Researchers even may be called into 

 public service during a natural disaster. 



In 1999, state officials and the media 

 turned to Sea Grant researchers in the wake 

 of devastating hurricanes and flooding in the 

 coastal plain. Beyond concern for loss of 

 lives and destruction of property, rising 

 waters could bring environmental and public 

 health risks. 



The scientists' quick response enabled 

 them to track and report how advancing 

 flood waters were affecting the estuarine 

 region. UNC-Chapel Hill's Hans Paerl and 

 Duke University's Larry Crowder and Joe 

 Ramus were on the scene on the Pamlico 

 Sound to observe the force of fresh water 

 flushing the dark plume of animal and 

 human waste, sediments and other pollutants 

 out of the system — easing human health 

 fears. 



However, depleted salinity levels, 

 especially in the Pamlico Sound, meant 

 stress and delayed growth for many 

 brackish-loving finfish and shellfish 

 populations. 



The Sea Grant researchers continue to 

 study the recovery of North Carolina's vast 

 and vital estuaries — where the fresh waters 

 from the state's rivers mix with the ocean's 

 salt water to form productive fisheries 

 nurseries. 



^The new patterns involve wastes, dredging, 

 and industrial uses of the bays which are changing 

 nature so fast that our comprehension is badly 

 lagging in spite of accelerating efforts at scientific 

 studies of estuarine science. 



Copeland and his NC State colleague, 

 John Hobbie, were in the advance guard of 

 estuarine ecology studies. In the early 1970s 

 at the Pamlico Marine Lab in Aurora, they 

 investigated the effects of discharge from the 

 newly opened phosphate mine and studied 

 the effects of raw sewage and heat on 

 estuarine organisms such as plankton, clams, 

 oysters, finfish and grass. They also explored 

 how warm water energy emitted from a 

 nuclear power plant could affect marine 

 organisms in estuaries during winter months. 



Copeland also teamed with Ronald 

 Hodson, then a zoology colleague and now 

 director of Sea Grant, to study the impact of 



an electric generating plant on the Cape Fear 

 River estuary. They determined that the 

 plant's water intake system was disturbing 

 only a small fraction of the estuary's fish. 

 The study showed that the plant could 

 operate without costly modifications and 

 still meet environmental standards. 



More recently, Copeland authored Salt 

 Marsh Restoration: Coastal Habitat 

 Enhancement. It is the synthesis of three 

 decades of research by a number of Sea 

 Grant researchers. "Using the report," he 

 writes, "coastal interest groups, manage- 

 ment entities and technical practitioners 

 should be better equipped to set goals for 

 valuable salt marsh habitats." 



In 1980, NC State zoology professor 

 John Miller was among the early Sea Grant 

 researchers trying to get a better under- 

 standing of how estuaries work. Miller was 

 studying juvenile spot and croaker in 

 nursery grounds around Rose Bay — one 

 of the most fertile estuaries in the state. 

 Understanding the length of time juveniles 

 spend in estuaries, their preferred diets and 

 habitat, ideal salinity and water temperature 

 ranges — and their most feared predators 

 — all would have important resource 

 management implications. 



The following year, the Governor's 

 Coastal Water Management Task Force 

 tapped Sea Grant's Copeland to coordinate 

 the study of the impact of land drainage on 

 estuaries. The goal was to demonstrate the 

 relationship between an estuarine nursery 

 and water management. 



Miller continued his research at Broad 

 Creek, the site of a pumping station, 

 enabling him to manipulate the amount of 

 water entering his estuarine testing site. NC 

 State colleagues Margery Overton and John 

 Fisher attacked the drainage problem from 

 an engineering perspective. And Wayne 

 Skaggs and Wendell Gilliam worked to 

 develop a model to predict the effect of 

 different drainage methods on the flow of 

 water from the fields. 



The multidisciplinary project resulted 

 in establishing guidelines under which 

 farming and forestry operations along the 

 coast were managed in harmony with the 

 fishing industry. 



ny classification of estuarine systems 

 must include ancient types that preceded man 

 and that remain in wilderness areas as well as 

 new patterns associated with estuaries newly 

 disturbed by man. 



For East Carolina University research- 

 ers Stan Riggs, Mike O'Connor, and Vince 

 Bellis, doing something about the eroding 

 estuarine coast was long overdue. Their 

 mid-1970s study provided a volume of 

 information describing the course Mother 

 Nature was taking to erode estuarine 

 shorelines and raise the sea level. 



lOreiine erosion 



essenciai 



Managing she 

 face of increasing demands on coastal land. 



They found that different types of 

 estuarine shoreline experience different rates 

 of erosion. The researchers devised a 

 formula to help determine an "erosion 

 quotient" for shoreline property. Riggs calls 

 it a do-it-yourself guide for evaluating 

 potential for erosion and planning how best 

 to develop the plot. 



They also proposed solutions that 

 called for the use of natural mechanisms to 

 slow down erosion. Cypress trees and 

 grasses, for example, provide natural 

 protection and are CAMA-approved 

 mitigation tools. 



Today, remedies for estuarine shoreline 

 erosion are more relevant than ever, with 

 increasing demands being placed on coastal 

 land. Sea Grant Marine Educator Lundie 

 Spence is coordinating a publication series 



Continue d 



COASTWATCH 29 



