File:Coast watch (1979) (20038953723).jpg

Title: Coast watch
Identifier: coastwatch00uncs_10 (find matches)
Year: 1979 (1970s)
Authors: UNC Sea Grant College Program
Subjects: Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology
Publisher: (Raleigh, N. C. : UNC Sea Grant College Program)
Contributing Library: State Library of North Carolina
Digitizing Sponsor: North Carolina Digital Heritage Center

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Sam D. Taylor
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bigger to boost their chances of securing mates. After mating, the female migrates to the inlets carrying on her abdomen a bright orange sponge of 700,000 to more than 2 million eggs. By the time she arrives in late spring to early summer, the orange sponge has darkened to a brownish color. Then, on a night when the moon is hidden and the high tide begins to ebb, she releases her larvae into the ocean by slowly flexing her abdomen, says Sea Grant researcher David Eggleston, assistant professor of marine science at N.C. State University. "As she does, you'll just see thousands and thousands and thousands of these little larvae start swimming out of these egg sacs, and the first thing they'll do is swim toward the surface of the ocean," he says. The ebbing tide carries them offshore, where they reside for a month in the ocean, transforming into tadpolelike creatures that move back inshore through the inlets and usually settle in seagrass and shallow marsh habitats behind the Outer Banks. Unlike the blue crab and summer flounder, which venture between offshore and inshore waters, the redbreast sunfish spends its whole life in creeks and streams, where warming waters urge it to spawn from April to June. After laying her eggs, the female takes off. The young hatch in nests built by their fathers, often in commu- nities of other nesting fish near stumps and logs, says Fritz Rohde, biologist supervisor with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries in Wilmington. "They probably remain in the same streams and in the same area and may use their same nests or nests used by other sunfish," he says. "They lay eggs, and the male takes care of the nest till they hatch out, and then they're on their own." As the redbreast sunfish bursts out of its egg, alone into its watery world, brown pelican babies in shrubs or thickets are pampered by their parents. Born naked, blind and helpless, the newborns require diligent care by both parents and do not achieve indepen- dence until they are almost 3 months old. Yet these babies grow into one of the world's largest birds, famed for diving headfirst from heights of 30 feet for fish, which they engulf in their pouches, pressing out as much as two gallons of water. As fledglings, however, they sit in their nests noisily calling for food as they await regurgi- tated fish from their parents. In their haste to eat, chicks thrust their heads down their parents' throats, giving the impression the young are being swallowed whole. By the time they are ready to learn to fly, the average offspring has been so well fed it outweighs its parents. This fat helps the youngsters survive a grueling two- week maturation into adulthood as they learn to fly and fish on their own. As the brown pelican builds its nest off the ground in thickets, the least tern, which usually begins nesting in May, lays on the bare sand, where its splotched eggs are almost invisible among the pebbles and seashells on the shore. "On some of these islands, within only four or five acres, you just have thousands and thousands of birds nesting out there," says David Allen, coastal region nongame project leader for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, noting that the islands' isolation from people and predators make them ideal spots for nesting. While the dredge-spoil islands present havens for some birds, other creatures have been less fortunate in finding homes for their young. The piping plover and the loggerhead sea turtle need secluded beaches, which are Continued COASTWATCH 13

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