Educational Resources and Outreach

This educational pamphlet explains how protecting inland rivers directly impacts the health of the Outer Banks’ beaches, wildlife, and ecosystems. It emphasizes what happens hundreds of miles inland—such as littering or chemical runoff—eventually affects the coastal environment.

This educational pamphlet encourages residents and visitors to care for the fragile ecosystems of the Outer Banks, North Carolina. It highlights the importance of conservation through awareness, simple actions,
and community involvement.

Artificial light along the Outer Banks disrupts wildlife and dims natural bioluminescence. Turning off bright lights, using amber bulbs, and supporting “Lights Out for Wildlife” help sea turtles, birds, and plankton thrive—and let nature shine again.

Every drop of rain that falls on our lawns ends up in the sea. Fertilizers and pesticides wash into canals and sounds, causing algae blooms, fish kills, and loss of seagrass. Choose native plants, compost instead of chemicals, and pull weeds byhand. Leave plant buffers near the water and use rain gardens or barrels to slow runoff. Together, we can keep the Outer Banks clean, healthy, and thriving.

This educational pamphlet explains how plastic pollution affects oceans, wildlife, and human health—while offering practical solutions for individuals and communities.

This guide educates the public about the environmental, health, and animal welfare impacts of fireworks — and to promote safer, eco-friendly celebrations.

This educational pamphlet highlights the vital role of oysters in maintaining the health and clarity of coastal waters around the Outer Banks, NC. It explains how pollution, sedimentation, and habitat loss have led to declining oyster populations — and what individuals and communities can do to restore them.

This guide promotes safe driving practices to protect local wildlife along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It serves as an educational resource for residents, visitors, and teachers, emphasizing that careful driving helps preserve the area’s biodiversity.

Key Messages:

Drive slow, stay alert, protect wildlife.
Roads cut through sensitive habitats — slowing down prevents collisions with animals crossing between wetlands, dunes, and forests.

Wildlife at risk: Deer, racoons, turtles and other wildlife frequently cross roads like NC-12, often at dawn, dusk, or night.

This guide promotes responsible shell collecting on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It emphasizes environmental stewardship, respect for marine life, and community participation in coastal conservation.

This educational pamphlet introduces readers to the Common Loon (Gavia immer)—a striking migratory bird that winters along the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It promotes awareness, respectful observation, and environmental stewardship.

This educational guide teaches residents and visitors how to maintain clean, safe bird feeders in the unique coastal environment of North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

This pamphlet promotes ethical and sustainable fishing practices to protect the ecosystems of the Outer Banks, NC. It aims to educate anglers, residents, and visitors on low-impact fishing techniques that support wildlife, water quality, and future fisheries.

This educational pamphlet promotes environmental stewardship across North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It explains the fragile ecology of these barrier islands and highlights key endangered and threatened species, why they matter, and how residents and visitors can help protect them.

This pamphlet serves as an educational resource to inspire awareness and protection of one of America’s most endangered species — the red wolf (Canis rufus).

This educational pamphlet emphasizes how the region’s persistent winds — from sea breezes to nor’easters and hurricanes — can easily scatter unsecured trash, creating serious environmental and community problems.

Restoration and Protection of the Barrier Island Dunes on the Outer Banks, explains how dunes—vital natural defenses formed by wind, waves, and vegetation—protect the coast from storms, erosion, and flooding while providing habitat for wildlife. It describes both naturally formed dunes and those reinforced by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s–40s, emphasizing the threats they face from human activity, invasive species, and climate change. The guide outlines practical restoration strategies such as planting native dune grasses, installing sand fencing, limiting foot traffic, preserving natural debris, and rebuilding dunes after storms. It encourages residents and visitors to support conservation through responsible access, native landscaping, and community involvement, reminding readers that healthy dunes safeguard homes, roads, and ecosystems while maintaining the beauty and resilience of North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Beach driving is a long-standing Outer Banks tradition, but it poses serious threats to fragile coastal ecosystems and wildlife. Vehicle traffic compacts sand, destroys dune vegetation, and accelerates erosion, while headlights, tire ruts, and noise endanger sea turtles, shorebirds, and small invertebrates essential to the beach food web. Damaged dunes reduce natural storm protection and harm both habitats and tourism. To balance recreation with conservation, drivers should stay on designated routes, avoid dunes and nesting areas, limit speed, and avoid night driving. Local organizations like the National Park Service, NEST, Audubon North Carolina, and the North Carolina Coastal Federation work to protect wildlife and restore dunes, reminding everyone that responsible driving and community stewardship can help preserve the Outer Banks’ beauty for generations to come.

