of 30 states commercial fishermen. nationwide that reported commercial landings in 2014 according to NMFS. Perhaps the data about North Carolina’s fisheries in the following Our state was 13th in dollar value of the seafood. pages will give you something to discuss over your next local seafood In the same year, North Carolina ranked sixth in pounds landed and dinner.
September 2016 UNC-SG-16-14 NORTH CAROLINA COMMERCIAL FISHERIES TOTAL HARVESTED IN 2015 $104 million 66 million lbs. Value +10.7% Landings +6.8%
Top 5 Species by Value % Changes from 2014
$29.5 million 31 million lbs. -1.6% Hard Blue Crabs Crab Pot $16.8 million 142,572 +19% Gill Net, total trips Shrimp, 9 million lbs. anchored Heads on By Hand Top 5 Gears Rakes by # of Trips Shrimp Trawl $13.8 million 0.6 million lbs.+203% Oysters, Meats Other Top Fisheries
$9 million Atlantic Croaker +10% by pounds harvested Summer 2.8 million lbs. #5 by value Flounder #10
Spiny Dogfish $5 million by pounds harvested 0.4 million lbs. +75% #3 by value Hard Clams, Meats #22
Data source: North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Annual Fisheries Bulletin, 2015. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousandth.
UNC-SG-16-14 September 2016 NORTH CAROLINA RECREATIONAL FISHERIES TOTAL HARVESTED IN 2015 11.6 million lbs. 10.2 million Landings +32% Number of Fish +6.8%
Top 5 Species by Weight % Changes from 2014
3.1 million lbs. 430,000 fish +137% Mahi mahi (Dolphinfish)
769,000 lbs. 912,000 fish -20% Bluefish 1:2
For every fish landed, 723,000 lbs. about two are released. 24,306 fish -17% Yellowfin Tuna
676,000 lbs. 16,000 fish +173% 4.6 Cobia million trips Trips by Type: 1. Private Boat 2. Manmade 535,000 lbs. 3. Beach/Bank 19,000 fish +66% 4. Charter Boat Wahoo
Data source: North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Annual Fisheries Bulletin, 2015. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousandth.
September 2016 UNC-SG-16-14 NORTH CAROLINA SEASONAL SEAFOOD: AUTUMN Sustainable harvests mean we will enjoy seafood today and in the future. North Carolina fisheries listed here are managed for long-term viability. For more information on eating local seafood, visit ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/seafood.
Stock Status: V ViableC Concern Other categories: Depleted, Recovering, Unknown For category definitions, visit portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/stock-status-categories-and-definitions.
: Top 3 counties MAPper species for commercial landings in 2015. Shrimp Farfantepenaeus sp. & V Litopenaeus setiferus Also known as pink shrimp; white shrimp/greentails; brown/spring shrimp • Peak harvest for shrimp is June through C October. • Harvest days, areas, means and methods, Oysters time period, quantity, and size may be Crassostrea virginica restricted. Also known as Atlantic, American, • Raw shrimp should have translucent shells with grayish-green or tan eastern, common or Virginia oyster coloration, a moist appearance, • Wild oysters are harvested from October to firm flesh and a mild scent. March with tongs, rakes or by hand in intertidal • Avoid shrimp with areas and shallow water along the coast. blackened edges • Farm-raised oysters are a good choice and or spots, except on available year-round. spot prawns; red • When purchasing shucked oysters, look for color along the plump, cream-colored meat that is free of shell shell edges; and bits and sand, and has a mild scent. mushy flesh. • Avoid oysters with shriveled, dark, dry meat; V shell or sand; and cloudy liquid. PomatomusBluefish saltatrix Also known as blues, snappers, choppers, Taylor blues • Bluefish can be harvested year-round, • Look for fresh-cut fish with firm, but the commercial season closes elastic flesh; translucent color; a moist when, and if, the quota is appearance; mild scent; and unexpired : When buying met. sell-by date. TIPseafood, avoid • Bluefish is a tender-fleshed • Avoid fish with mushy or bruised flesh, a products with a strong fish, high in omega-3 fatty milky color and dry or brown edges. acids, that is best eaten sour or “fishy” odor. fresh, or smoked to extend shelf life. North Carolina Availability Based on N.C. DMF commercial landing data from 2009 to 2013.
J F M A M J J A S O N D
UNC-SG-16-14 September 2016 SCOTCH BONNET
An Invasion of Naked Sea Butterflies BY TERRI KIRBY HATHAWAY
IN LATE JULY, BEACHGOERS WERE SURPRISED TO SEE NAKED SEA BUTTERFLIES ON THE NORTHERN OUTER BANKS, ALONG WITH LOWER 60-DEGREE F WATER. Clione limacina are shell-less mollusks. They are neither eggs nor jellies, and they do not sting. Also called sea angels, these animals are completely harmless. These distinctive Arctic creatures, related to snails and sea slugs, are tiny, translucent and roughly 1 to 2 inches long. They look like ice cream cones with small wings that help them swim. Their heads and tails are orange-red. The visceral mass — which contains the digestive, respiratory, excretory and reproductive organs — is a darker brownish-orange. Naked sea butterflies normally are found from the Arctic to Cape Kevin Raskoff/Hidden Ocean 2005 Expedition: NOAA Office of Exploration Hatteras, so North Carolina lies at the southern extent of their range. They thrive in water temperatures between 28 and 63 F. Even though they are small, these animals are voracious predators. They feed on shelled sea butterflies by catching them, holding onto the shells and pulling the animals out. In turn, naked sea butterflies are food for baleen whales such as humpbacks and bowheads. These delicate animals are protandrous hermaphrodites. Each individual contains male and female reproductive organs. They start as males and develop eggs as they grow. After the eggs are fertilized, the sea angels release gelatinous egg strings into the water column where they float until they hatch. The larvae have a small shell when they hatch, but it is cast off after a day or two. So, how did these beautiful tiny creatures invade our waters? After several days of strong winds from the west or southwest, the warm surface waters of the Outer Banks were blown offshore. Colder, nutrient-rich water located deeper below the surface rose up in its place — a process known as upwelling. The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service Jessica Eveleigh has more information on upwelling at oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/upwelling.html. When the cold water moves up from the deep to replace the warm surface water, it tends to bring interesting things — such as naked sea butterflies, salps or other cold-water creatures — with it. The ocean changes day to day. It is a very complex and dynamic system with many variables. This is why I am infatuated with the ocean and everything Patricia Thibodeau in it. How can you not be curious about, and connected to, something that is constantly changing and offering up new discoveries? Here’s to the invasion of the naked sea butterflies! What’s next?
