BEAUFORT – New research from Duke University suggests that there is more to the story of ocean acidification. Scientists have long believed that acidity in the ocean remains relatively stable under natural conditions, but researchers from the Duke Marine Laboratory in Beaufort documented dramatic natural short-term fluctuations in the water’s pH near Beaufort Inlet.  These short-term fluctuations were so extreme that the researchers suggest they could play an important role in the effects of long-term ocean acidification on coastal organisms.

“What we saw over the annual or daily cycle was that those short-term natural sources of variability are just as extreme as long-term changes,” explained Zackary Johnson, Arthur P. Kaupe Assistant Professor in Molecular Biology at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, and lead author on the research published in December in PLOS ONE.

Zachary Johnson

To understand why Johnson and his colleagues believe these short-term fluctuations could be something we should be concerned about you have to first understand what is happening to our ocean. In a nutshell: Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere are being absorbed by the ocean. These excess levels of carbon dioxide dissolved in the water cause chemical reactions to occur that both increase the acidity of the water and reduce saturation states of biologically important calcium carbonate minerals.

And if you think that this won’t have an impact on many organisms, think again. Calcium carbonate is the building block for the skeletal structure and shells of thousands of species of organisms. If you enjoy eating oysters or snorkeling over coral reefs then this is something you should be concerned about.

Some estimates predict that the surface of the ocean will be 150 times more acidic than it is today by the end of the century. But Johnson and his colleagues found evidence that there are pH changes just as dramatic already occurring over a much shorter time frame. Water samples taken over the course of a year from Piver’s Island, where the marine lab is located, showed variability in acidity that exceeds predictions of the expected change in global ocean acidity for the next 100-years.

“The idea is we know that the ocean is going to become more acidified. But there might also be variability in both the short-term and long-term, and for much of the ecosystem, the variability is just as important as the long-term (changes)”, said Johnson.

Source: EPA

Johnson and his colleagues collected hourly to daily water samples and were surprised to find that there were huge fluctuations in the acidity of the water.  These short-term fluctuations are influenced by a number of natural factors, including temperature, tidal flow and biological activity.

The effect of these short-term fluctuations, by themselves, is likely minimal.

“I am guessing that, at least those short-term changes, over an hour or a day, are largely caused by biology – plants and animals recycling carbon dioxide and oxygen over the course of a day. (This research) suggests that organisms are used to those changes. In the coastal environment at least, they may be adapted to short-term changes.” said Dana Hunt, assistant professor of microbial biology at the Nicholas School of the Environment and co-author on this research.

But what concerns these scientists is what the effects will be when these natural fluctuations are combined with a steady long-term increase in acidity.

As Hunt explains, the delicate balance that coastal organisms are adapted to may be thrown off by a more global shift in ocean conditions. “These changes could be additive,” she said. “They are fine under conditions now, but if baseline shifts occur they (organisms) will become more stressed or pushed past a threshold that they may already be at.”

Exactly what the effects will be of ocean acidification on organisms that are already coping with extreme ranges in water acidity is not clear.

Johnson notes that there is a possibility that adaptations to short-term acidic fluctuation could cause organisms to become more resilient in the face of ocean acidification. But he isn’t holding his breath for a widespread positive outcome.

“There are two ways this could go,” he said. “It could be good news. If organisms are already used to dealing with these changes then they might already be adapted to long-term acidification. The other possibility is not good news. If those short-term fluctuations already stress them out then how will they respond to an increasingly more acidic environment? We don’t know.” 

Dana Hunt

As is true with most things in life, there will likely be winners and losers.

“There are probably going to be some winners who like it and some (species) who are losers. Who is going to win and who is going to lose – we just don’t know yet,” said Johnson.

Because phytoplankton takes in carbon dioxide they could benefit from ocean acidification by increasing their population and potentially creating large algal blooms.

Scientists are already aware of who some of the losers may be. Coral reefs rely on calcium carbonate to build their skeletal structure and by the end of the century increased acidity may cause reefs to dissolve faster than they are able to be built. Numerous commercial species such as oysters, clams and lobsters are unable to properly grow under more acidic conditions.  And the effects of the very small, such as zooplankton, have far reaching effects up to the very large. Small pteropods, or “sea butterfly,” are a tiny sea creature about the size of a small pea whose shells dissolve in more acidic water. They are a source of food for everything from krill to salmon to some species of whales.

What Johnson and his colleagues are sure of is that coastal ecosystems are in for a change.

“We know it is going to get more acidic and this variability will be on top of that. But we don’t know exactly what the impact will be in our local ecosystem” said Johnson.

Johnson notes that this study was at only a single, coastal location and it is possible that other areas see less or more acidic variability. He hopes to extend his research to better understand exactly how organisms are already coping with these natural fluctuations, and to extend it to the open ocean where the variability is not so great but where ocean acidification is steadily increasing. 

Ocean Acidification 101

Staff Report

As it is absorbed into the atmosphere, C02 bonds with seawater, forming carbonic acid. This acid then releases a bicarbonate ion and a hydrogen ion. The hydrogen ion bonds with free carbonate ions in the water, forming another bicarbonate ion. The free carbonate would otherwise be available to marine animals to build calcium carbonate shells and skeletons. Graphic: Oceana

When carbon dioxide, or CO2, is absorbed by seawater, chemical reactions occur that reduce the water’s pH, carbonate ion concentration and saturation states of biologically important calcium carbonate minerals. These chemical reactions are called “ocean acidification.”

Calcium carbonate minerals are the building blocks for the skeletons and shells of many marine organisms. In areas where most life now congregates in the ocean, the seawater is supersaturated with these minerals. Marine organisms, like oysters, clams, crabs and lobsters, that need these minerals to build their skeletons and shells have plenty of material to work.

Increasing ocean acidification is causing many parts of the ocean to become less saturated with these minerals, which is likely to affect the ability of some organisms to produce and maintain their shells.

