currituck sound (1)
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Currituck Sound A North Carolina Estuary
Kella Randolph BS M Ed
Currituck Sound Estuary
Location Importance
Plant life Animal life
Rivers, streams and other waterways Threats to the Currituck Sound Estuary
Location of the Currituck Sound
Currituck Sound is a shallow, 3-mile-wide water body fed by the North River; and the well-known Albemarle Sound. The Intracoastal Waterway is on the North River, which provides a connection between the Hampton Roads area to the north and Pamlico Sound. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=7128
Just 75 miles north of the very edge of Corolla, where NC Highway 12 ends and the 4WD accessible only beaches of the northern portion island begins, many explorers attest that the Currituck Banks Coastal Estuarine Reserve is best discovered via the two nature trails, or with a 4WD vehicle. http://www.outerbanks.com/currituck-banks-coastal-estuarine-reserve.htmld to the south.
Importance of the Currituck Sound
the Currituck Banks Coastal Estuarine Reserve is 965 acres of natural maritime habitat. Visitors are free to explore the nature trails that wind through the area for some of the Northern Outer Banks' best fishing, hunting, birding, hiking, photo ops, and wild discoveries of how all of the barrier islands of the Outer Banks used to be decades and even centuries ago. http://www.outerbanks.com/currituck-banks-coastal-estuarine-reserve.html
We need estuaries to prevent shoreline erosion, buffer the impact of storms, filter and neutralize contaminants, and produce fish and shellfish to feed ourselves and our livestock. We need governmental agencies and nonprofit groups to monitor and protect water quality and estuarine habitats. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/544?ref=search
Currituck Banks Coastal Estuarine Reserve. This area was one of three original components of the Currituck Banks that was dedicated by the NOAA and the Division of Coastal Management in 1985, and was reserved and protected due to its distinct and completely unique ecosystem. As a result, countless habitats for fish, reptiles, birds, and even the famous Corolla Wild Horses have been careful preserved in their natural condition. http://www.outerbanks.com/currituck-banks-coastal-estuarine-reserve.html
The Geography of the Currituck Banks Coastal Estuarine ReserveThe islands of the Currituck Banks have been moving, at a glacial pace, to the west, creating marshes and saltwater streams stemming from inlet deltas and over wash fans that were directly affected by changes in rising sea levels.
Currituck water is getting fresher
Another factor leading to significant changes in the Currituck landscape is the influx of fresh water. For centuries, the northern barrier islands of the Currituck Banks were separated by a small series of inlets, but one by one, they all started to close as larger inlets along the Outer Banks, like Oregon Inlet or even Hatteras Inlet, began to open, encouraged in no small part by passing nor'easters and hurricanes. The last inlet on the Currituck Banks closed in 1828, leaving the island more than 60 miles away from the closest saltwater inlet. Because of this, Currituck Sound does not have regular deposits of saltwater, and as the decades have passed, the waters of the sound side have gradually changed from strictly salty waters to more freshwater environments.
http://www.outerbanks.com/currituck-banks-coastal-estuarine-reserve.html
The Currituck Sound borders acres of undisturbed marshlands, maritime forests, and undisrupted landscape where wildlife could flourish. This sound was one of the few sounds
along the East Coast that wasn't primarily a saltwater environment. As the inlets bordering the central Outer Banks closed up during the past few centuries, the salinity of the Currituck Sound dwindled. In fact, since the late 1700s, the only connection this sound has with the ocean is via the Oregon Inlet, located a good 40 miles south of Corolla, North Carolina. Because of this distinction, a number of species that aren't normally accustomed to a salty environment were able to thrive.
http://www.outerbanks.com/currituck-sound.html
Currituck Sound
Full of life
This nearly-1,000 acre parcel of land is home to ocean beaches, sand dunes, shrub thickets, grasslands, maritime forests, freshwater marshes, saltwater marshes, tidal flats, and sub-tidal soft bottoms. And all of these minor ecosystems accommodate and serve as a home for countless species of fish, birds, reptiles, mammals and plants. the Currituck Banks Coastal Estuarine Reserve spans from the borders of the Atlantic Ocean west to the Currituck Sound, and is essentially and quite literally a "slice" of wild barrier island life.
Estuaries—areas where fresh and saltwater mix—are made up of many different types of habitats. These habitats can include oyster reefs, coral reefs, rocky shores, submerged aquatic vegetation, marshes, and mangroves. There are also different animals that live in each of these different habitats. Fish, shellfish, and migratory birds are just a few of the animals that can live in an estuary. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/estuarylife.html
Some Wetlands Plants
For an extensive list see https://brunswick.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Plants-for-Backyard-Wetlands.pdf?fwd=no
Wildlife Refuge
Animals of the Currituck Sound www.visitcurrituck.com. http://www.outerbanks.com/ghost-crabs.html
Perhaps the reserve's most famous residents are the Currituck Wild Horses, which were relocated here from the busy town of Corolla in the 1980s to protect them from the busy traffic and population influx along NC Highway 12.
Birds of the Currituck Sound
Wild birds of CurrituckPhotos courtesy of Currituck-Dare Community foundation, http://www.duckstamp03.com/244PageFullSize.html
A walk on the wild side
the Currituck Banks Coastal Estuarine Reserve is 965 acres of natural maritime habitat. Visitors are free to explore the nature trails that wind through the area for some of the Northern Outer Banks' best fishing, hunting, birding, hiking, photo ops, and wild discoveries of how all of the barrier islands of the Outer Banks used to be decades and even centuries ago. http://www.outerbanks.com/currituck-banks-coastal-estuarine-reserve.html
Human Life RefugeA quiet day spent with nature can help us to gain perspective.