• TOP: Clione sp., a shell-less mollusk known as the naked sea butterfly, appears mostly transparent with orange-red color at its head, tail and gut. • MIDDLE: Beachgoers on the Outer Banks were surprised by swarms of naked sea butterflies and cold sea water.• BOTTOM: Scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science collected these pteropods and environmental data during the sea angel bloom in North Carolina.
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 17 CURRENTS A COHESIVE STRATEGY: The North Carolina Watershed Stewardship Network BY DIANA HACKENBURG
A 3.3-SQUARE-MILE AREA MAY SEEM LIKE AN INCONSEQUENTIAL SPECK ON THE MAP COMPARED WITH NORTH CAROLINA’S 53,819 TOTAL SQUARE MILES. BUT FOR THE PEOPLE, PLANTS AND ANIMALS THAT LIVE THERE, IT’S MORE THAN JUST A TRACT OF LAND — IT’S HOME .
This particular patch of earth, also known communities — the triple-bottom-line approach the lowest response rate to the network’s original as the Black Creek watershed, once was home to water, as Perrin describes it. needs-assessment survey. for Christy Perrin, the sustainable water and “We started as a network for sharing local “We want to keep broadening and building communities coordinator for North Carolina water success stories,” Perrin notes. “Then, our network. The more people who join, the Sea Grant and the Water Resources Research seeing the needs of the groups we were trying to more power we will have to help support and Institute of the University of North Carolina serve, we created trainings and workshops.” start these local watershed efforts,” Perrin says. system. Like Perrin, we all live in a watershed: an Most recently, the network, which is led by She hopes to use her Sea Grant connections to area of land that drains all rainwater or snow to a steering committee with representatives from identify new coastal groups and individuals to one location, such as a river or lake. more than 20 organizations, has conducted bring into future collaborations. Our local watersheds sustain us. “Water is watershed planning workshops with partner “Having ties to the Watershed Stewardship the basis of everything: our health, fun activities, groups. “We tried to fill a gap in social resources Network creates more opportunities for economy, farmers and industries,” she explains. by helping people network and learn about the Sea Grant and WRRI to get feedback from Unfortunately, humans also interfere with the tools that already exist,” Perrin adds. communities on the research, education and health and sustainability of our watersheds by “The broad idea is to foster leadership training support needed to effectively address adding pollution, including runoff and erosion, that will result in greater protection of North their water-resource challenges,” notes Susan to the mix. Carolina’s watersheds,” explains Parkins. “We’ve White, executive director of both programs. Many people and organizations have gotten overwhelmingly positive feedback from “Network members will benefit from this input dedicated themselves to protecting the more the participants and hope to continue growing as Sea Grant and WRRI seek out partners than 1,700 watersheds that make up North the program.” and provide funding to directly address these Carolina. Their efforts could make a difference Workshop participants were introduced identified research and educational needs.” locally but, as Perrin observes, “it has to be a to the watershed game, an interactive tool Watershed groups can join the network group effort.” developed by Minnesota Sea Grant and by adding themselves to the interactive map at Several watershed professionals came adapted for North Carolina by Gloria Putnam, ncwatershednetwork.org. The map allows people together in 2011 to discuss how they could North Carolina Sea Grant’s coastal resources to find their watershed and connect with better support these local stewards. “That led to and communities specialist. information, such as water-quality conditions us cobbling together our resources to do a needs “The game provides an easy and fun and active organizations, specific to where they assessment, and from there, assembling a group way to educate others about the connections live, work or play. of people to tell us what we should do with the between water quality and various land uses,” The network also offers opportunities like results,” Perrin recalls. explains Putnam, who also serves as a member an e-newsletter for individuals to get involved. The result was the North Carolina of the network’s steering committee. “It also And anyone can help improve community health Watershed Stewardship Network, which Perrin demonstrates how private landowners and local and economic development by making decisions co-coordinates with Grant Parkins of the governments can work together and implement that protect their local watershed — their home. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s measures that make a difference.” “It has to happen locally. State agencies Institute for the Environment. The network has started exploring the can’t come in and do all the work. They just The network seeks to empower watershed idea of a statewide summit to continue sharing don’t have the resources, and people probably stewards to more effectively protect and lessons and to strengthen connections among wouldn’t like that anyway,” Perrin concludes. restore local waters, which are crucial to stewards. It especially is interested in working “People want to have control of their own local our environment, our economies and our with coastal plain communities, the region with destinies.”