Almost all atmospheric scientists think that the increased CO2 is due to the burning of coal, oil and other fossil fuels. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s, the pH of surface ocean waters has fallen by 0.1 pH units. Since the pH scale, like the Richter scale, is logarithmic, this change represents about a 30 percent increase in acidity.

Current predictions indicate that the oceans will continue to absorb carbon dioxide and become even more acidic. If little is done to decrease fossil-fuel emissions, the surface waters of the oceans by the end of this century could be nearly 150 percent more acidic, resulting in a pH that the oceans haven’t experienced for more than 20 million years.

Last of two parts

WILMINGTON — Dolphins that strand along the southern coast of North Carolina often end up in a small building on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. Inside the Louise Oriole Burevitch Laboratory are a human autopsy table and a specially built table for what is obviously meant for much larger creatures. A hook on a chain attached to a track on the ceiling dangles overhead, used to lift large dolphins and small whales onto the tables.

While some dolphins are necropsied on the beach, many are brought here where they can be examined and dissected. Samples are collected and shipped all across the country, including to the University of California at Davis for molecular biology and to the University of Illinois for histology to confirm the presence of disease.

“Most of our work during a necropsy is to gather samples to better understand this disease process,” explained Ann Pabst, a professor of biology and marine biology at UNCW. “But we are also trying to support as many different kinds of research as we can, because this is a rare opportunity. This animal is dead and we try to get as much information as possible.”

While researchers can confirm that morbillivirus is to blame for the dolphin die-off, what they can’t say is why it is happening now.

William McLellan is about to perform a necropsy on a bottlenose dolphin at the UNCW lab. Photo: Marine Mammal Stranding Program, UNCW

“We know why the disease might have the potential to make a large impact but we don’t know the series of events that caused it to happen right now… Why now? That is kind of the $100,000 dollar question. And we may never have the answer,” explained Pabst.

What they do know is that, 25 years after the last morbillivirus outbreak, there is now a population of dolphins that no longer have immunity to the virus. Wild dolphins have a life span of 25-30 years meaning that the majority of the population was not alive during the last outbreak, leaving the population vulnerable to another outbreak of the same virus.

And while no environmental trigger has been identified in either die-off, scientists do know that the health of the ocean environment can have a large effect on the health of the marine mammal population. But they stop short of saying just what kind of effect.

The 1987 outbreak was compounded by a biotoxin called brevetoxin. This toxin was found in high levels in the water at the same time that the virus was killing a large portion of the dolphin population.

As Pabst explains no one knows exactly what role this played in the high mortality rates, but it certainly didn’t help. “It was predominantly morbillivirus (killing the animals) that was probably exacerbated by this biotoxin. So they got this double hit, a perfect storm,” she said.

Unfortunately history appears to be repeating itself. Dolphins are again facing a perfect storm of catastrophes. Higher-than-average bottlenose dolphin strandings are occurring even in areas where the morbillivirus has not yet reached. And while scientists are hesitant to name a specific cause of these increased mortality rates, they do recognize that many of the populations are facing threats to their environment. There is evidence that dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico are still struggling from the effects of the BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill in 2010, and harmful algal blooms are linked to the deaths of hundreds of dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon in Florida.

This onslaught of threats has lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to declare each of almost all the sites of dolphin deaths as a “unusual mortality event,” or UME, a label that recognizes a significant die-off in a population of marine mammals and the need for an immediate response. Only the west coast of Florida is currently not experiencing a UME.

“Bottlenose dolphins have been named sentinels of coastal ecosystem health,” said Pabst. “If in virtually all of its geographic distribution, from the Gulf of Mexico to the U.S. Atlantic coast, animals are suffering some kind of UME, it likely suggests that there are issues that we should be considering,”

Toxic contaminants in the water have also long been one of the issues of concern for researchers. Dolphins are a known to store toxins in their blubber which could threaten the health of already sick animals.

“There is no doubt that contaminant loads are high in these animals,” explained William McLellan, a UNCW biology professor that coordinates the strandings of marine mammals in the state. “The animals feel crappy so they don’t feed. Well then they start spending those lipid resources, and those lipids hold contaminants that start spitting back into the animal that is already immunocompromised.”

A dead dolphin on a beach near Wilmington. Photo: Marine Mammal Stranding Program, UNCW

Just what role this is playing in the morbillivirus outbreak is unknown Pabst is hesitant to directly link contaminant load in these animals with the high rates of death. “But we need to be very precise,” she said. “We cannot, because we don’t have the data, directly link an animal’s decline in health with toxin load. But what we do know is that bottlenose dolphins are in a compromised coastal environment where they are exposed to human made toxins. So we have to acknowledge that humans play a role in creating the health of the environment that the animals are in.”

So far researchers have focused on identifying the viral pathogen linked to the deaths and have not examined the levels of toxins in necropsied animals. But McLellan notes that this is likely because contaminant loads are already assumed to be heavy.

“Only because, the terrible thing is, it is not going to be anything new,” he said. “A whole bunch of samples were run from the animals in 1987 and they had the highest levels of mercury ever tested in a cetacean.”

The current outbreak is expected to continue for at least several more months.

“Since it is already in Florida, we are not going to be out of this until March or April at the earliest,” McLellan said wearily. “Southern North Carolina will stay in it the entire time, and we may actually get a pulse [of increased deaths] as these animals start moving north again.”

With large-scale funding cuts to stranding response programs and to many of the agencies involved in the recovery and investigation of animal deaths, many of those involved recognize that they need to marshal their resources now in order gain the greatest understanding from this event.

“A lot of the money is going away, but as a network we want to use our resources now to get this one really documented so that we know when it started, we know that is moving, and we can actually get a better picture out of this. It’s not easy, but a lot of folks are working really hard on it,” said McLellan.

And as Pabst notes, these research efforts may be critical to the recovery of the dolphin population. “We do know that these animals are going to need our extra protection,” she said. “We don’t know now if this is going to change the status of the stocks, but it is well within the realm of possibility. Even if it didn’t, it would still be incumbent upon us to do everything we can to try to protect them because they have suffered huge losses.”

