Jump to content

North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve

Buchanan Battery at Zeke's Island
Agency overview
Formed1985 (1985)
Jurisdiction16.51 sq mi (42.76 km2) of North Carolina
Parent agency
Websitewww.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/coastal-management/nc-coastal-reserve Edit this at Wikidata

The estuarine system of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve is the third largest in the country, encompassing more the 44,000 acres (18,000 ha).[1] This system is of prime economic importance to the coastal area—90 percent of the commercial seafood species caught in the state spends at least part of their lives in an estuary. The North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve was established to preserve these fragile natural areas and the variety of life they support.

The state is representative of two major biogeographic regions located north (Virginian) and south (Carolinian) of Cape Hatteras. Therefore, NOAA and the state of North Carolina created a multi-component reserve with the following sites: Currituck Banks (960 acres near Corolla), Rachel Carson Reserve (2,625 acres near Beaufort), Masonboro Island (5,097 acres near Wrightsville Beach) and Zeke's Island (1,165 acres near Kure Beach).

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "About the Reserve". North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve System. Retrieved 23 February 2025.

References

[edit]

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the NOAA.

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Preceded by Beaches of Southeastern North Carolina Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=North_Carolina_National_Estuarine_Research_Reserve&oldid=1277309521"