Some harmful human interactions are 

 easy to spot, he said, picking up a plastic 

 milk jug. "Floating in the ocean, it looks 

 like a juicy jelly fish. That mistaken identity 

 means certain death for turtles." 



Triple dose of nature 



Virginia Smith, an octogenarian 

 Encore member, is a beach lover from way 

 back. She has fished from piers and inlets, 

 camped, walked beaches and explored 

 maritime forests all along the North 

 Carolina coast. 



"I've seen a lot of changes — some by 

 people and some by nature. I admire the 

 work the conservancy is doing here. They 

 and other groups are doing marvelous things 

 to preserve our resources at the coast." 



Bald Head presented beach, maritime 

 forest and salt marsh environments for 

 Smith and her Encore colleagues to observe. 

 Beachcombing turned up jelly fish, whelk 

 egg cases and other treasures. The maritime 

 forest spoke to the survival traits of 400- 

 year-old live oak trees. And the salt marshes 

 displayed an array of adaptive plant 

 specimens — cord grass, black needle rush, 

 sedges, sea lavender, cotton bush, red cedar, 

 myrtle and yaupon holly. 



A weathered, 1900-era boat house on 

 nearby Bald Head Creek gave testimony to 

 the dynamics of nature at work on the 

 island. Over time, the creek changed course, 

 stranding the structure in the middle of the 

 marsh — a lesson not lost on members of 

 the Encore group. 



Reflecting on the field study experi- 

 ence, Spence, who has led a number of 

 Encore field trips, says she enjoys working 

 with "perceptive adults with a wide range of 

 life experiences." 



She adds, "This more mature and 

 experienced audience understands how 

 processes and policy work together; that the 

 history and culture of the islands form and 

 shape policy; and that you can't separate 

 science and public policy." □ 



For information about: Encore 

 programs, call 919/515-5782; Masonboro 

 Island, contact John Taggart at the North 

 Carolina National Estuarine Research 

 Reserve Program, 910/962-2470; and 

 Bald Head Island Conservancy, 

 call 910/457-5786. 



Bald Head Lighthouse - 

 established in 1 81 7 — is the c 

 lighthouse on the North Care 

 Coast. But it was not the first 



from the island's shores. Barr 

 island dynamics wrote much 

 history. 



The first Bald Head Light 



LUI I3LI ULLCU III I / Ul I LI IC U<i 



i"e 



nlet, the beacon shifted to Federal Point at the 

 itinued shoaling closed the New Inlet in 1 880, and 

 ommissioned. 



m the southwest bank of the river's entrance until 

 i. 



!ape Fear continued to change, giving rise to the 

 ight to aid navigation to and from the Wilmington 

 ;ht was constructed on a hill overlooking Frying 

 le end of Federal Road. 



is left of that tower today. But nearby stands Capt. 



clapboard cottages that housed Capt. Charlie 

 their families. Capt. Charlie tended the Cape Fear 



t. The Cape Fear Light's skeleton tower came 

 :>ast Guard turned on the powerful beam of Oak 

 losite shore of the Cape Fear River, 

 island landmark. Its octagonal tower reflects an 

 yle. The Old Baldy Foundation oversees the 

 of the lighthouse, which is listed on the National 



le lighthouse and opened it to the public in 1 995. 

 1 the Smith Island Museum of History, a replica of 

 jttage built in the shadow of Old Baldy. 

 <ecutive director, said members will continue 

 sland's history. 



's history is colored by its strategic position. Bald 

 n protecting the Wilmington port during the Civil 

 established the Cape Fear Station on the island's 

 5. Coast Guard was posted on the island during 



5 a residential and resort island community 

 passenger ferry from Southport. Foradditiona 



5. 



of the Cape Fear River. Too close 

 the river, as it turned out. Erosioi 

 took its toll, and the lighthouse 

 into the river. 



When Old Baldy was com- 

 pleted in 1 81 8, it was to light tr 

 way for ships at the mouth of tr 