Report sightings of stranded or dead marine mammals to 911 or your local municipality. 

First of two parts

William McLellan, right, performs a necropsy on a stranded marine mammal. Photo: UNCW

WILMINGTON — They are washing up on beaches and in estuaries, both the dead and the dying. Some show little signs of illness or injury on the outside, others are emaciated and sickly. Since July, at least 1,000 bottlenose dolphins have died along the East Coast, from New Jersey to Florida.

“It’s a terrible milestone,” Ann Pabst, a professor of biology and marine biology at the University of North Carolina–Wilmington, said grimly. Sitting inside her office surrounded by pictures of dolphins playfully bow riding and swimming through the ocean, Pabst reads through the numbers.

Many of the dead animals end up here, at Pabst’s lab, where they are examined and dissected.

“We are at 144 bottlenose dolphins,” she said.

That is more than triple the number of stranded dolphins that ended up at the lab during the same time period last year.

“And these are just the dolphins we are finding,” said William McLellan, who coordinates the stranding of marine mammals in the state. “There are a lot of sharks out there, and a lot of animals that we aren’t finding. We estimate if we are seeing 25 percent (of the deceased individuals) then we are doing well.”

McLellan and his collaborators across the state were alarmed as stranded animals began to appear in large numbers along the N.C. coast.

“We started seeing live coastal bottlenose dolphins (stranding),” he explained. “I have been doing this for 30 years and you just don’t see a live coastal bottlenose dolphin strand unless there is some sort of unusual mortality event going on. They live on the coastline and they know how to avoid it. They can work into two feet of water and come back out no problem. So when we first started seeing live dolphins we knew there was something really bizarre going on here.”

Ann Pabst

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has confirmed that morbillivirus – a family of highly infectious viruses that includes measles in humans, rinderpest in cattle and distemper in canines – is to blame for the rash of dolphin deaths. The virus, which is not transmissible to humans, causes fluid to build up in the lungs, something that is particularly dangerous in a marine mammal.

“Bottlenose dolphin lungs are really large for their body size,” McLellan said. “The virus comes in through their blowhole, settles into the lungs and the lungs become really congested. Just like they were getting the flu. While you would go home, get into bed, cough it out and be really unhappy for a few days, a dolphin can’t cough it out. They are just sitting out there unable to breathe well and can’t come to the surface.”

The virus is likely being transmitted when dolphins surface to breathe. An infected animal exhales the virus into the air for nearby dolphins to inhale when they surface.

“What is interesting about this class of viral diseases is that often once it enters a population it can be very destructive,” Pabst explained. “We know that this same disease caused a mass mortality event of bottlenose dolphins 25 years ago, and it seems to be doing it again now. So it can be very, very detrimental to populations.”

A morbillivirus outbreak in 1987 killed up to half the bottlenose dolphin population in the mid-Atlantic during an eight-month period. Researchers were unprepared for that level of outbreak and still knew relatively little about the population structure of coastal dolphins.

This is the identification tag, the equivalent of a toe tag, ready to be placed on a dolphin that died in August on a beach in New Jersey. Photo: Wayne Parry, AP Photo

“We really didn’t have any idea what could have been causing it. And we also didn’t have any idea what the stock structure was,” said McLellan. “What that event taught us all was that we really didn’t understand anything about our backyard bottlenose dolphins.”

Scientists have since learned that bottlenose dolphins have a complex population structure composed of subpopulations called stocks. Some stocks remain close to estuaries and the coastline while other stocks migrate longer distances up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Dolphin stock structure, combined with their highly social nature, makes for a very complex pattern of disease transmission that researchers are still trying to understand.

The pattern of death has followed the same path in both outbreaks. Dead animals first washed up in Virginia during the warm summer months, quickly followed by stranded animals in New Jersey and New York. As temperatures have dropped the dolphins – and the disease – have traveled down the coast line, into North and South Carolina, Georgia and now Florida.

In addition to transmission among bottlenose dolphins, researchers are unsure if the virus poses a threat to other species of marine mammals. Three humpback whales have tested positive for the morbillivirus, but at this point there is no indication that the virus was their cause of death or that it is linked to the outbreak in dolphins.

A dead dolphin at Carolina Beach. Photo: UNCW

The lessons learned from the 1987 epidemic meant investigators were better prepared when dead animals began to appear this summer. Collaborations between scientists and agencies allowed researchers to quickly recognize a connection in dolphin strandings across states. NOAA rapidly classified this event as an “unusual mortality event,” or UME, a label that recognizes a significant die-off in a population of marine mammals and the need for an immediate response.

“The only way this works is through a huge collaboration,” Pabst said. “NOAA is basically coordinating all of the activity for this event. They have done an extraordinary job coordinating samples. Everybody is sharing information.”

McLellan notes that this type of collaboration is necessary to understand a disease outbreak in a wild population of marine mammals. “It is not just “CSI” where we put samples into a machine and it bings ‘morbillivirus’, and we check a box yes,” he said. “We need to get together systematically.”

But because of the information gained from the 1987 outbreak, scientists have an established protocol in place to confirm a morbillivirus infection in a dead dolphin.

“You do PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and histology, you diagnose the lung congestion and you can have a confirmed case based on a number of criteria we now have,” noted McLellan.

Tuesday: Viral outbreak keeps UNCW lab busy

Last of two parts

The N.C. Coastal Federation offers a variety of educational programs throughout the year that get kids out of the classroom to plant marsh grasses and build oyster reefs and rain gardens. Photo: Wilmington Star-News

Elizabeth Gray, a middle school science teacher at First Flight Middle School, is reading through comments her students have written about a recent field trip to Jockey’s Ridge State Park. Oysters, and the surprisingly important role they play in the ecosystem, are a common theme.

“Many [students] were surprised that they actually clean water,” said Gray.