18 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org CURRENTS
Sharing Water Moments In July, the National Sea Grant program — which is celebrating 50 years of research, education and outreach on coastal topics — focused on water resources. For five decades, Sea Grant programs and projects nationwide have addressed a range of water issues, including quality, quantity, and supply or oversupply, in the case of flooding. Throughout the month, North Carolina Sea Grant staff and friends shared their favorite waterway memory. Here are some highlights. Vanda Lewis Susan White
• Taking the ferry over to Ocracoke for a day of bike riding with my • Catching critters — crane fly larvae, crawfish and chiggers — at William B. husband. Umstead State Park in Raleigh. The next generation should start off outside — Vanda Lewis, North Carolina Sea GrantMariner’s Menu blogger exploring and learning about the world around us as a way to move us forward. Fresh water and salt water, urban and rural, keep looking! — Susan White, North Carolina Sea Grant executive director Lisa Schiavinato
• During my first couple of days in Hawai‘i, I kept waking up before dawn
because of the time difference. So, I would head down to the beach near Diana Hackenburg my hotel to watch the sun rise over Diamond Head State Monument in Honolulu. One morning, I saw a man with several rods staked into the sand • Being from the Midwest, I haven’t spent much time near the ocean, and I’m fishing for his family. He said he came to the beach a few mornings per week much more familiar with farming communities than fishing communities. I to catch fish as his family’s main protein source. It was cool to see someone have traveled to the North Carolina coast a few times since joining Sea Grant maintaining sustenance fishing as a cultural tradition, even amidst the glossy in March, and each trip I find myself more at home. It doesn’t hurt that small hotels and upscale boutiques of Waikiki Beach. fishing villages like Engelhard in Hyde County are so charming and peaceful— — Lisa Schiavinato, North Carolina Sea Grant especially at sunrise. Coastal law, policy and community development specialist — Diana Hackenburg, North Carolina Sea Grant science writer
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 19 CURRENTS Courtesy Jane Harrison
• White and still in February, the earth had been frozen for months. A thick sheet of ice covered Lake Winnebago. Trucks and trailers dotted its surface out to the horizon. I was enjoying a hot toddy in Jim and Linda’s Supper Club, a staple of traditional Wisconsin cuisine, waiting for the sturgeon to be speared and harvested by eager fishermen from the cold waters below. Courtesy Janna Sasser That one drink gave me the courage to attempt to hold one of the giant, prehistoric fish at the weigh-in station. 89 pounds? 96? I don’t remember • Growing up, spending summers at my grandparents’ beach house at now. But I did need help from the fisherman who caught it. That day I Ocean Isle: The most pressing concerns were whether there was enough fish witnessed an ancient practice undertaken by a hearty people in a watershed to fry for dinner and where the bug spray got stashed. that supports the largest self-sustained lake sturgeon population in the — Janna Sasser, North Carolina Sea Grant communicator, world. Wow. pictured here with her mother — Jane Harrison, North Carolina Sea Grant coastal economist and formerly with University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute Mike Voiland
• My watershed moment came in 1963 when I was 13 years old. While walking in the early morning with my fishing rod along a stretch of the Long
Jessica Whitehead Island Sound shoreline in the Town of Riverhead, New York, I cast a surface plug just to the right side of this big rock (a glacial erratic). A swirl appeared • This was taken in Engelhard, North Carolina, at the entrance of Far Creek and a fish grabbed the lure. A short time later, I landed a 6-pound striped on the afternoon of Feb. 21, 2015, after almost two full days of subfreezing bass — my first ever! Being so very happy and in awe of the experience, I temperatures, just as the creek entrance was beginning to thaw. pledged that day to pursue a career in natural resources. And I am glad to — Jessica Whitehead, North Carolina Sea Grant say I ultimately did that! coastal community hazards adaptation specialist — Mike Voiland, former North Carolina Sea Grant executive director
20 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org PEOPLE AND PLACES
Colorful cutouts help demonstrate the oyster life cycle in an animated video created just for North Carolina Sea Grant’s first story map. Jenny Holder Story Map Reveals Oyster Treasures BY DIANA HACKENBURG
L IFE IS A JOURNEY, NOT A Holder started as an archaeology student “Dave has done some nice story maps about the DESTINATION. BUT GETTING and chose to pursue a graduate degree in GIS St. Louis River estuary near Duluth, Minnesota, to FROM POINT A TO POINT B IS at North Carolina State University as a way to engage local community members around issues EASIER NOW THAN EVER WITH explain science artistically through mapping. of water quality and access,” Harrison explains. THE PROFUSION OF TECHNOLOGY Looking for a full-time job, she attended a career Unlike traditional paper maps, story maps IN TODAY’S WORLD. fair where she was introduced to Jane Harrison combine spatial information with text, pictures “Everyone and their brother has a and the fascinating world of oysters. and multimedia through an online, interactive smartphone,” says Jenny Holder, a geographic Harrison, coastal economics specialist platform, “engaging people because they have a information system, or GIS, analyst and with North Carolina Sea Grant, got the idea of role to play,” she adds. developer. “What they don’t realize is when using story maps to explain coastal restoration “Many coastal restoration activities take you pick up your phone, you are holding GIS activities from former co-worker David Hart, place under the water, so unless you know where technology.” extension director for Wisconsin Sea Grant. C o n t i n u e d
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 21 PEOPLE AND PLACES
to look and own a dive suit or a boat, you would never know what’s happening. A story map makes efforts like oyster reef restoration visible to people,” Harrison says. Wanting to narrow her focus for this first project, Harrison decided to limit the story map to oyster aquaculture and oyster reef restoration because of building interest across the state. A keystone species, oysters provide multiple benefits: they filter and clean water, provide essential habitat for aquatic animals, and support a fishery with deep ties to North Carolina’s past, present and future. Holder liked the oyster idea, and with funding from Sea Grant, the pair set off on a DEH Photography quest to crack open the secret life of oysters.
CHARTING THE COURSE With a seed of an idea rolling around in their heads, Harrison and Holder realized that before any mapping could take place, they needed to learn more about oysters. “I didn’t know anything about oysters and oyster history,” Holder reveals. “I didn’t really eat them either,” she adds, a lack of exposure and taste experiences shared by Harrison. In their research, they traveled to Sea Level, a small community on the banks of Core Sound, where they visited Millpoint Aquaculture, the only commercial oyster hatchery in the state. The tour concluded with a special treat neither Jane Harrison anticipated: a bag of oysters fresh out of the
• TOP: Jay Styron of Carolina Mariculture Co., one of the businesses featured in the story Jane Harrison map, sorts through oysters. • MIDDLE:The University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Shellfish Research Hatchery provides research on oyster restoration and culture.• BOTTOM: Despite their parasitic nature, oyster pea crabs are considered a delicacy and a good-luck charm by many.
crab, they began “It’s easier to start with someone else’s searching for data dataset and not reinvent the wheel,” Holder on coastal water adds. “We were hoping to do more complex quality, habitat analyses but did not find enough existing data, and current oyster confirming the need for this project.” leases. Harrison To fill at least one gap, Holder created a water. “We watched YouTube videos to learn quickly learned that not all data are created geographic dataset of all the markets selling how to shuck, cook and eat them,” Harrison equally. “We had to consider if it was up-to- local oysters by compiling different lists and remembers. “I found a tiny, orange soft-shell date, where it came from and if it could be calling each market. “Having lived in North crab in one of my oysters and ate it, which is represented spatially. Data availability drove Carolina my whole life, from the mountains to supposedly good luck.” some of the products that ended up in the final more recently by the sea, it was fun to interact Bellies full and blessed by an oyster pea map,” she explains. with my fellow North Carolinians,” she recounts.