This guide explains that offshore drilling poses major environmental, economic, and logistical risks to the fragile barrier islands of North Carolina. These islands, surrounded by vital habitats like Pea Island and Cape Hatteras, are highly vulnerable to oil contamination due to strong currents and storms. Potential harms include large spills and chronic pollution affecting marine life, fisheries, and birds, while seismic noise disrupts whales and fish. Economically, a single spill could devastate the region’s $2.7 billion tourism industry and local fisheries, and frequent storms would complicate cleanup. Although no Atlantic lease sales are planned under the 2024–2029 federal program, future policies could change. The Outer Banks Coastal Conservation urges communities to engage in public comment processes, plan for emergencies, and advocate for renewable energy alternatives to safeguard the Outer Banks’ wildlife, economy, and way of life.

This storybook Shipwrecks and Conservation: How History Shapes the North Carolina Coast explores how over 2,000 shipwrecks off the Outer Banks form a living link between history and nature. Once symbols of tragedy, these wrecks now serve as cultural artifacts, ecological reefs, and educational resources. The book highlights how storms and erosion reveal and reshape wrecks, while conservationists, archaeologists, and volunteers strive to protect them through research, sanctuaries, and public education. It emphasizes that shipwrecks harbor thriving marine ecosystems, face threats from looting, pollution, and climate change, and require responsible stewardship.

The guide “Proper Lawn Care for Wildlife and Pollinator Conservation” explains how homeowners can transform conventional lawns into thriving habitats that support biodiversity. It emphasizes reducing mowing frequency, avoiding chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and planting native species like seaside goldenrod, wax myrtle, and little bluestem suited to coastal North Carolina. The pamphlet encourages natural soil enrichment through compost and mulch, water conservation, and creating wildlife features such as bee hotels and birdbaths. It also highlights limiting light and noise pollution, practicing seasonal care, and engaging neighbors in pollinator-friendly practices. Ultimately, it connects backyard stewardship to broader ecosystem health—showing how small individual actions contribute to protecting dunes, marshes, and forests across the Outer Banks.

Planning for a Changing Coastline highlights how North Carolina’s barrier islands are dynamic, living landforms constantly reshaped by wind, waves, and storms. The guide explains that true resilience lies in coexisting with natural change rather than resisting it. It describes the science behind erosion, sea-level rise, and overwash processes, emphasizing that hard structures often worsen coastal erosion. Instead, the guide promotes nature-based solutions such as dune restoration, living shorelines, oyster reef building, and wetland preservation to stabilize land and support marine ecosystems. Community-based approaches—like the Resilient Coastal Communities Program, adaptive land-use planning, elevating structures, and managed retreat—are vital to reducing risks. The pamphlet calls for collaboration among residents, nonprofits, and government agencies to integrate ecological knowledge with policy tools like conservation and rolling easements. Ultimately, it portrays resilience as a mindset of flexibility and stewardship, ensuring the Outer Banks remain both habitable and ecologically vibrant for generations.

The Beach Bonfires and Wildlife: What You Need to Know guide explains how to enjoy traditional beach bonfires responsibly while protecting the fragile Outer Banks ecosystem. It outlines local regulations across towns and parks, emphasizing the need for permits, small fires below the high-tide line, and clean, untreated wood. The guide details how bonfire light, heat, and debris can harm sea turtles, shorebirds, dune vegetation, and nocturnal species like ghost crabs. It promotes “Leave No Trace” practices—fully extinguishing fires, removing all waste, and avoiding bright lights or loud sounds—to minimize ecological disturbance. Readers are urged to respect dune habitats, keep pets leashed, report injured wildlife, and appreciate the Outer Banks’ unique biodiversity by ensuring their fires “warm people, not harm wildlife.”

