BEACH MONITORING

The primary purpose of beach monitoring is to use objective measurements obtained from beach and inshore surveys to track changes over time. Approximately 110 profile locations were established and surveyed in 1999, and serve as a baseline condition for assessing beach conditions along Bogue Banks and were also utilized to form the strategy for the locally-funded Bogue Banks Restoration Project (Phases I, II, and III). A profile is simply a shore perpendicular line where elevations are measured to capture the dune, beach, and offshore environments. The monitoring network has been augmented by 10 additional profiles since 1999 for a total of 120 along Bogue Banks. In 2005, Shackleford Banks, which encompasses a portion of the Cape Lookout National Seashore, and Bear Island (Hammock's Beach State Park) was added to the surveying regime to gain a better understanding of coastal dynamics on a regional scale.

Data obtained during monitoring surveys are used to calculate spatial changes of key landscape features over time, such as the toe of the dune, mean high water line, mean sea level, and the mean low water line. The surveys also plays an important role in quantifying the condition of the beach by measuring volumetric rates of erosion and accretion, confirming sediment volumes added by beach nourishment, tracks the movement of sand in the alongshore and cross-shore directions by comparative surveys, and compares beach conditions from one reach to another. Some of the key landscape features and volumetric boundaries are depicted in the figures below.

Graphic - Key landmarks & volumetric parameters for beach monitoring.ch mGraphic - Beach changes with Pine Knoll Shores inset.

Monitoring events are conducted on an annual basis, meaning that the profiles established along Bogue Banks, Shackleford Banks, and Bear Island are revisited once every year. Annual reports that summarize the key aspects of the surveys are presented to the Beach Commission on an annual basis. Electronic versions of these annual reports and other relevant monitoring reports are available below.

Annual Monitoring Reports:

Interim Monitoring Report(s):
2005 Post-Ophelia Report, (240 kilobyte .pdf file)

Bogue Inlet Flow Report(s):
2005 Report, (3.1 megabyte .pdf file)

SEA TURTLE MONITORING

The Bogue Banks Sea Turtle Monitoring program is a great example of how our Bogue Banks municipalities and resource agencies can work together to obtain useful information, and in this case, help protect our endangered sea turtles and satisfy one of the permitting requirements for the Bogue Banks Restoration Project. The Sea Turtle Monitoring Program is really a nesting program that was initiated in 2002, in which sea turtle crawl activity is observed and recorded westward from the Atlantic Beach/Pine Knoll Shores town boundary to Bogue Inlet, every day from May 1st to August 31st. In the past, sea turtle monitoring has been a voluntary effort coordinated by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC). The results of these past volunteer and the current efforts are summarized for the 1996-2007 nesting seasons in the table available below. One of the permit stipulations for the Bogue Banks Restoration Project was the implementation of a separate sea turtle monitoring program. To this effect, the Beach Commission retained the NCWRC and their expertise to conduct the monitoring program.

Each crawl is recorded as a nesting or non-nesting emergence. Nests are marked and protected using wooden stakes, flagging, and a protection sign. Once a nest has been laid, observations regarding nest fate (disturbances if any), hatch success (number of hatched versus unhatched eggs), and incubation temperature are recorded. Because incubation temperature determines the sex of hatchling sea turtles, certain nests are monitored continuously using a small datalogger. The sea turtle monitor also checks for dead or live-stranded sea turtles along the beaches of Bogue Banks, checks for escarpments (vertical faces) that prohibit turtles from reaching the upper beach, and will also check sand compaction along nourished and un-nourished portions of the beach. The sea turtle monitor also recognizes other endangered or threatened species such as piping plover and seabeach amaranth. Please call Kristin Holloman, the Bogue Banks sea turtle monitor at (252) 241-1064 if you see turtle nests that are unmarked, stranded sea turtles, evidence of nest disturbances, or other endangered or threatened wildlife.

Annual NCWRC Monitoring Reports:

2007 Report

2006 Report

2005 Report

2004 Report

2003 Report

2002 Report

Summary Sheet: (1996 – 2007)