THE BACK PAGE 



"The Back Page" is an update on Sea 

 Grant activities — on research, marine 

 education and advisory services. It's 

 also a good place to find out about 

 meetings, workshops and new publi- 

 cations. For more information on any 

 of the projects described, contact the 

 Sea Grant offices in Raleigh (919/737- 

 2454). For copies of publications, 

 write UNC Sea Grant, NCSU, Box 

 8605, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8605. 



Piece by piece, Beach 

 f^m^^R\ Sweep '88 volunteers 

 / fffj / Mm\ picked up 47 tons of 

 i\ trash and recorded it on 

 \ v / 1 c ' ata car ds. Card by 

 \ \Vyr J card, Sea Grant staff 



^■JvLS counted what the vol- 

 unteers found Sept. 24 on North Caro- 

 lina's beaches. 



The totals revealed the types of trash 

 washing up at the coast. And they pro- 

 vided some insight into where the 

 debris may originate. 



The data card divided trash into 

 seven different categories. The largest 

 of the seven, plastics, included such 

 items as bags, bottles, diapers, fishing 

 nets, six-pack holders and toys. Alto- 

 gether, the plastics totaled 55,813 

 pieces. 



The second largest category, paper 

 items such as bags, cartons and news- 

 paper, counted up to 23,616. Styro- 

 foam pieces such as egg cartons, cups 

 and fast food containers ranked third 

 with 19,907. 



Tallies of other categories included: 

 metal — 19,480; glass — 9,928; wood 

 — 5,620; rubber — 2,238; and cloth 

 —1,311. 



Beach Sweep coordinators sent the 

 counts to Washington, D.C., for final 

 tallies by the Center for Marine Con- 

 servation and the Environmental Pro- 

 tection Agency. They also became 

 part of a national database that in- 

 cludes tallies from 24 other coastal 

 cleanups. 



As soon as the last bag of garbage 

 was discarded at Beach Sweep '88, 

 coordinators began planning Beach 

 Sweep '89. The cleanup this year is 

 scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sept. 23. 



Beach Sweep coordinators are look- 

 ing now for companies that would like 

 to donate supplies, food or funds for 

 printing or educational materials. All 

 donors will be recognized for their 

 contributions. If your company would 

 like to make a donation, call Sea Grant 

 at 919/737-2454. Ask for Lundie 

 Spence or one of the communicators. 



The N.C. Division of Marine Fish- 

 eries has money available to help 

 North Carolina shrimpers buy turtle 

 excluder devices. 



Beginning May 1, federal regula- 

 tions require shrimpers with boats 25 

 feet or longer to use TEDs in offshore 

 waters in North Carolina. 



The devices are designed to exclude 

 endangered sea turtles from nets. 



Fishermen can be reimbursed, on a 

 first-come, first-serve basis, for the 

 purchase of federally certified models 

 of TEDs. 



For an application, write: TED Pur- 

 chase Project, N.C. Division of Marine 

 Fisheries, P.O. Box 769, Morehead 

 City, N.C. 28557. 



f \ To get landlubbers in- 



/».T''''**" \ volved in preserving 

 fc&mm North Carolina's coast, 



a '^mxm Raleigh's wral-tv is 



to* / hosting a Carolina 



xllll^l/X Coastal Celebration 

 Ni **^ April 8 and 9 at the 

 Kerr Scott Building on the N.C. State 

 Fairgrounds in Raleigh. 



The free event will showcase tradi- 

 tional entertainers, crafts, unusual sea- 

 food and educational exhibits about 

 the coastal environment. Sea Grant 

 and the Beach Sweep '89 sponsors will 

 man booths at the two-day event. 



WRAL-TV has made a commitment 

 to addressing problems facing North 

 Carolina's sounds and estuaries. The 

 station produced a half-hour docu- 

 mentary, "Troubled Waters," and a 

 series of informational public service 

 announcements. 



The station has also produced a 

 booklet, Sound Advice. It is a resource 

 guide that tells inland residents how 

 they impact our coastal environment. 



For a copy of Sound Advice, send $3 

 to WRAL-TV, P.O. Box 12000, 

 Raleigh, N.C. 27605. Make checks 

 payable to Sound Advice. Proceeds 

 from the book will be donated to the 

 N.C. Coastal Federation. 



Walter Cronkite will drop anchor in 

 Raleigh in March to talk about an issue 

 near and dear to his heart — the coast 

 and its waterways. The former CBS 

 anchorman will join WRAL-TV and 

 Sea Grant at a forum. It will be held 

 March 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Stewart The- 

 atre on the North Carolina State Uni- 

 versity campus. 



Cronkite, a sailor and coastal en- 

 thusiast, will speak about the problems 

 facing our estuaries and coastal rivers. 



For more information about the 

 forum, contact WRAL-TV at 919/ 

 821-8555. 



Koalas and kanga- 

 roos, rolling hills and 

 rain forests may not be 

 that far away for 17 

 teachers. This summer, 

 Lundie Spence, Sea 

 Grant's marine edu- 

 cation specialist, and two other science 

 experts will lead a workshop to Austra- 

 lia on global environmental issues. 



From July 6 to 25, the teachers will 

 trek down under with Spence, Cathy 

 Conwell of the University of North 

 Carolina at Charlotte and Ray Ashton 

 of the Massachusetts Audubon So- 

 ciety. They will investigate issues such 

 as rising sea level and rain forest de- 

 struction first-hand. 



Ten scholarships of $1,500 will be 

 available for interested fourth- to 

 twelfth-grade science teachers. Other 

 criteria for eligibility are listed in an 

 application form available from the 

 Sea Grant office in Raleigh. 



Funding for the workshop and schol- 

 arships is from the Title II, UNC 

 Math/Science/Education Network. 

 Each scholarship will cover about half 

 the cost of the trip. 



For more information or an applica- 

 tion form, write Spence at Sea Grant. 



Continued on next page 