22 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org PEOPLE AND PLACES
aquaculture, Harrison adds. The story map made its debut with students during an aquaculture and seafood career day at Mattamuskeet Early College High School in Hyde County. Students visited information tables manned by Sea Grant and partner organizations, connecting on many levels with their community’s long-established shellfish industry. Learn more about the event at go.ncsu.edu/042116. Even now that the oyster story map is public, Holder emphasizes that it is a living document. “Unlike a paper map, you can update the data in a story map and it can grow over time. And being on the internet lets someone share it more easily with their networks through
Diana Hackenburg social media.”
• TOP: Jenny Holder, right, helps a student at Mattamuskeet Early College High School navigate the oyster story map. • RIGHT: The map covers the past, present and future of oysters in North Carolina.
“I was surprised by how many markets “We wanted to reach have oysters year-round — local oysters in farmers, fishermen, young season and Virginia oysters out of season,” people — and let them know Holder admits. “There is a huge market here for they don’t need to leave local oysters that the state is not yet tapping.” their coastal communities In the summer, local aquacultured oysters are to find work,” Holder snatched up by restaurants. says. The map links this The Story of North Carolina Oysters
Holder and Harrison pared down unique coastal resource From their findings to the most essential ideas for with sustainable forms of understanding the state of oysters in North employment. For example, Carolina. They combined the more traditional aspiring entrepreneurs can use the map to learn Holder hopes that projects like this will spatial data with photos, descriptive text and more about oyster aquaculture businesses and open people up to the creative potential of GIS. video of the oyster life cycle. find additional resources to help them join the Crafting an effective story map is a science and “I love the video about the oyster life industry. an art; it is as much about the data as it is about cycle because it’s just so fun,” Harrison notes. “Market demand for cultured oysters in the visuals and layout. The oyster cutouts used in the video became North Carolina remains strong and is growing,” Harrison views story maps as a potential a theme within the map and added a physical says Chuck Weirich, Sea Grant aquaculture tool for scientists of all stripes. “I would element to this largely virtual project. marine specialist. “We need more tools like encourage researchers to create more gateways All of these components went into an this that showcase oyster aquaculture as a to their work. If we want people to understand online mapping platform, where Holder viable endeavor for folks, including fishermen the research we are doing and care about it, molded them into a singular story map. “As the looking to diversify their incomes, as well as new we need to consider public-friendly forms of mapmaker, I can dictate how a user sees the entrepreneurs.” engagement. Story maps are one way to do information,” Holder says. After viewing the map, the next step that,” she says. for a teacher might be to contact Sea Grant “He was a bold man that first ate an SHARING THE TREASURE — specifically marine educator Terri Kirby oyster,” wrote Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s The completed oyster story map, now Hathaway — about associated lesson plans Travels, on the role of courage in making great available at go.ncsu.edu/oystermap, weaves together under development. The story map could serve discoveries. At least now, those exploring the history, science, policy and dinner. Everyone as a resource for creating a high-school level world of oysters have a modern map for finding from seafood lovers to students and policy aquaculture curriculum, further encouraging their way. makers to aquaculturists, can learn something students to enroll in a community college Discover the wild and wonderful story of North new with a few clicks of a mouse. or university degree program in marine Carolina’s oysters at ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/oysters.
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 23 NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK Courtesy NOAA Teacher at Sea Program
• LEF T: This close-up photo shows a larval American eel, which hatches in the eerily calm Sargasso Sea near Bermuda. • MIDDLE: Sensing fresh water nearby, larvae transform to glass eels. They have been documented traveling over land and across dams, piling up their bodies by the millions to climb over obstacles.• RIGHT: As glass eels work their way upstream, they gain color and are known as elvers. The Quiet Decline of the Humble Eel BY JANNA SASSER
Janna Sasser recently graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in communication and a minor in journalism.
STANDING AT THE END OF A or ASMFC, in 2012 noted that the American eel population over time. DOCK ON THE NEUSE RIVER, A stock was depleted in United States waters after “There seems to be a lot of disagreement YOUNG JOHN FEAR WOULD CAST, drastic declines in recent decades. about the status of this species,” he explains. WAIT FOR A BITE, AND SOON FEEL “Despite population declines along the “A literature search on the demographics of THE THRILLING TUG AT THE END Atlantic Coast, there are no demographic rates American eels along the Atlantic Coast reveals OF THE LINE . and surprisingly little basic demographic data almost no information on a species that’s Reeling in the olive, snake-like body — its on American eel populations for the southeast historically been very important — and now, by skin thick and slimy — he’d plop the young eel in United States,” notes Paul Rudershausen, a most accounts, on a dramatic decline.” a bucket, and cast again. doctoral candidate at North Carolina State The goal of the project, Buckel notes, “I could catch them left and right,” he University’s Center for Marine Sciences and is to relate demographic rates with different recalls. “I had no idea what they were, but I knew Technology, or CMAST. attributes of urbanization. “For example, if one they had teeth.” With funding from Sea Grant, creek is more urbanized than another, we can Today, Fear is an estuarine biogeochemist Rudershausen is working with project lead compare abundance and survival rates.” and North Carolina Sea Grant deputy director Jeffrey Buckel, a fisheries biologist at CMAST, to In 2015, the team began sampling for — and the chances of catching an American eel, study the stock status of eels in North Carolina juvenile eels in the tidal creeks of Carteret Anguilla rostrata, are slim. The rivers and streams tidal creeks. County. Using six different sites, they are of eastern North America, once coursing with Juvenile American eels are commonly studying habitat factors that may affect the spring runs of eels, now are nearing historically found in estuarine regions, some moving inland survival rate of American eels. low levels of these fish. to settle in freshwater streams, and others “The decline of American eel populations making homes in brackish or saltwater habitats. SLIPPERY BUSINESS raises a concern about the health of our tidal Once establishing a home range, they may live In an era when the chromosomes of many creek habitats,” Fear adds. undisturbed in forgotten pools for decades. organisms are mapped and sequenced, much The most recent stock assessment by the Rudershausen is interested in the about the biology and behaviors of American Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, demographic trends of eels — changes in the eel eels remains a mystery.
