COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Weather Station Getting Facelift 



l"or more than 

 1 00 years, the old 

 U.S. Weather Bureau 

 station at Hatteras 

 Village has been 

 exposed to winds and 

 rains from numerous 

 storms. 



Now, the 

 residence, observation 

 building and storage buildings are getting a 

 facelift. 



For the last year, the National Park Service 

 has been restoring the outside and inside of the 

 wood-framed structure, including new 

 foundation and structural repair of chimney, 

 windows, doors, porches and roof. 



Built in 1 901 , the yellow two-story 

 residence is the first official building constructed 

 to record weather for the U.S. Weather Bureau. 

 Until 1 952, the main building was the official 



residence of the 

 person in charge of 

 weather observations 

 and his family. 



"It's a grand old 

 place," says George 

 Perrot, Cape Hatteras 

 National Seashore 

 historic preservation 

 specialist, Outer 

 Banks Group. "The building is of historical 

 importance because it is the only architecturally 

 designed station of its kind remaining in the 

 federal system." 



One unusual feature of the residence is an 

 observation room with a ship ladder to the roof 

 walk that overlooks the Pamlico Sound. 



The total cost of the renovation, which is 

 expected to be completed in 2003, is about 

 $765,000, according to Perrot. The station will 

 be open to the public. — A.G. 



New FerryMon Web Site 



These are no 

 ordinary passenger 

 ferries. Three vessels 

 in the state's fleet are 

 equipped with high- 

 tech instruments to 

 monitor water quality 

 during regular 

 crossings of the 



Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River. 



The ferries are central to FerryMon, a 

 research project designed to detect sudden or 

 subtle changes in this important estuarine 

 system, and to guide a management response. 



A new Web site, www.ferrymon.org, 

 presents ongoing analytical information that 

 "speaks to the public." 



FerryMon was commissioned by the 

 N.C. Department of Transportation Ferry 

 Division in partnership with scientists from 

 the Duke University Marine Laboratory and 

 the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute of Marine 

 Sciences, and the N.C. Department of Environ- 

 ment and Natural Resources. FerryMon was 



launched two years 

 ago, funded in part, 

 by North Carolina 

 Sea Grant. 



The "research 

 ferries" include the 

 M/V Carteret — 

 the Cedar Island- 

 Ocracoke ferry that 

 crosses the southern Pamlico Sound and 

 Ocracoke Inlet — and the M/V Gov. Hyde 

 — the Swan Quarter-Ocracoke ferry that 

 crosses the central Pamlico Sound. 



In addition, the M/V Floyd J. Lupton 

 crosses the Neuse River 40 times a day 

 between Cherry Point and Minnesott Beach — 

 a location that has periodic algal blooms, low- 

 oxygen bottom waters and periodic fish kills. 



On-board instruments transmit the data to 

 computers at Duke's Beaufort lab for 

 analysis. Scientists and state officials say 

 data could be used to quantify the relationship 

 between human activities and water quality. 



-P.S. 



New Field 

 Guide from 

 Sea Grant 



A new publication from North 

 Carolina Sea Grant, Invasive Aquatic and 

 Wetland Plants Field Guide, targets 

 natural resource field personnel and 

 home water gardeners alike. 



Waterproof from cover to cover, 

 the booklet identifies 21 species of 

 greatest national or regional concern. 

 Entries feature color photographs, line 

 drawings and descriptions of growing 

 conditions and range. 



Sea Grant and the North Carolina 

 State University Crop Science Depart- 

 ment prepared the field guide as part of 

 a National Sea Grant initiative. In 

 addition to the book, a Web site was 

 developed by the University of Florida's 

 Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. 

 Go on line to http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu. 



Copies of the field guide are 

 available for $15. Call 91 9/51 5-9101 

 and ask for publication number UNC- 

 SG-01-15. -P.S. 



COASTWATCH 3 



