North Carolina Reserve Estuaries

We are exploring our local treasures for National Estuaries Day this Saturday. This is amazing!

Miles of ocean beaches in North Carolina: 320
Miles of estuarine shoreline in the state: more than 8,000

This estuarine system is the third largest in the country, with great economic importance to the coastal area. Ninety percent of commercial seafood species live at some time in an estuary. This is where freshwater, carrying silt and organic matter, mixes with mineral-rich saltwater. Much of the fish and shellfish harvested each year depend on these areas, as do many birds and other animals.

The North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve helps to preserve these fragile natural areas and the variety of life they support. The North Carolina Reserve covers two biogeographic regions, located north and south of Cape Hatteras. This reserve is made from four sites: Currituck Banks, Rachel Carson, Masonboro Island, and Zeke’s Island. It's about 10,000 acres! Let's investigate one of these places.

The Rachel Carson site, accessible only by boat, is a center of marine research and education. There, they study everything from fiddler crabs to feral horses (see photos). It's named in honor of the scientist and author who conducted research there during the 1940's. It is in a tidal river and sound, where the Newport and North rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean. The chain of islands are made of salt marshes, tidal mud and sand flats, eelgrass beds and upland islands.

The marine laboratories of Duke University, University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University are located there. A regional office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is at the site as well. The Web-based reserve tour, Estuary Live, originated from the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort in September 2001. More than 20,000 people in 31 states and four foreign countries logged on for the broadcast.

In addition to the four national areas, the North Carolina Coastal Reserve Program also protects six state reserves: Kitty Hawk Woods, Emily and Richardson Preyer Buckridge, Buxton Woods, Permuda Island, Bald Head Woods, and Bird Island. The ten Reserves are more than 41,000 acres conserved to operate as living laboratories for long-term research, education, and stewardship.

If you are interested in supporting the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve, you can also join the non-profit group, the Carolina Estaurine Reserve Foundation (CERF). Keep on exploring!

Estuaries Day this Saturday!

"Where freshwater systems and rivers meet, and mix with a salty ocean."

Be a part of the National Estuaries Day this Saturday, September 27th. The nationwide event offers a multitude of activities for the entire family. Check out the Research Reserves: some will offer guided walks, boat tours, live animal presentations, touch tanks, and kayak tours. Look for nature crafts for kids of all ages, estuary games and activities, live music, fish printing and more!

The web site is a wonderful resource. This interesting guide includes the EstuaryLive, presenting videos, live broadcasts, virtual field-trips, dynamic presentations, and other exciting events in estuarine reserves across the country.

Many people do not realize how much we depend on estuaries, and how our actions can have an effect on those places that might seem far from home. What each of us does can affect an estuary's health and even people’s health. The flow of water through rivers, lakes, and wetlands eventually meets the sea. The air we breathe and water we drink come back to us from there, in oxygen produced by ocean plants and moisture evaporated from the sea.

The estuary reserves are protected for long-term research, water-quality monitoring, education and coastal stewardship of the 1.3 million acres of coastal land and waters, from Alaska to Puerto Rico. The reserve sites make up the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS), a partnership program between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) and the coastal states.

They are doing an impressive job. Thirty years ago, the Rookery Bay Reserve near Naples, Florida was established as a 3,700-acre national sanctuary. Its boundary has now been expanded to 110,000 acres, and it is one of the nation’s last relatively untouched mangrove-forested estuaries.

The Carolinas are home to three of the twenty-seven reserves in the United States. One is the third largest in the country. Do you know them? In the next posts, we will take a closer look at these natural treasures, exploring the places where rivers meet the sea. Join us and plan your own event, visit a Research Reserve, or plan on taking a kid outdoors!