24 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK Courtesy NOAA Teacher at Sea Program Courtesy NOAA Teacher at Sea Program
• LEF T: This close-up photo shows a larval American eel, which hatches in the eerily calm Sargasso Sea near Bermuda. • MIDDLE: Sensing fresh water nearby, larvae transform to glass eels. They have been documented traveling over land and across dams, piling up their bodies by the millions to climb over obstacles.• RIGHT: As glass eels work their way upstream, they gain color and are known as elvers.
There are a few things known about eels. coming from the same grounds, and returning “They follow the Gulf Stream to the All eels found in eastern North America and there to spawn — American eels are considered Sargasso,” Fenske explains. “Once there, they in Europe hatch in the Sargasso Sea. They are to be one “stock.” release thousands of eggs for the males to carried by ocean currents to the mouths of The Sargasso Sea is strange and unique fertilize, and then die from exhaustion and rivers, where they begin their journey upstream. in itself. Lying deep within the Atlantic near starvation.” Most of their life is spent inhabiting creeks and Bermuda, it’s the only sea with no land border. Though spawning activity remains rivers until eventually returning to the Sargasso, Instead, its body of encircling currents is defined undocumented, larval eels — flat, transparent where they lay eggs and die. by other major ocean currents, such as the Gulf and the shape of a willow leaf — are found This is the consensus among biologists and Stream to the west. floating and swimming in these waters for naturalists today, although no adult eel had ever With no coastline, the waters are uncannily months before passively drifting with the ocean been found swimming, reproducing or dying in calm, and remain warmer and saltier than currents, riding the Gulf Stream to the eastern the Sargasso Sea until 2015. That year, a team surrounding waters. And it is vast. The Sargasso coast of the Americas. of researchers in Canada successfully tracked Sea stretches approximately 700 miles east At this stage, the leptocephali, or larval one adult eel from the coast of Nova Scotia to to west and 2,000 miles north to south, and eels, are barely more than a thin layer of muscle the northern limit of the spawning area in the is canopied by large, floating mats of golden housing a clear, jelly-like substance. They have a Sargasso, near Bermuda. Sargassum seaweed. simple tube gut and a small, pointed head with “That’s the first actual documentation teeth. of an adult eel making the trip,” Buckel notes. “Eels are no where in the “When they sense fresh water close by, “Until then, everyone just speculated that’s World better, or more plentiful, the eels metamorphose and begin actively what happened because that’s where you find than in Carolina.” swimming toward the coast,” Fenske explains. American eel larvae, so they knew adults had to — John Lawson, in his travel account Juvenile glass eels — sinuous ribbons merely be there.” A New Voyage to Carolina, after arriving in the inches long and clear as glass — reach the coast Several dozen others tagged were never Carolinas in 1700 from England after approximately a year, swarming into the documented beyond the Gulf Stream. mouths of estuaries by the millions. “American eels are catadromous, meaning American eels journey thousands of miles Upon arriving, they develop brown they hatch in the ocean, mature in fresh water to spawn in these waters, retracing the route pigmentation, a camouflage in the murky and migrate back to the ocean to spawn,” they took as larvae. In preparation for the water, and are known as elvers. “They continue explains Thomas Fenske, curator of fish and return journey, sexually mature females gorge to develop slowly, their changes occurring as invertebrates at the North Carolina Museum of themselves, Fenske notes, changing color from salinity decreases,” Fenske explains. Natural Sciences. muddy yellow-green to dark green on top and The young eels spend the majority of The species extends from Greenland to snow white on their bellies. their life inhabiting inland streams, ponds and northern South America, Rudershausen notes. Once reaching estuarine waters, the first rivers as they mature. They continue upstream “All adult eels from those freshwater rivers go to leg of their journey completed, they never eat — sometimes moving as far inland as the the Sargasso Sea to spawn,” he says. Because again. Their pupils expand and turn blue, adapt- Mississippi River — until something tells them of this unique cycle — with every American eel ing to new sight for the depths of the sea. C o n t i n u e d
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 25 NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK Courtesy Freshwater and Marine Image Bank Gloria Putnam
• TOP LEFT: The Sargasso Sea has a reputation for being the demise of sailors. With little wind, vessels lay stagnant for days, leading to historical accounts of ships found drifting and derelict with no crew on board. • BOTTOM LEFT: One sampling site, Webb Creek, runs through Morehead City’s prized canal-front residential areas. • RIGHT: Sigmund Freud’s first job as a scientific researcher was to locate the male eel’s reproductive organs — as their reproductive behaviors were a heated question for the era’s scientific community.