The guide “When the Coast Falls Silent: Understanding Sudden Wildlife Die-Offs” explains that sudden die-offs, or mass mortality events, occur when large numbers of marine or coastal animals die over a short time—often signaling deeper ecological stress. These events can stem from single or combined factors including harmful algal blooms, low oxygen (hypoxia), disease outbreaks, chemical pollution, temperature extremes, salinity shifts, and human disturbances like sonar. Each cause is detailed with local Outer Banks examples, such as algal blooms in Pamlico Sound or cold-stunned sea turtles near Cape Hatteras. The guide stresses prompt reporting to agencies such as NOAA, NEST, and the NC Wildlife Helpline to aid scientific monitoring and response. It closes by urging preventive actions—reducing fertilizer runoff, restoring wetlands, limiting noise and light pollution, and practicing responsible coastal stewardship—to help protect the region’s fragile ecosystems.

This guide explores the estuaries of the Outer Banks, where freshwater rivers meet the Atlantic’s saltwater to create one of North Carolina’s most vital and dynamic ecosystems. These interconnected lagoons, sounds, and marshes — including Currituck, Albemarle, Pamlico, and Core Sounds — serve as natural filters, storm buffers, and nurseries for countless fish, shellfish, and bird species, sustaining both biodiversity and coastal livelihoods. Over thousands of years, shifting sands and rising seas shaped these habitats, which now face growing threats from pollution, erosion, sea-level rise, and climate change. Through conservation practices such as living shorelines, oyster reef restoration, and community science, this guide highlights how individuals and organizations can help protect these waters. Rooted in centuries of Indigenous and coastal heritage, the Outer Banks’ estuaries remain living classrooms — vital to both the environment and the culture of North Carolina’s coast.

The pamphlet “Guardians of the Coast: The Maritime Forests of the Outer Banks” highlights the ecological, cultural, and climate importance of maritime forests — salt-tolerant woodlands that form the “green backbone” of North Carolina’s barrier islands. These forests stabilize dunes, reduce erosion, filter runoff, and serve as vital wildlife habitats and carbon sinks. Notable examples include Nags Head Woods, Buxton Woods, and Currituck Banks. Despite their resilience, they face growing threats from coastal development, sea-level rise, invasive species, and climate change. Conservation efforts led by groups like The Nature Conservancy and the National Park Service focus on restoration, replanting, and public engagement. The guide emphasizes that preserving these forests safeguards biodiversity, protects coastal communities, and maintains the natural and cultural heritage of the Outer Banks.

This guide, “Ocean Currents and Sand Movement Around the Outer Banks,” explains how wind, waves, and tides continually reshape North Carolina’s barrier islands. The Gulf Stream and Labrador Current meet off Cape Hatteras, fueling rich marine ecosystems but also creating dangerous shoals like Diamond Shoals. Longshore currents transport sand along the coast, causing both erosion and accretion, while storms and hurricanes periodically carve new inlets and push sand landward—vital processes that enable island migration. Human interventions such as beach nourishment, jetties, and coastal development disrupt this natural balance, increasing vulnerability. Sustainable approaches—like dune restoration, living shorelines, managed retreat, and monitoring programs—offer ways to coexist with this dynamic landscape. The guide concludes that resilience depends on letting the islands move naturally, preserving both ecological health and cultural heritage.

