How To Read A North Carolina Beach

Take a walk on the beach with three coastal experts who reveal the secrets and the science of the North Carolina shoreline. What makes sea foam? What are those tiny sand volcanoes along the waterline? You'll find the answers to these questions and dozens more in this comprehensive field guide to the state's beaches, which shows visitors how to decipher the mysteries of the beach and interpret clues to an ever-changing geological story. Orrin Pilkey, Tracy Monegan Rice, and William Neal explore large-scale processes, such as the composition and interaction of wind, waves, and sand, as well as smaller features, such as bubble holes, drift lines, and black sands. In addition, coastal life forms large and small--from crabs and turtles to microscopic animals--are all discussed here. The concluding chapter contemplates the future of North Carolina beaches, considering the threats to their survival and assessing strategies for conservation. This indispensable beach book offers vacationers and naturalists a single source for learning to appreciate and preserve the natural features of a genuine state treasure. Southern Gateways Guide is a registered trademark of the University of North Carolina Press

The North Carolina barrier islands, a 325-mile-long string of narrow sand islands that forms the coast of North Carolina, are one of the most beloved areas to live and visit in the United States. However, extensive barrier island segments and their associated wetlands are in jeopardy. In The Battle for North Carolina's Coast, four experts on coastal dynamics examine issues that threaten this national treasure. According to the authors, the North Carolina barrier islands are not permanent. Rather, they are highly mobile piles of sand that are impacted by sea-level rise and major storms and hurricanes. Our present development and management policies for these changing islands are in direct conflict with their natural dynamics. Revealing the urgency of the environmental and economic problems facing coastal North Carolina, this essential book offers a hopeful vision for the coast's future if we are willing to adapt to the barriers' ongoing and natural processes. This will require a radical change in our thinking about development and new approaches to the way we visit and use the coast. Ultimately, we cannot afford to lose these unique and valuable islands of opportunity. This book is an urgent call to protect our coastal resources and preserve our coastal economy.

Fun and learning come together in North Carolina's Amazing Coast, an inviting collection of one hundred short, self-contained features about the flora, fauna, and natural history of that fascinating place where land meets sea. Each page includes a full-color illustration and breezy, fact-filled commentary on coastal wildlife from fifty-foot-long northern right whales to single-cell plankton, from shy red wolves to overbearingly sociable sand gnats. Readers will learn about the super-sized fox squirrel, the acting talents of the hognose snake, the health benefits of eating pawpaws, the importance of tidal fluctuations, and much more. North Carolina's Amazing Coast will spark a sense of wonder and inspire readers to learn more about their natural heritage and what they can do to preserve it. Used in the "Our Amazing Coast" elementary curriculum developed by the Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence-Southeast, this book makes an excellent educational tool, as well as an inspiring gift for coastal enthusiasts of all ages. Published in association with North Carolina Sea Grant.

"Consistently rated the best guides to the regions covered...Readable, tasteful, appealingly designed. Strong on dining, lodging, and history."—National Geographic Traveler Explorer's Guide North Carolina's Outer Banks & Crystal Coast covers the coast from Virginia to Hammocks Beach State Park. Includes Manteo, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Hatteras Island, Ocracoke, Beaufort, Morehead City, Atlantic Beach, Emerald Isle and Swansboro. Distinctive for their accuracy, simplicity, and conversational tone, the diverse travel guides in our Great Destinations series meet the conflicting demands of the modern traveler. They're packed full of up-to-date information to help plan the perfect gateway. And they're compact and light enough to come along for the ride. A tool you'll turn to before, during, and after your trip, these guides include these helpful features: chapters on lodging, dining, transportation, history, shopping, recreation and more; a section packed with practical information, such as lists of banks, hospitals, post offices, laundromats, numbers for police, fire, and rescue, and other relevant information; and maps of regions and locales.

Fishing North Carolina's Outer Banks

Let this guide show you why the Outer Banks is one of the most unique and interesting places in the U.S. to visit. The Outer Banks preserves history and traditions lost to more urban areas of the eastern U.S. Whether it’s wild Banker ponies, historic Kitty Hawk, or hidden beaches that visitors would otherwise never find, author Renee Wright leads you to her Wright Choices.”

A beautifully illustrated field guide to the Mid-Atlantic region, from the Jersey Shore to Cape Hatteras The Outer Banks of North Carolina and the beaches of the Mid-Atlantic Coast are among the most popular tourist destinations in the United States. This book is a richly illustrated field guide that surveys the geology, environmental history, natural history, and human history of a region that spans the eastern seaboard from Sandy Hook in New Jersey south to Cape Hatteras on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It is organized around environments, not particular locations. Included are the geology of beaches and barrier islands, the environmental history of the region, as well as detailed looks at the natural history of beaches, dunes, maritime forests, coastal marshes, and estuaries. Also covered are issues involving human activity and climate change, which have become dominant forces shaping geophysical and biological environments. This guide will enable users to walk into a salt marsh or onto a beach and identify much of what they see.

The first edition of Florida's Living Beaches (2007) was widely praised. Now, the second edition of this supremely comprehensive guide has even more to satisfy the curious beachcomber, including expanded content and additional accounts with more than 1800 full-color photographs, maps, and illustrations. It heralds the living things and metaphorical life along the state's 700 miles of sandy beaches. The expanded second edition now identifies and explains over 1400 curiosities, with lavishly illustrated accounts organized into Beach Features, Beach Animals, Beach Plants, Beach Minerals, and Hand of Man.