they’ve reached home. They may live there up to Research Symposium, titled Investments and Sea Grant coastal resources and communities 30 years, Buckel notes, burrowed under stones Opportunities. specialist. “They are complex, ever-changing and logs by day, and surfacing to roam and feed “Our stakeholders identified particular systems, and on low tides, can be a harsh place at night. areas of the state’s coastal needs,” Fear recalls. for humans,” she adds, “yet they provide homes This period spent in freshwater and “This project ranked high and fit into one of to unique species that are becoming scarce.” estuarine environments is crucial for the those categories — tidal creek systems.” maturing eel. It will transform from an elver These creeks provide pathways for “... they originate in what are — merely inches long and barely pigmented American eels as they journey from their natal called the entrails of the earth, — to a yellow eel, growing up to 3 feet and ocean waters. For some, the creeks are home which are found spontaneously becoming mottled yellow and olive. It will stay until making their return trip. in mud and moist earth. ... here, feeding, growing, swelling and darkening Tidal creeks begin in upland areas and In certain marshy pools, after until reaching sexual maturity. Then it heads drain into larger creeks, which connect to the water has been completely downstream, ready to return to its spawning estuaries and the ocean. They are links between drawn off and the mud scraped grounds. land and estuary, transporting organisms and out, they reappear when there nutrients with flooding and ebbing tides. They has been a shower of rain.” GETTING TO THE BOTTOM also transport pollutants. — Aristotle, History of Animals, 350 B.C. OF TIDAL CREEKS “Often, upper portions on headwaters The research in Carteret County’s of tidal creeks are underappreciated, but These landscapes are highly prone to tidal creeks stems from Sea Grant’s 2014 important to consider,” notes Gloria Putnam, degradation due to their proximity to the
26 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK Gloria Putnam Gloria Putnam Gloria Putnam Jeffery Merrell Jeffery Merrell
• TOP LEFT: Baited minnow traps were set in several locations throughout each creek for 24-hour cycles to target nocturnal, yellow-phase eels. • BOTTOM LEFT: Paul Rudershausen retrieves a trap from Pelletier West Creek. • TOP RIGHT: Eels were anesthetized, measured, weighed and tagged before being released at the same location as capture.• BOTTOM RIGHT: Rudershausen inserts a tagging device into the eel’s abdominal cavity. A transceiver system can then detect the presence of tagged individuals to estimate survival rates.
uplands they drain. “People want to develop developed highways. These creeks, found in RELATED EEL RESEARCH on or around the water, so these systems are the midst of Morehead City’s industrialized North Carolina Sea Grant has supported often moderately to highly impacted,” Putnam areas, are particularly vulnerable to habitat other eel research, including: explains. degradation, with minimal vegetation to buffer • Roger Rulifson of East Carolina University Putnam joined Rudershausen and Buckel the effects of runoff from nearby development. collected American eel sex ratio and relative during a sampling trip in April. “I was surprised A few sites, however, have relatively natural abundance data from Lake Mattamuskeet to learn eels would migrate up to and live in habitats, bounded by salt marsh with nearby and the Pamlico Sound in 2004. Research results informed management strategies at these shallow, narrow portions of creeks — areas vegetated areas. Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, and that many might consider useless,” she recalls. “We’re sampling across a range of develop- raised local residents’ awareness of the Twice monthly, the team deploys baited ment impacts that are being experienced along American eel stock’s potential decline. minnow traps in each of the creeks. Captured the Carolina coastline,” Rudershausen says. • In 1999, a UNCW team studied American eels are anesthetized, measured and weighed And that’s by design, Buckel adds. “Our eels in the Cape Fear River, and found that the before being tagged with a transponder sampling sites provide a determination of what parasite Anguillicolo crassus may be responsible for device. Transceiver systems installed within the habitat types are important to yellow-phase declines in the Cape Fear River population. creeks detect the tags, and from the data, the eels,” he notes. • A 1997 study led by Wesley Patrick of researchers can estimate daily survival rates of “At the end of the project, we’ll be able the University of North Carolina Wilmington the tagged eels. to test what habitat factors are important investigated occurrences of the parasite Several of the creeks run through to juvenile eels’ presence or absence at each Anguillicolo crassus in American eels in North residential neighborhoods, or hide behind busy, site.” Carolina.
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 27 SEACURRENTS SCIENCE Courtesy NOAA Tom Crawford Courtesy Town of Nags Head Courtesy Hyde County Rhett Register Rick Sullivan Jessica Whitehead
28 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org SEA SCIENCE Sharing
Courtesy Town of Nags Head Perspectives on Community Adaptations Whitehead Joins Panel for Sustained National Climate Assessment BY KATIE MOSHER Courtesy NOAA GROWING UP IN CHARLESTON, were seeing on The Weather Channel,” she recalls. SOUTH CAROLINA, JESSICA “I didn’t have to deal with the immediate WHITEHEAD GAINED PERSONAL aftermath of living with no power, but my future PERSPECTIVES ABOUT NATURAL husband did. I also watched Mom get our DISASTERS. “I LEARNED ABOUT townhouse repaired, long distance, around our DISASTER RESILIENCE THE HARD renters, and in enough time for us to return back WAY,” SHE NOTES. home after she finished her degree.” When Hurricane Hugo hit the city in Whitehead also learned about storm- September 1989, Whitehead was in Illinois related flooding in low-lying areas even from for her mother’s graduate program. That unnamed storms. “Also, as a teenager, I ended meant she had power. “That night was my up with my car parked in our high school’s first ‘forecasting’ experience. It was the pre- flooded student lot downtown more times than internet days, so we were on the phone with our I probably should admit.” Charleston neighbors all night, relaying what we C o n t i n u e d
• FIRST ROW, LEFT: Because she was in another state when Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston, Jessica Whitehead had power and spent hours offering phone updates to S.C. friends regarding storm damage, including to bridges and roads. MIDDLE: Whitehead continues to reflect a regional focus, with a current project studying infrastructure and public health in Charleston, South Carolina (pictured), and Morehead City, North Carolina. RIGHT:Now with North Carolina Sea Grant, Whitehead works with communities such as Nags Head to plan to deal with flooding from a variety of reasons.• SECOND ROW, LEFT: Kristen Downs On the low-lying Hyde County mainland, residents must cope with flooding even in unnamed storms. MIDDLE: The Atlantic Ocean sustains Nags Head’s tourism economy, but also brings significant planning challenges. RIGHT: Hugo made landfall in South Carolina, but its path brought damage through the state as well as into Charlotte, North Carolina.• THIRD ROW, LEF T: Swan Quarter in Hyde County has a fishing harbor as well as an extensive dike system to limit flooding from the Pamlico Sound. RIGHT: A North Carolina Sea Grant team also has been working with Hyde County farmers, as agriculture and forestry are key economic sectors. • FOURTH ROW, LEFT: Whitehead has worked with the Town of Plymouth, where the Roanoke River is a gem in terms of nature and history, but also presents challenges from frequent flooding. MIDDLE: As part of a video about flood response, Daniel Brinn, of Hyde Soil and Water Conservation District, explains a tide gate system to manage water in agricultural areas. RIGHT: Whitehead, front row, far right, has had leadership roles in the national Sea Grant Climate Network since it was organized in 2009. Courtesy South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 29 SEA SCIENCE Rhett Register Courtesy Town of Nags Head Rick Sullivan Rick Sullivan
• FIRST ROW, LEFT: Nags Head leaders asked Sea Grant to facilitate meetings for residents and officials to consider current challenges and consequences, along with new visions and planning. RIGHT: The Nags Head project includes follow-up sessions with planner Holly White, right, and others to review input from community meetings.• SECOND ROW, LEFT: Kris Cahoon Noble, now Hyde County’s assistant manager, shows Whitehead historic deeds that reflect names of families still part of the community. RIGHT: Brinn and Whitehead check maps, which are critical to planning, resilience and flood insurance rates. Check out the full video atgo.ncsu.edu/resiliencemap .