After a day spent interacting at various learning stations, getting their hands wet and sandy, they likely won’t forget it. This is exactly why Sara Hallas, a coastal education coordinator with the N.C. Coastal Federation, led a horde of over 200 middle school students to the state park.

“Getting kids outside has always been a huge component of our approach,” said Hallas.

Recent research from N.C. State University, funded by N.C. Sea Grant, found that taking students outside improves many of the measures used to assess environmental literacy. Not only does going outside make students care more about the environment, but it also improves their ability to understand ecological processes.

The effects of taking students outdoors can be seen in an overall improvement in cognitive skills and academic performance. Hallas notes that many of the teachers she works with see the biggest change in students that typically have more difficulty learning in an indoor classroom.

“All of the teachers agreed that for the kids who have trouble in the classroom, such as they can’t sit still or don’t listen well, it [being outdoors] seemed to make a huge difference in terms of keeping them engaged in what they were learning,” said Gray.

Sara Hallas, right, a federation educator, says many of the teachers she works with see the biggest improvements in students that typically have more difficulty learning in an indoor classroom.

Taking the lesson from the classroom to the estuary, sound, or rain garden has long been the approach of the federation’s education outreach.  And the federation wants to take outdoor education one step further and tie the education with restoration.

“A lot of what we try to do is go into schools and connect whatever we are doing, be it oyster restoration or rain gardens, to the field. We want to make the connection of knowledge in the classroom to doing some form of action in the field,” said Ted Wilgis, a federation educator along the southeast coast.

Oysters are one way the federation is bringing the ocean into the classroom and the students to the ocean. Combining in-classroom activities, such as oyster dissection, with field trips to the water to bag oysters and help build new reefs, helps to connect students with the reality of how the ecosystem actually operates. Because, let’s face it, it can be a whole lot more fun and engaging to put oysters in bags on the beach than to sit in a classroom and see pictures of reef restoration.

“Once kids see it, actually see the oyster reef, then they get it,” said Hallas.

Other outreach projects put students in the driver’s seat in making an effect on their local environment. A year-long wetland nursery project gives students along the northeast and central coast of North Carolina the opportunity to grow their own seedlings in a nursery at their school before transplanting them to the wetlands where they watch them grow and become a part of the ecosystem. Through long-term intensive projects such as these, the federation hopes to build a community of students who understand and care about their local environment.

As Hallas explains, “There becomes an extra component of becoming environmental stewards. That’s why we do the field projects at public sites, like Jockey’s Ridge, so they can come back and see how they [restoration areas] are doing. It gives them a piece of ownership.”

And for some students, these education experiences may be their only link to their state’s coastal environment. Gray notes that three of her students had never been to Jockey’s Ridge, even though the state park is only five minutes from their school.

Hallas has also seen a lack of experience with the environment in her work with N.C. students.

“The Coastal Fed started a partnership with Elizabeth City, which is about an hour from the coast, and found that most of the students have never been to the beach. We do classroom lessons, then take them out to the beach, and it is a big deal for them,” explained Hallas.

Ted Wilgis, center, another federation educator, wants kids to know that they can have a positive effect on their environment.

Wilgis stresses that, even for kids who do have a lot of environmental awareness and experience, it is important to strengthen the connection students have with their local environment.

“We focus on the coastal environment, but we also want students to become involved in their local environment. We try to connect kids with local issues – get them to know their local water bodies and make the connection between their ecological address and the impact their behavior can have on the their local environment. We really want them to know that they can have a positive impact on their environment,” explained Wilgis.

And it is not just students that the federation wants to reach. As a part of many of the federation’s outreach projects, such as the one at Jockey’s Ridge, teachers attend workshops that provide training and curricula on various environmental topics. The Restoration with Education program, a living shoreline project with a week-long workshop for teachers called Project Wetlands, is attended mostly by teachers from inland communities, providing a way for teachers to bring the coast back to their students.  According to the research on environmental literacy, this is exactly what they should be doing. Teacher training and experience is the biggest predictor in improving environmental literacy in students.

All of the federation’s efforts seem to be making a difference. Hallas routinely hears reports from teachers that they can see a difference in their students. Not only do the students seem more engaged in the learning process, but their test scores are also better.

“I am convinced it is why our children do so well in the EOC (end of course) exams,” said Gray.

And as Sandy Ferguson, an eighth-grade science teacher at First Flight Middle School, said, “We all love the hydrosphere unit [the lesson plan that includes the field trip to Jockey’s Ridge]… can you guess why?”

It seems that bringing a bit of the classroom to coastal North Carolina is a win-win for students, teachers and the environment.

First of two parts

A student measures an oyster at a N.C. Coastal Federation restoration project.

Bundled up on a cold day at Jockey’s Ridge State Park, students from First Flight Middle School in Kill Devil Hills take turns matching larvae to the adults of different ocean species. As a part of a larger environmental education program with the N.C. Coastal Federation, this field trip to the beach is, for some of the children, the first time they have been to the state park that is just five minutes from their school. Energized by the wind and sounds of the beach, the students are excited to be out of their regular classroom environment.

But it turns out there is more in it for the students than just a fun trip to the beach. Recent research conducted by N.C. State University on middle-school students found that taking students outdoors significantly improves their environmental literacy, especially in the areas of ecological knowledge, environmental attitude and environmental behavior.

Moving the classroom outside, or as some have called it “no child left inside,” is gaining recognition as an effective strategy to improve environmental education. North Carolina ranks amongst the lowest in the nation in many scores of education success, including ACT scores and per-student funding. In an effort to address the state’s poor standings in environmental education, environmental researchers and educators developed the N.C. Environmental Literacy Plan.

“The whole point in environmental literacy is to equip kids with skills they will need to deal with environmental problems, such as climate change,” said Kathryn Stevenson, a Ph.D. student in the Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Department at NCSU who led the research. “We wanted to get in there and assess what kids know, and what they don’t know.”

