North Inlet-Winyah Bay Estuary

The recent tropical storm brought us rain, rain, rain! Rivers must have filled this past weekend. The Winyah Bay watershed is about 18,000 square miles, fed by four major rivers that drain into it. Most of the flow is from the Pee Dee-Yadkin river system, beginning in the Blue Ridge Mountains and streaming through the Piedmont to the sea.

In Georgetown County, SC, between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, the water flows into the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The satellite map view of this at left, with its blue and green colors, makes it easy to see how the rivers, salt marshes, and tidal creeks come together. The North Inlet-Winyah Bay Reserve boundary is encircled by a yellow line. This Reserve actually combines two estuaries: the North Inlet and the Winyah Bay estuary.

North Inlet, a barrier beach estuary, is washed by the tides, and about half of its water returns to the ocean twice a day. Most of its watershed is in its natural forested state. Winyah Bay is a salt wedge estuary, as heavier salt water moves up-estuary along the bottom with the flooding tide, with fresh water on top flowing toward the ocean.

The brackish waters and marshes provide habitat to many threatened and endangered species, including sea turtles, sturgeons, least terns and wood storks. Pumpkinseed Island is an important rookery for white ibis, great and snowy egrets, and herons. The USC Baruch Marine Field Laboratory conducts research at this Reserve, which also offers a link to a Discovery Kit, describing an estuarine environment using an interactive tutorial.

The North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR offers interesting public programs and activities. How about a free boat tour? On its Appreciation Day, Saturday, November 1st, you can explore the Winyah Bay Estuary aboard the SCDNR Education Vessel Discovery. Learn about the biology of plants and animals that live there, and see animals collected in the trawls. This guided tour is free, but space is limited, so call quickly to register for it; (843) 546-6219.

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!