At the time, student parking was along distinguished experts in this field,” she notes. flood insurance rates,”Whitehead explains. Fishburne Street, which would flood if it rained The national Sea Grant Climate Network Those efforts have been in partnership with at high tide. “We couldn’t usually just go move nominated Whitehead, who co-chairs that Georgia Sea Grant and local officials. our cars,” she recounts. “Luckily, later when I group. In Nags Head, town officials sought North lived on campus at the College of Charleston, it “A strength that I bring is my experience Carolina Sea Grant’s help to identify how to was easier to keep on top of the forecasts and in helping citizens in the coastal Carolinas maintain infrastructure over the next 30 years, go move my car to an upper level of a parking use information about weather and climate particularly water and septic systems, and garage when necessary.” to make better decisions about their lives and roads. Along with Whitehead, Lisa Schiavinato, Those experiences, combined with livelihoods,” she adds. Sea Grant’s coastal law, policy and community graduate studies at Pennsylvania State Jack Thigpen, North Carolina Sea Grant development specialist, has provided expertise University, have served her well as North extension director, agrees. “Jess will bring the to the town as well. Carolina Sea Grant’s coastal communities reality of working with communities trying to Hyde County and Nags Head officials hazards adaptation specialist, looking at respond to challenges with aging infrastructure asked to channel discussions using the weather and climate challenges in the coastal but limited tax revenues, as well as ones looking Vulnerability, Consequences and Adaptation region. at growth in terms of redevelopment on barrier Planning Scenarios process. Known as VCAPS, Whitehead now brings her integrated islands.” the process uses trained facilitators to lead perspective to duties as a member of the new Recent projects include working with community meetings that produce extensive federal Advisory Committee for the Sustained Hyde County, where its low-lying mainland diagrams of existing and anticipated hazards. National Climate Assessment. The National has an economy focused on agriculture, along “One of the items that came out of Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with fishing and forestry. “We have looked at our sessions with Hyde County was getting recently announced the panel, which holds its communities’ vulnerabilities to flooding and better discounts on flood insurance through first meeting in mid-September. storm surge — and options to reduce damages the Community Rating System,” Whitehead “I am honored to serve with such that also help Hyde County earn discounted explains.
30 coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org SEA SCIENCE
FROM OUR PARTNERS: “It’s been great to work with them and Georgia Sea Grant to learn about specific steps NOAA NAMES CLIMATE ADVISORS they can take to become more flood resilient — The 15 members of the new federal Advisory Committee for the Sustained National and get more CRS points. If they earn enough Climate Assessment will advise the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on points, they get additional discounts on flood sustained climate assessment activities and products, including engagement of stakeholders. insurance for everyone in the county with a federal flood insurance policy.” NOAA will provide the committee’s advice to the White House Office of Science and Overall, VCAPS sessions have helped 17 Technology Policy, or OSTP, for use by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. USGCRP communities along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts is a confederation of the research arms of 13 federal departments and agencies that carry out better understand weather and climate hazards, research, and develop and maintain capabilities to support the nation’s understanding of and their communities’ vulnerabilities to these hazards, and adaptation options that could response to global changes. increase community resilience. Whitehead is a In implementing a Sustained National Climate Assessment process, USGCRP seeks co-creator of the process, along with colleagues to facilitate continuous and transparent participation of scientists and stakeholders across at the Social and Environmental Research regions and sectors. That will enable new information and insights to be included as they Institute and the Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments Program, or CISA. emerge, NOAA notes. “We value Jessica’s ability to listen to The advisory committee’s members represent varied viewpoints, geographic regions of community concerns and encourage innovative the country and diverse sectors of U.S. society. Members include experts in physical and social solutions, while adding a scientific perspective,” sciences, communication, education and other relevant topics. The panel members are: says Susan White, North Carolina Sea Grant executive director. “In addition, she offers • Susan Avery, president emerita, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution leadership in training others to facilitate such • Jan Dell, vice president for strategic development, AECOM important discussions.” • Paul Fleming, climate resiliency group manager, Seattle Public Utilities Whitehead has worked not only with • Jerry Melillo, distinguished scientist and director emeritus, The Ecosystems Center, communities in the Carolinas, but also in Maryland, Georgia and Maine, and regularly Marine Biological Laboratory provides VCAPS training at regional and • Michael Prather, professor of earth system science, University of California, Irvine national meetings. • Maxine Burkett, professor of law, University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson School In North Carolina, she works closely of Law with the State Climate Office, based at NC State University, and with varied state and • Riley Dunlap, Regents professor of sociology and Dresser professor, Oklahoma State regional programs that have funding from the University U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department • Kim Knowlton, senior scientist, Science Center deputy director, Natural Resources of Agriculture, and the federal Environmental Defense Council; and assistant clinical professor, Columbia University Mailman School of Protection Agency, as well as NOAA. “We can learn from each other’s demonstration projects, Public Health find synergies in our related efforts and avoid • Richard Moss, senior scientist, Joint Global Change Research Institute duplication,” Whitehead notes. • Jessica Whitehead, coastal communities hazards adaptation specialist, North Carolina Whitehead earned her bachelor’s degree Sea Grant in physics from the College of Charleston. At Penn State, she earned her masters’ degree • Ann Marie Chischilly, executive director, Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, in meteorology and her Ph.D. in geography. Northern Arizona University Her doctoral dissertation tied together her • Lucas Joppa, lead environmental scientist, Microsoft Research backgrounds in both physical and social science • Maria Carmen Lemos, professor, University of Michigan by focusing on building scenarios to determine the capacities of small drinking-water utilities to • Kristen Poppleton, director of education, Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy adapt to climate change. • Daniel Zarrilli, senior director of climate policy and programs, and chief resilience Prior to moving to North Carolina Sea officer, New York City Office of the Mayor Grant’s headquarters at NC State, she was the NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan, in consultation with OSTP Director John regional climate extension specialist for the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, North Holdren, made the appointments. Sullivan also serves as federal undersecretary of commerce Carolina Sea Grant and CISA. for oceans and atmosphere.