Funded by the N.C. Sea Grant and based on the recommendations from the N.C. Environmental Literacy Plan, Stevenson and her colleagues surveyed sixth through eighth grade students and teachers to assess factors that improve environmental literacy. They published the results in March in the online journal PLOS ONE

“What we saw from the research was that the kids seem to care a lot about the environment. But paired with the national average, their ecological knowledge was just O.K., and their cognitive skills had a lot of room for improvement,” said Stevenson.

The results showed that taking students outside helped to improve these weak areas, suggesting that the students learning about life stages on the beach in Jockey’s Ridge will learn better than if they had the same lesson in their classroom.

Students use a refractometer to measure the salinity and specific gravity of water.

Taking students outdoors not only improves their cognitive ability, but also helps to connect them to the meaning of what they are learning. What is not yet clear is whether simply being outdoors improves a student’s ability to learn – the power of a little fresh air and sunshine – or if it is where you go when you are outside that matters most. Does a lesson on beach erosion taught in a sunny courtyard have just as much of a cognitive impact as one taught on a beach?

“That is a super interesting question that we are trying to figure out the answer to,” explained Stevenson, noting that this could mean that simply teaching a lesson in fresh air, regardless of subject matter, will increase the amount the students will get out of that lesson. “Environmental education does seem to correlate with academic improvement in general. All the teachers say they [the students] come alive.”

This seems especially true for minority students.

“Taking kids outside gets them to care more about the environment, but it seems to make Hispanic and African-American students care more,” explained Stevenson.

Both of those groups initially had lower ecological knowledge and cognitive skills. However they showed the most improvement from spending class time outside, suggesting that outdoor learning may be one way to close the gap between minorities and Caucasians in environmental literacy.

It isn’t just taking students outside that makes a difference. One of the strongest indicators of improving environmental awareness in all students was the level of training and experience in the teachers. Students who had teachers who had a master’s degree and three to five years of teaching experience improved more over the course of a semester than those who had teachers with less educational training and either fewer or more years of experience in teaching. In addition, teachers who used establish educational curricula, such as Project WET, had students who demonstrated better environmental literacy, particularly in the weakest area of cognitive skills.

But for all of these criteria, it seems there is a critical age where environmental education is going to have the greatest impact.

Students gather marsh grass seeds at the federation’s North River Farms wetlands restoration project.

“Middle school seems to be a great intersection of cognitive skills, and they are young enough that they still have a sense of awe. You gotta get them while they young. Sixth graders learned a lot faster than eighth graders,” said Stevenson.

Making an effort to take these children outside could also provide them with a much needed breath of fresh air, notes Stevenson. “Part of the reason we may have found such an effect with them being outside was because this might be their only time outside,” she said. “At least anecdotally, many students seem to lack a connection and experience with nature.”

Stevenson is continuing to research environmental literacy in students in North Carolina. Her current research is focusing on perceptions of climate change in coastal N.C. students to try to understand some of the factors that influence how students perceive climate change issues.

On the coast, the lessons learned from Stevenson’s research are already in action. Connecting students with their environment is exactly what the federation hopes to do with field trips such as the one to Jockey’s Ridge.

As Sara Hallas, a coastal education coordinator for the federation explained, “I am happy to see this in formal results because it is definitely what the Coastal Federation’s approach has been all along — taking students outside. We don’t have the scientific findings, but we see the same things. You give them a fresh-air environment and it makes a huge difference.”

Tuesday: The N.C. Coastal Federation leaves no kid inside

Bob High thinks that pairing good beer, good seafood and the outdoors in the name of coastal protection is a winning combination.

RALEIGH – Bob High is an enthusiastic guy.  He embraces life and the things it has to offer, spending his free time outdoors enjoying everything from mountain biking to surfing and paddle boarding. But chat with High for five minutes and you will discover the two things he is truly passionate about: craft beer and coastal North Carolina. Chat with him for five more minutes, and you’ll understand what a natural pairing this is.

As brand manager of Natty Greene’s Brewing Co. in Raleigh, High was awarded a 2013 Pelican Award by the N.C. Coastal Federation for his commitment to bringing these two passions together to help preserve and protect North Carolina’s coast.

The list of fundraising events High has sponsored or organized reads like a roadmap of coastal conservation efforts, including events for the federation on the coast and inland. These include Cycling for the Coast, the annual Fish Fry and Shrimp Boil in Manteo, numerous seafood festivals and various events at Natty Greene’s in Raleigh. He has also partnered Natty Greene’s with other coastal events including Reeling for Research, Swim the Loop, and N.C. Fresh Catch, as well as the largest standup paddle board competition and the largest spearfishing tournament on the East Coast, both in Wilmington. Clearly, Bob High has a commitment to the coast.

“If I am going to spend my time promoting the beer and being part of an event it seems like a no brainer. And it has really worked out well,” said High about developing the relationship between the federation and Natty Greene’s.

Originally from Texas, High’s love for the coast developed early. He credits his dad for this, by bringing him on frequent trips to the Gulf and the Florida Keys and spending as much time in or on the water as possible

“I don’t even remember learning how to swim. He had us in the water since we were infants. Even though we grew up in Texas, we were very much in the water,” said High.

Bob High and Natty Greene’s have become important features of federation events, such as Cycling for the Coast on Bogue Banks.

While beer brought him to North Carolina – moving to the state in 1994 to work for Greenshields Brewery and Pub – it didn’t take long for High to develop a passion for all that the coast has to offer.

“I took a job in Raleigh and I immediately started traveling to the Outer Banks. I had never seen anything like it,” said High.

But it was seafood that introduced High to the federation.

“You know, I really love to eat shellfish. The guys that own Natty Greene’s, we go to the Outer Banks, we go all over – and we love the fresh seafood,” High said with a grin. “The whole seafood thing is where my interest and love for the Coastal Fed started. Seeing the ‘No Wetlands, No Seafood’ bumper stickers was what first got me interested in the Coastal Fed and what they were doing,” said High.

High believes seafood is the key to bringing the coast to people living inland in the state and connecting them to the health of this ecosystem. He recognizes that educating people living inland about their impact on the coast and inspiring them to take an active part in its protection is necessary for coastal preservation, and he sees the No Wetlands, No Seafood campaign as a simple and effective message to accomplish this.