Rivers, streams, or waterways that feed into the Currituck Sound
Currituck Sound is a shallow, 3-mile-wide water body fed by the North River; and the well-known Albemarle Sound. Wakes from barges on the Intracoastal Waterway appear on the North River, which provides a connection between the Hampton Roads area to the north and Pamlico Sound to the south. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=7128
The most significant freshwater inputs to Currituck Sound include the North Landing River and Northwest River, both originating in the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina and Virginia. Back Bay, a 35 square mile estuary located in Virginia, also discharges water into the sound through shallow water channels along the eastern shore. http://www.saw.usace.army.mil/Portals/59/docs/review_plans/Congressional%20Fact%20Sheets/4%20-%20Currituck%20Sound%20NC.pdf
The threats to Currituck Sound Estuary and/or North Carolina estuaries
Excessive Nutrients Nutrients are substances which help plants and animals grow. Two nutrients,
nitrogen and phosphorous, are present in plant fertilizer and wastes from animals and people. Rain can wash fertilizer from lawns and fields into streams and the Sounds. This type of pollution is called "nonpoint source" since it does not come from a single point, but it is from water running off a large land area. Sewage treatment plants and leaky septic systems can also add nutrients to the water. When pollution comes from a single point, such as an outfall pipe, it is called "point source" pollution.
When too many nutrients get into the water, they disturb the natural balance by allowing too much algae (microscopic plants) to grow. The algae cloud the water and block vital sunlight to underwater plants (submerged aquatic vegetation or SAV). When the algae die and decay, they use up much of the oxygen needed by fish and shellfish, often killing them. https://www.fws.gov/nc-es/edout/albewhatwrong.html
The threats to the Currituck Sound
Today the sound has too high a sediment load from marsh loss due to erosion and a reduction in submerged aquatic vegetation resulting in less abundant birds and fish. http://nc.audubon.org/news/new-alliance-addresses-health-currituck-sound
Toxic Materials
Toxics are chemicals that can cause cancer (carcinogens) or other harmful effects. Their effects can be immediate such as a poison, or occur very slowly such as with cancer. Streams and rivers are very effective at hiding the effects of poisons. Often the fish that are killed are not seen. They may be small and hard to see or eaten by turtles, snakes, crabs, or other scavengers. Modern pesticides (i.e., chemicals used to kill animals, insects, or plants) used on lawns and fields are very poisonous but, fortunately, they break down much more quickly than older pesticides such as DDT. Because these modem pesticides are toxic they should not be used near rivers or streams or along roads with storm drains which lead to a stream. Cancer-causing substances enter our rivers from municipal sewage treatment plants or industrial discharges and sometimes from nonpoint source discharges. Although we are usually exposed to low concentrations of carcinogens, there are thousands of cancer-causing agents. The cumulative effects of these agents is not fully understood.
https://www.fws.gov/nc-es/edout/albewhatwrong.html
Erosion and Sedimentation
• Every time it rains around the Albemarle-Pamlico watershed, water erodes the land. The precious soil which washes away into streams is called sediment. Sediments are carried downstream and may eventually enter the Sounds, where they settle out of the water and cover the bottom.
• Sediments can harm Sound life in several ways. Sediment particles pick up toxic materials on their surface and concentrate them on the bottom of the Sound. Floating or suspended sediment clouds the water, cutting off light to SAV. Excess sediment smothers clams, oysters, and other bottom dwellers.
https://www.fws.gov/nc-es/edout/albewhatwrong.html
Habitat Loss
An animal s habitat is its home. Habitat provides shelter, food, water, and space. As more and more people come to live and work around the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, more and more habitat is being lost. Some animals, such as squirrels, can adapt to these changes and learn to coexist with humans. But many others, such as black bears, bald eagles, and black ducks, do not adapt well to change. Habitat damage and loss can decrease a population of plants or animals or even cause extinction.
Wetlands, one of the most important types of habitat, are threatened all around the Albemarle-Pamlico watershed. They are filled in for development, drained for agriculture, or dredged for marinas. Pollution has degraded water quality in the Sounds and their rivers, resulting in declines of important SAV and scallops.
https://www.fws.gov/nc-es/edout/albewhatwrong.html
How Can I help?
The Sounds depend on us for life just as we depend on the Sounds. Therefore, it is extremely important that we exercise great care with our actions. We must become responsible citizen caretakers of the Albemarle-Pamlico watershed in order to restore and preserve our natural neighborhood.
Conserve water. Take short showers; run dish and clothes washers only when full; and place a plastic bottle in the toilet tank to reduce the amount of water flushed.
Make certain your septic system is working well and is not overflowing. Use household chemicals and pesticides carefully. Choose the least toxic material, and
buy only what you need. Follow instructions, and dispose of leftovers carefully. Plant vegetation along streams to prevent soil erosion and to absorb excess nutrients
from fertilizers. Recycle used oil, paper, aluminum cans, and glass. Use a sewage pump-out station on land to empty boat toilets. Observe posted boat speed limits. Large wakes from boats can erode shorelines and
banks. Clean up debris and trash from a local stream to improve stream flow and water quality. https://www.fws.gov/nc-es/edout/albewhatwrong.html
Sources
https://www.fws.gov/nc-es/edout/albewhatwrong.html http://www.coastalreview.org/2016/01/taking-the-pulse-of-currituck-soun
d/ http://nc.audubon.org/news/new-alliance-addresses-health-currituck-sou
nd http://www.slideshare.net/KellaRandolph/nc-estuaries http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/544?ref=search http://www.outerbanks.com/currituck-sound.html