Publications Archive

This publication can only be viewed using
Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available for download FREE online.

     Though the evidence is still coming in, many scientists, government officials, fishermen and environmentalists are beginning to worry about the cumulative effects that widespread beach renourishment may have on a wide variety of animals that use the beaches for food, nesting and habitat.
     Projects along the NC coast within the last year showed that beach renourishment could be very hazardous to the survival of endangered or Threatened sea turtles.
     Only time will tell if the renourished beach will be good turtle habitat. The type of material being pumped onto a beach in Carteret County recently  contained so much shell that turtles couldn’t nest in it and the Invertebrates that comprise the basis of the food chain couldn’t live in it. That project highlighted the need for including specific requirements in state and federal permits about the type of sand that should be used in renourishment projects.