“I think they are dead on, because the people inland here, the thing that they think about the coast the most is going out and eating seafood. I feel like these events such as the fish fries, are directly impacting the quality of the seafood I get when I go to the coast, and the quality of the seafood I get when I am here,” said High

High recognizes that he is in a unique position to help foster this relationship. It turns out that there is significant overlap between craft beer drinkers and coastal outdoor enthusiasts, and it is here that High feels he can make the biggest impact. Pairing good beer, good seafood and the outdoors in the name of coastal protection is a winning combination, and something that High is always looking to support.

Bob High, left, receives his Pelican Award frm federation founder, Todd Miller.

The connection between good beer and a healthy coast goes even further. Clean water is essential to both, as High is acutely aware of working in the craft beer industry. Water quality changes can strongly affect the brewing environment, changing the flavor and quality of the beer.

“Water is really important for us. It can affect the yeast that we treat our beers with and the type and style of juice that you get off the grain,” explained High.

High sees Natty Greene’s as an outlet to spread the message of protecting our water sources to the inland population, saying, “Even though we aren’t on the coast, the Coastal Fed is such a huge supporter of clean water and they are trying to do all these projects on the coast – we can help them by bringing some of those projects to Greensboro and Raleigh. That’s the tie-in that I really want to make.”

Both beer and the coast are lucky to have High on their side. But High is just excited to be a part of two organizations that allow him to support his passions. He is quick to credit Natty Greene’s for any recognition he has received for his coastal protection efforts.

“Natty Greene’s made it all possible. I wouldn’t be able to do all that I can without their support,” said High genuinely.

His enthusiasm shows no indication of slowing down, already looking for the next event he can become involved with to help the federation. Bob High is ready to get together, drink some good beer, and give back to the coast.  Judging from the success of the events he supports, he’s in good company.

Why did the alligator like this one in Brunswick County cross the road? Because it wanted to. The first alligator survey in North Carolina in 30 years should help determine if human interactions with alligators are getting more frequent because the animals are more abundant.

RALEIGH – Lindsey Garner’s summer plans probably did not look like most North Carolinians. Armed with a flashlight, this N.C. State University graduate student spent her nights for the past two summers in many of the rivers, lakes and estuaries of North Carolina coast, looking for the reflective glare of a pair of alligator eyes.

If the idea of an alligator in North Carolina is a surprise, you aren’t alone. Though not as common as in the warmer and more tropical environment of Florida or Louisiana, the American alligator is native to North Carolina, where it is a federally protected species.

“They aren’t like the coyote that slowly expanded its range. Alligators have always been here,” said Garner, noting that there are written accounts of alligators in North Carolina for at least the past 150 years.

But just how many alligators are there in the Tar Heel state? This is the question that drove Garner, in conjunction with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, to conduct the first census of the N.C. alligator population in 30 years.

“We were trying to replicate a study done in 1980,” said Garner.

Lindsey Garner hams it up with a fake alligator. Photo: NCSU

Survey routes extended from the Virginia border all the way south to the South Carolina border. “Most of the surveys were about ten miles, or in the case of lakes we surveyed the entire perimeter. So we covered a very large area,” explained Garner, who helped complete 100 surveys over the past two summers.

In order to get the best estimate of the population size, Garner and her colleagues concentrated their efforts to coordinate with the alligators’ breeding season in June and early July, when the animals congregate in tighter densities.

As Garner explains, “Once July hits the females retreat to the mudflats, estuaries and swamps, away from open water to nest.”

Any qualms about being on the water with a bunch of alligators during their breeding season are brushed off by Garner. “I personally had no worries,” she said.  “The males are more territorial during this time, so maybe for the alligators this is a more dangerous time, but for people what you really want to avoid is a nest.”

A nest or an alligator that has become too accustomed to humans.

It is true that human-alligator interactions are becoming more common.  In July, a 12-foot alligator killed an 80-pound Siberian husky near Jacksonville.  The attack occurred in an area that is near both commercial and residential buildings, leading some to believe that this was likely an animal that had been fed by humans.  The alligator was killed and will eventually be displayed at the Onslow County Environmental Education Center and Library, with the hopes that it will teach visitors about the importance of maintaining safe boundaries between humans and wild animals.

Garner lets out a sigh when the attack is mentioned. It is obviously not her first time answering questions about this incident, nor is it something she wants to be the focus of a conversation about the population of alligators living in the state.  And why should she? There is – understandably — fear and anger when a wild animal attacks a pet or a person, but when you consider the opportunities that exist for more of these attacks to occur that simply don’t, it is understandable why Garner sighs at the inevitable question of how much danger these animals pose to humans.

“That was an unfortunate event for the dog and the alligator,” Garner says earnestly.

She is hesitant to discuss the incident in much depth, but she does mention that all indications were that this was an animal that had been taught to lose its fear of humans.

In South Carolina, people are warned about feeding alligators.

She also notes that a 12-foot alligator is not a common occurrence in North Carolina. “They do get that big in the state, but it is pretty rare for that to happen.  They grow half as quickly here as they do in Louisiana, where they have the fastest growth rate.”

This variation in growth rates largely has to do with the temperature differences within the natural range of the species. The relatively colder temperature in North Carolina cause the alligators to grow much more slowly and leaves them vulnerable to predation for larger portions of their lifespan than their counterparts in other, warmer, states. This is one of the reasons that the population size in North Carolina is smaller than in other Southern states.

The estimate of what the population size actually is has not yet been analyzed, and Garner is careful to note that this was primarily a density study to see “where they did occur and didn’t occur.” The goal of the study was to obtain a 30-year trend to see if their distribution and range have changed since the previous census.

“We want to see if the population has increased, decreased or if people are just running into them more,” explains Garner.

