. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. SEAGRASS SURVIVAL VA. BEACH ATLANTIC OCEAN. ALBEMARLE SOUND POINT HARBOFT [KITTY HAWK The fortunes of Currituck have hinged on the ebb and flow of the sound's seagrass beds. The Intracoastal Waterway links Currituck Sound with Norfolk Harbor and the Chesapeake Bay. dredging. Industrial wastes. They had begun to strangle the huge Virginia bay and were now making a home in Currituck Sound. The pristine beds of seagrass began to choke beneath the turbid waters. The muck and mire of too much pollu- tion spelle
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. SEAGRASS SURVIVAL VA. BEACH ATLANTIC OCEAN. ALBEMARLE SOUND POINT HARBOFT [KITTY HAWK The fortunes of Currituck have hinged on the ebb and flow of the sound's seagrass beds. The Intracoastal Waterway links Currituck Sound with Norfolk Harbor and the Chesapeake Bay. dredging. Industrial wastes. They had begun to strangle the huge Virginia bay and were now making a home in Currituck Sound. The pristine beds of seagrass began to choke beneath the turbid waters. The muck and mire of too much pollu- tion spelled doom for sago pondgrass, widgeon grass, wild celery and other grasses essential to survival of the sound's underwater creatures. Hungry fish moved to healthier waters. Most of the migratory waterfowl chose not to return to their normal nesting sites. The fishermen could no longer drink the waters of Currituck, which were now rank with the odors of civilization and salty from the influx of Virginia seawater. But things began to improve in the early 1930s. Bourne, a scientist who dedicated much of his life to try- ing to discover the causes of the death of Currituck's seagrasses, urged offi- cials to redesign the series of locks and canals linking the two states. The new design worked. For the next 30 years, Currituck Sound allowed Mother Nature to clean out the sludge and sewage that had accumulated there for two decades. The vital sea- grasses returned, though not in their earlier abundance. The bass also returned, luring fishermen from around the United States to the Currituck low country. The old hunting clubs, built to house waterfowl hunters, flourished again as most of the migratory birds reclaimed their nesting sites. But the fragile Currituck ecosystem and its vital underwater seagrass beds had not seen the last of their troubles. Hurricanes in 1954 and 1955 stirred sediments, clouded the waters and choked native grasses. And, in March 1962, the powerful Ash Wedne
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