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 31 Vanda Lewis 32 MARINER’S coastwatch
| autumn 2016 2016 autumn MENU | www.ncseagrant.org
• Grilled Tuna with Lemon Mayonnaise • Buttery Shrimp • Southern-Fried Oysters MARINER’S MENU A Little of This, A Little of That: Variety is the Spice of Seafood
SEAFOOD IS KNOWN FOR Shrimp, oysters and tuna are readily • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground ITS FLEXIBILITY, ALLOWING available in North Carolina seafood white pepper EVERYONE FROM AMATEURS markets in autumn, so these recipes are • 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley TO EXECUTIVE CHEFS TO GET not only delicious, but they’re seasonal Shell and devein shrimp. Melt CREATIVE IN THE KITCHEN. too. Whether your personal tastes skew margarine in large skillet. Add garlic, salt It can be boiled, broiled, baked, down-home and southern-fried, or light and pepper and mix well. Stir in parsley. sautéed, fried or grilled. No wonder then and buttery, these recipes are sure to leave Add shrimp to hot mixture and sauté on when you combine the myriad of delicious you satisfied. one side until done, about 2 to 3 minutes. preparation techniques with a wide Find these recipes and more in Turn and repeat on other side. Serves selection of fresh ingredients, the results Mariner’s Menu: 30 Years of Fresh Seafood about 15. are magical. Ideas by Joyce Taylor. Order a copy from Deep-fried foods are a classic in ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/bookstore or pick up GRILLED TUNA WITH the South, and for several reasons. at your local bookstore. LEMON MAYONNAISE Fried oysters retain a nice moisture that Visit the Mariner’s Menu blog at • 4 tuna steaks, about 1 inch thick complements the crunch of breading. A marinersmenu.org for more recipes and • 1/4 cup vegetable oil plate of fried oysters might be a suitable photos. • salt replacement for fried chicken at football Information on seasonal seafood can • freshly ground black pepper season’s first big-screen viewing. be found at ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/seafood. Prepare Lemon Mayonnaise and set For those not as interested in fried — Emily White aside. finger foods, buttery shrimp could be Brush steaks with oil and sprinkle what the mariner ordered. Garlic, parsley, SOUTHERN-FRIED OYSTERS with salt and pepper. Grill about 4 inches butter and shrimp sizzling in the pan fill • 1 pint shucked oysters, from coals until done on one side, about the kitchen with a nice aroma. Try pairing standard or select 6 to 7 minutes. Turn and repeat on other these shrimp with something green and • Bisquick (or similar baking mix) side. Spread with Lemon Mayonnaise. flavorful, such as collards. This classic dish • oil for deep frying Serves 4. will draw everyone to the table with smiles Drain oysters and pat dry. Roll in on their faces. baking mix. Deep fry in preheated 375 Lemon Mayonnaise Those seeking their next Sunday F oil until golden brown, about 4 to 5 • 1 cup mayonnaise cookout or dinner party entrée should look minutes. Drain on paper towels. Serves 4 • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice no further than grilled tuna with lemon to 6. • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper mayonnaise. The beautiful grill marks on • 1/8 teaspoon salt the fish are sure to impress guests. The rich BUTTERY SHRIMP • 3 tablespoons lemon zest flavors of mayonnaise are enhanced by the • 1 pound large shrimp In small bowl, combine mayonnaise, tang of lemon. A simple salad or loaded • 1/4 cup margarine or butter juice, cayenne, salt and zest. Set aside baked potato is all that’s needed to turn • 1 teaspoon pressed garlic for flavors to blend. Serve over cooked this fish into a complete meal. • 1/4 teaspoon salt steaks.
coastwatch | autumn 2016 | www.ncseagrant.org 33 Periodicals Postage Paid North Carolina Sea Grant at Raleigh, NC North Carolina State University Box 8605 Raleigh, NC 27695-8605
DONATE Make a tax-deductible contribution to the North Carolina Sea Grant Program Enhancement Fund. Give at ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/donate.
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CONNECT Keep up with North Carolina Courtesy Elizabeth City State University Sea Grant. HOMECOMING By Cynthia Sharpe Find news, our blog and upcoming events at ncseagrant.org. Visit nccoastwatch.org to The river witnesses it all; Of sunshine peeking through the overcast. read Coastwatch stories. The autumn-tone lipsticks, The river dances with the crowd The leaves fall. It rocks along and splashes loud. The band’s sound resounds It welcomes in the mist to come ncseagrant.org Rippling the waters. That rides along the gusty blows. Blue and white hips And the show, facebook.com/ncseagrant Sons and daughters It still goes on Of the city Despite the rain that dropped the night before @SeaGrantNC Gather here today But doesn’t flood Water Street like it usually does. To dance and chant and celebrate All for the parade, the smiles, the pointing, The dropping temps the lifting of children onto shoulders, NORTH CAROLINA But still that ray Here on the waterfront. SEA GRANT Cynthia Sharpe, who grew in up Elizabeth City, holds a degree in English from North Carolina State University. Your link to research and A former communications intern with North Carolina Sea Grant, she continues her focus on creative writing. resources for a healthier coast.