Preliminary analysis shows that, similar to 30 years ago, alligators don’t generally occur north of the Albermarle sound, and that the greatest densities of alligators are in protected areas such as Croatan National Forest along the central coast and in the areas around Wilmington.

“Distribution seemed to be about the same [as30 years ago]. There are very low densities throughout rivers and estuaries, with pockets of high densities dispersed throughout eastern North Carolina,” said Garner. “Alligators [population] generally increase the further south and the closer to the coast you get.”

What Garner is certain of is that alligator population densities in North Carolina are much lower than in the more southern populations.

Still, Garner wants people to know that there are alligators out there. “People should be aware that there are alligators in the state, or at least in eastern North Carolina. They are there,” she said. “And what is also very important is that you should never feed an alligator, because that happens a lot. They will mind their own business and stay away, unless they are being fed.”

Garner and her colleagues hope to have the final analysis completed by December.

More information about the population census completed in the 1980’s can be found in the paper by O’Brien, Timothy G., and Phillip D. Doerr. “Night count surveys for alligators in coastal counties of North Caroline.” Journal of Herpetology 20.3 (1986): 444-448.

Bladen County is covered in Carolina bays. That’s White Lake in the middle and Bay Tree Lake in the upper right. Both are state parks. The outlines of many other Carolina bays that have been drained for agriculture dot the landscape. Photo: Google Earth

MOREHEAD CITY — They are neither confined to the Carolinas, nor are they bays. That their name is misleading is in many ways very appropriate for the enigmatic formations known as Carolina bays.

But it isn’t what they are that holds the mystery; rather it is how did they get here?

Found in the coastal plains along the Atlantic shoreline, Carolina bays are shallow wetland depressions that are fed by rain or groundwater. They range in size from less than an acre to thousands of acres.  Most of the 500,000 or so Carolina Bays are in the Carolinas and Georgia, with the highest concentration found in Bladen County in North Carolina’s southeast coastal plain.

The term “bay” is a nod to the various species of bay trees and shrubs commonly found growing alongside most Carolina bays, but they are also unique reservoirs of many species of carnivorous plants, salamanders, frogs, turtles, birds and mammals.

Viewed from the ground they could easily be overlooked. But when viewed from above, Carolina bays create a dramatic imprint on the landscape. They all have a distinct elliptical shape, with a northwest to southeast orientation. They could be described as the crop circles of the wetlands. And oddly, this wouldn’t be their only connection to extraterrestrial theories.

When aerial photography was used to survey farmland in the 1930s surveyors were surprised to see thousands of elliptical depressions across the Eastern Seaboard. Interest in their origin quickly grew, with hypotheses ranging from ocean currents, wind patterns and sinkholes, to meteor showers and prehistoric gigantic beavers.

Numerous types of native plants grow in Carolina bays. Some include, from top: Carolina jasmine, cherry laurel and red bay.

The mystery of the Carolina bays reached a fever pitch in the 1950s, when a respected University of North Carolina geologist named William Prouty steadfastly contended that the bays were a result of a meteor or comet colliding with the Earth over 12,000 years ago. This idea made quite an impact, so to speak, and debate continued for years about the cosmic nature of Carolina bays. One popular theory links the extinction event known as the Younger Dryas extinction (the same one responsible for wiping out the mammoth) to the formation of Carolina bays, suggesting that the wind and debris created from a comet colliding with the Earth near the Great Lakes region caused the depressions that became the bays.

Exploding comets and mass extinctions make for quite a dramatic birth story. And while everyone enjoys a bit of drama in their tales, doubt about the cosmic creation of Carolina bays led scientists to investigate individual bays more closely. What they found turned out to be a much more earthly creation process.

For instance, if Carolina Bays were the result of a single impact event then they should all be the same age.

“Data negates they [Carolina Bays] were formed at the same time,” said Anthony Rodriguez, associate professor of coastal geology at UNC’s Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City.

Rodriguez, along with then-graduate student Matt Waters and UNC associate professor, Michael Piehler, set out to study the origin and evolution of Lake Mattamuskeet, a conglomeration of multiple Carolina Bays in Hyde County on the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula. Not only did they find no evidence linking these Carolina bays to a cosmic event such as the Younger Dryas extinction, but they also discovered that Lake Mattamuskeet is much younger, by at least 6,000 years, than Carolina bays were assumed to be.

Instead of an icy comet raining onto the Earth, Rodriguez and his colleagues discovered that Lake Mattamuskeet had a fiery beginning. Their analysis of the lake showed that cycles of burning peat associated with dry periods in the climate caused a basin to form where water later accumulated. Winds transported sand and silt, shaping the rim into the characteristic elliptical pattern. And, ta-da, after 1,000 years or so you have a Carolina bay.

When asked about the celestial hypothesis about the origin of Carolina bays, Rodriguez says carefully, “I think in the scientific community it certainly is not believed to be the case. But there is still a subset of believers in a cosmic beginning.”

He has reason to be careful in his response. A web search on Carolina bays brings up multiple sites that provide personal theories touting their cosmic beginnings, interspersed with a limited number of sites detailing the current scientific understanding. It appears that by many, the belief in a cosmic origin is still as passionately supported as it was in the 1950s.

This is not lost of Rodriguez. Parents to similarly aged children, Rodriguez and Piehler were surprised to open their children’s science textbook at a school open house to find that Carolina bays are still being linked to cosmic events.

Lake Mattamuskeet in Hyde County is a Carolina bay that is also the largest natural lake in the state. Scientists think it was formed by natural fires that burned the peat soil. The depression created by the fires eventually filled with water.

“On one hand, at least they were in there,” said Rodriguez. “But this just isn’t the case. We couldn’t believe that this is still being told about Carolina bays.”

Still, Rodriguez and his colleagues are cautious to apply the results of their study on Lake Mattamuskeet to explain the origin of other Carolina bays.

“Although we think Lake Mattamuskeet formed by a peat fire, and other bays also might have, they probably aren’t all formed this way,” said Rodriguez.

