They’re the stuff of ghost stories and Halloween scares, but bats are not the blind, blood-sucking demons they’ve been made out to be. However, they are in trouble.
Commentary
Sam’s Field Notes: National Estuaries Week
Our Sam Bland writes about the importance of estuaries in celebration of National Estuaries Week, Sept. 16-23, a time set aside to raise awareness and appreciation of our coastal natural heritage.
Guest Column: Cooper’s Missed Opportunity
David McGowan, director of the N.C. Petroleum Council, says Gov. Roy Cooper’s decision to oppose seismic research and offshore drilling was a missed opportunity to play a constructive role in the debate.
Sam’s Field Notes: Coquina Clams
Our naturalist, Sam Bland, recently enjoyed a late-afternoon walk on the beach in search of his favorite critters, the coquina clams, 1-inch, colorful, wedge-shaped mollusks found at water’s edge.
James Barrie Gaskill, Friend of Our Coast
James Barrie Gaskill of Ocracoke, an educator, commercial fisherman, family man and advocate for a healthy North Carolina coast, died Wednesday at 74.
Business View: ‘No Good Reason For Drilling’
Guest columnist Tom Kies of the Carteret County Chamber of Commerce and the Business Alliance to Protect the Atlantic Coast challenges the reasons given for drilling off North Carolina’s coast.
NC Missing at New York’s Billion Oyster Party
Guest columnist Tom Looney recently attended a celebration of oysters in New York, noting North Carolina’s absence despite being ideally positioned to compete in the growing shellfish aquaculture market.
Sam’s Field Notes: Baby Bald Eagles
Our naturalist Sam Bland recently spent a day in a kayak near Oriental, watching as young bald eagles learned to spread their wings and fly.
Commentary: Collective Amnesia on Bag Ban
While some folks may not recall, business owners with much at stake in the Outer Banks’ environmental health remember why the plastic bag ban was enacted, as columnist Jared Lloyd reminds us.
Sam’s Field Notes: Diversity of Carolina Crabs
A crabby disposition may not be so great, but crab diversity on the North Carolina coast, which is home to a large number of different crustaceans, is a positive sign.
Guest Column: A River Brings Folks Together
A recent event held to celebrate and inform on efforts to protect and restore the Cape Fear River, the ninth annual StriperFest brought together people of different backgrounds and political affiliations.
Sam’s Field Notes: The Polar Bear Connection
The effects of global warming are especially visible in the land of polar bears, as columnist Sam Bland recently witnessed, but how will the forces now affecting the arctic eventually change life on the North Carolina coast?
Sam’s Field Notes: The Monarch Migration
Monarch, the “king of butterflies,” have embarked on their marathon fall migration to Mexico, arriving just in time for the Day of the Dead, where they are regarded as the souls of the departed returning to earth.
Guest Column: Cypress Trees as Sentinels
Marcelo Ardón of N.C. State says cypress trees can serve as sentinels of North Carolina’s coastal sounds, and the public can help in discovering what these trees can tell us about the effects of sea-level rise and other changes.
Sam’s Field Notes: Dog-Day Cicadas
The mating calls of dog-day cicadas are one of nature’s familiar sounds of summer that, when they go silent, signal the changing of the seasons.
Editor’s Desk: One Story Ends, Another Begins
Mark Hibbs takes over as editor of Coastal Review Online as our founding editor, Frank Tursi, prepares to retire after almost four decades in journalism.
