An effort to protect threatened wading bird colonies and their imperiled habitat on Battery and Shellbed islands, Audubon, Sandbar Oyster Co. and the North Carolina Coastal Federation have teamed up to design and install two pilot projects and test their effectiveness.
Science
Manufacture, use of plastics incur staggering societal costs
Duke University researchers have put into dollar figures the true costs to society of cheap plastic products: from $436 billion to $1.1 trillion annually.
‘Cautiously optimistic’: Right whale population rises 2.1%
The North Atlantic right whale population rose slightly in 2024, but while marine scientists are encouraged, they say strong protective measures are still needed.
Cape Fear ghost forests tell tale of ever-saltier water upriver
New findings in a report from the University of North Carolina Wilmington that examined tree cores and sediment samples from a nearby tributary show how the loss of cypress forests and protections they afford could worsen with further Cape Fear River dredging.
Blue crab populations decline after juvenile stage: Study
The blue crab population in the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System is disappearing sometime between when juveniles leave their nursery habitats and before reaching sexual maturity, a recent study finds.
Vast majority of litter removed from streams is plastic: Study
A three-year study recently published in the journal Community Science finds that about 96% of litter North Carolina waterkeeper organizations and their volunteers removed from trash traps were plastics.
Shark meat could be high in mercury, mislabeled: Study
Meat labeled “shark” for sale in grocery stores and fish markets may be from critically endangered species or have significant mercury in its tissue, according to a UNC Chapel Hill study.
Bulkheads lead to salt marsh erosion, total loss: Study
Researchers found that all 45 bulkhead sites analyzed for a recent study experienced marsh shoreline erosion during the 32-year study period, with complete marsh loss at 11% of the sites.
Global photosynthesis rates trend differently on land, at sea
A recently published study finds that plants on land are increasingly absorbing more carbon, while Earth’s oceans are taking in and storing less.
Coastal North Carolina’s fossil record reveals giant ‘hell pigs’
A recent study published by Cambridge University Press finds that the “exceedingly rare” land mammal fossils from 20 million years ago that were found near Maysville fill “an important gap in our knowledge of this time interval and paleogeographic region.”
Report: State needs more fisheries scientists to meet goals
The mandated study of North Carolina’s fisheries management practices finds that the state, despite increasingly intense management measures, is failing to protect and enhance coastal fisheries, and it includes no recommendation on trawling.
The Longleaf Alliance seeks areas to harvest pine cone crops
Because of the anticipated seed shortage that comes with a low estimate of pine cone crops for the third consecutive year, the nonprofit Longleaf Alliance is scouting for potential low-density stands of mature longleaf pines to harvest seeds in the fall.
UNC study: Repeat flooding more widespread than thought
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill researchers used anonymous, address-level National Flood Insurance Program records and observational damage to create maps of 78 floods that three-quarters of the state experienced over 25 years to determine which buildings experienced flooding and how often.
Ocean water is changing colors, getting warmer: Study
Duke researchers used more than two decades’ worth of satellite data collected by a NASA instrument that scans the globe every two days to analyze the changing colors of the open ocean, which could have an effect on fisheries.
Shorebirds among species in steepest decline in latest count
Audubon’s 2025 State of the Birds Report shows East Coast species such as least terns, American oystercatchers and piping plovers are diminished in numbers with shorebirds most heavily represented among those at a perilous tipping point.
Coastal areas flood more frequently than thought: Study
Coastal communities are inundated more often than previously believed, with levels taking longer to recede in rural areas, and the way government agencies gather data to predict floods fails to provide true estimates, according to a report published Monday.