But he does believe that wind is the driving force in shaping most, if not all, Carolina bays into their characteristic elliptical shape.

“These are soft substrates that shift with wind direction over time. The old timers, from the ‘30s to ‘50s, if you draw a line along the long axis (of the Carolina bays they surveyed) that line shifts a little bit as you move farther south. This goes along with wind direction,” explained Rodriguez.

Despite the growing understanding of the origin of some Carolina bays, the vast majority of them have yet to be closely studied. Rodriguez notes that he has had difficulty receiving funding for additional studies on Carolina bays, causing him to table future research on other sites.

And while some are protected as state or national parks, many of the Carolina Bays are already gone. Over the years, thousands of Carolina Bays have been drained and turned into farmland, recreational spaces, or converted to roadways — erasing these unique geological and ecological formations — and taking the mystery of their origin with them.

RALEIGH — Raising their voices to talk over the noisy chatter coming from a nearby purple  martin birdhouse, people at the Gardening for Wildlife workshop share childhood memories  of early experiences enjoying gardens.  Resembling an oversized birdhouse, the outdoor classroom at the Prairie Ridge Ecostation makes for an appropriate setting to learn gardening techniques that attract native wildlife.

Thirteen participants gathered at the field station on a weekday in late May for the free workshop sponsored by the N.C. Museum of Natural Science. The view from the screened walls of the classroom gives a glimpse of what the Piedmont used to be, and – hope workshop leaders Kimberly Smart and Brian Hahn – what we can begin to restore, starting in our own backyards.

Kimberly Smart, education coordinator, gives a training on gardening for wildlife at the Prairie Ridge Ecosystem. Photo: Caroline Pitt Loomis

Smart, education coordinator at Prairie Ridge, tosses vines and branches of green plants onto the floor. She names some of the common culprits: kudzu, Japanese honeysuckle, reed grass, and autumn olive. Some of these invade our backyards without an invitation, others we work weekends to make them feel at home.  All are familiar faces in North Carolina. And all are non-native species.

The familiar story of the creeping kudzu choking our green spaces or monocultures of reed grass in our wetlands offers frightening examples of what our preference for exotic plants can do to the native ecosystem.  But the strongest influence of non-native plants within our backyards may be on some of the smallest, and perhaps most vital, visitors in our gardens: insects.

“Insects are a link in the chain to plants and the animals that eat those plants,” explains Smart.

In addition to pollination and seed dispersal, insects play a vital role in transferring energy from plants to the animals that are unable to digest plants directly. While some non-native plants might provide shelter and food for four or five species of insects, many native plant species can host up to fifty species of insects at varying stages of their development. With 96 percent of the terrestrial bird species in North Carolina relying on insects to feed to their young, the reduced capacity for an ecosystem dominated by non-native plants to support a diversity of insects can spell trouble for the birds and mammals that rely on them.

“If it says pest-free, that means it is at least exotic. [It is pest-free] because insects here won’t feed on it,” Brian Hahn, a natural resource technician at Prairie Ridge,  explains to the group about some of the dangers of planting many of the exotic plant species commonly found at local garden stores and nurseries.

But even this crowd of conscientious gardeners wants to protect their yards from the destruction caused by ravenous caterpillars. Questions come up about what can be done about other unwanted visitors, such as mosquitoes and slugs.

Tree frogs, such as this one, can eat dozens of bugs a day. Photo: Sam Bland

Hahn explains how building a garden full of native plant species invites balance into your yard, and requires less care and maintenance to thrive than a garden full of non-native species that evolved to live in a different ecosystem and climate. A garden full of native plant species supports not only the insects, but also the predators that keep these insect populations under control.  A single bluebird pair, for example, can eat up to three hundred caterpillars in a day. That makes for pretty effective pest control.

“If you plant it, they will come,” says Smart, explaining how adding a simple water box for native pond plants, such as white water lily or bladderwort, will also attract dragonfly nymphs that prey on mosquitos.

“That is the whole answer – more native plants,” Smart stresses.

Non-native plants often require the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers to keep them happy and insect free, causing harmful nutrient and chemical runoff that threatens the health of our waterways and coast. And because native plants have evolved to live with the weather that we have, they are much more drought tolerant than non-native species.

Smart and Hahn lead the group to a demonstration garden stocked full of sun-loving North Carolina native plants in everything from raised beds to bogs and rain gardens. Large vines of coral honeysuckle hang from the deer-proof fencing. Butterflies, bees, dragonfly nymphs and birds can be spotted all within the same corner of the garden.

This black swallowtail butterfly takes advantage of a native planting. Photo: Sam Bland

Smart describes the garden as “evangelical” to demonstrate to people that they can have a native garden that still looks orderly.

The garden is decorated with artificial structures that attract wildlife. “Bee blocks” built out of discarded lumber or logs attract non-aggressive orchard bees, which, unlike the honeybee, are native to the United States. Frog pipes built out of PVC pipes and “toad abodes” made from halved pots, provide shelter for frogs, toads and other pest-controlling creatures. Hahn emphasizes the importance of adding a water structure, saying it is good for all insect and animal visitors, but stresses that an escape route should always be provided to prevent accidental drowning of smaller creatures.

As the workshop comes to an end the participants discuss a program developed by the National Wildlife Federation to certify private yards as national wildlife habitat. Raleigh already has approximately seven hundred certified backyard habitats.

“If we all made our property havens for the plants, and the bugs and birds that eat them, it would be like this vast, disjunct national park,” Smart says with a smile.

Birdhouses bring bug-eating masters to the back yard. Photo: Caroline Pitt Loomis

Each of the participants leaves the workshop toting small pots of native plants from the demo garden. They’re off to bring a little bit of nature back to North Carolina in their own backyards.

For more information about which plant species that are native to the coastal region or any other places in the state refer to the North Carolina Native Plant Society’s web site.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation sells hundreds of locally adapted native plants at its headquarters office in Ocean, between Morehead City and Swansboro. For information on what we have in stock, email Rose Rundell at roser@nccoast.org