Andrew is a freelance marine biologist in North Carolina focused on population and conservation genetics in hydrothermal vent communities.
Our friends from the fantastic ocean acidification documentary A Sea Change are working on an important new project. It’s called “Shored Up“, and it’s all about sea level rise and the strategies that coastal communities are using to try and keep their beaches.
One issue in particular, beach renourishment, has major environmental implications that aren’t often considered. Sand provides critical habitat for organisms other than tourists, and not all sand is the same: it differs in grain size, chemical composition, and other variables. Organisms that are adapted to one type of sand, such as beach-dwelling crabs and snails, often struggle to survive in another that’s dumped in huge quantities in their habitat. Additionally, the ecosystem where the sand comes from is often greatly disturbed by the huge sand-collecting dredges.
The movie doesn’t just focus on renourishment, however:
Continue reading Support “Shored Up”, a new documentary about beach renourishment
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