Gardening for the Outer Banks, North Carolina Coast is a guide that helps homeowners and educators design resilient, wildlife-friendly landscapes adapted to the region’s unique barrier island environment. It explains how native plants—such as sea oats, yaupon holly, wax myrtle, and muhly grass—stabilize dunes, reduce erosion, filter runoff, and support pollinators while requiring minimal maintenance. The guide outlines layered landscape strategies from dune to inland zones, recommends rain garden species for flood-prone areas, and warns against invasive plants like pampas grass and Japanese honeysuckle. Emphasizing seasonal care, water conservation, and community stewardship, it frames gardening as a form of ecological restoration—creating “living landscapes” that mirror the natural rhythms and resilience of the Outer Banks ecosystem.

The guide explains how climate change and rising seas are rapidly reshaping the Outer Banks, one of the most vulnerable coastal regions in the United States. It outlines why sea levels are rising faster in North Carolina—due to warming oceans, melting ice, land subsidence, and changes in the Gulf Stream—and details the resulting impacts such as beach and dune erosion, new inlet formation, groundwater rise, marsh loss, and threats to wildlife, homes, infrastructure, tourism, and fisheries. The document also highlights current adaptation efforts including beach nourishment, new bridges, living shorelines, and home relocation, and offers strategies for communities and individuals to support resilience through marsh protection, soft engineering, groundwater management, and future-focused planning. Ultimately, the guide emphasizes that while the Outer Banks will continue to change, informed action rooted in science and natural coastal processes can help the region adapt and thrive.

The Outer Banks of North Carolina are home to several sea star species—most commonly the Lined Sea Star, but also the Common Sea Star, Atlantic Slender Sea Star, and a few rarer offshore varieties—and their unique biology, including tube feet, external digestion, and sensitivity to temperature and surf, makes them vulnerable to being washed ashore during storms, strong currents, or sudden cold snaps. These strandings are usually natural events rather than ecological crises, and while some sea stars found on the beach may still be alive and can be gently returned to the water, many are already dead and should be left to decompose naturally. Sea stars play an important ecological role by regulating populations of clams and other invertebrates, and large wash-ups help scientists monitor changes in ocean conditions, sediment movement, and seasonal weather patterns.

Wampum of the Outer Banks, North Carolina explains how Indigenous peoples—including the Secotan, Croatoan, and other Algonquian-speaking communities—used quahog and whelk shells to craft meaningful beads and belts that served as tools for diplomacy, memory-keeping, ceremony, and cultural continuity, rather than as currency. The guide describes the crafting process, the symbolism of purple and white shell colors, and the role of wampum in recording treaties, genealogies, and stories, while also highlighting the Outer Banks’ rich coastal context where artisans shaped beads from abundant shells. It encourages modern visitors to respect the cultural significance of wampum, avoid misrepresenting it as money, and support Indigenous artists who continue this living tradition today.

The pamphlet explains that shell collecting on the Outer Banks is a cherished activity, but shells play vital ecological roles even after the original animal is gone — providing habitat, stabilizing beaches, supporting dune formation, and helping shorebirds forage and nest. While taking a few shells is generally harmless, large-scale or commercial removal can reduce wildlife habitat, increase beach erosion, and weaken the coastline. The guide encourages mindful collecting, avoiding rare or intact shells, steering clear of wildlife zones, and choosing broken shells or photography instead. The key message is balance: enjoy collecting, but leave enough shells to keep the beach functioning as a healthy, living ecosystem.

The Outer Banks of North Carolina are ever-shifting barrier islands whose history of conservation spans Indigenous stewardship, early European impacts, 20th-century engineering, and modern resilience planning. Indigenous communities lived lightly on the land, harvesting seasonally, respecting waterways, and allowing the islands to move naturally. European settlement brought logging, wetland drainage, overharvesting, and lighthouse construction, accelerating ecological stress. By the late 1800s, wildlife declines sparked early conservation efforts, followed in the mid-1900s by large stabilization projects—such as dune building and Highway 12—that attempted to control island movement but often worsened erosion. Since the 1980s, conservation has shifted toward protecting sea turtles, expanding wildlife refuges, restoring dunes and marshes, building living shorelines, and planning for climate-driven sea-level rise. Today, sea-level rise, narrowing islands, wildlife pressures, and heavy tourism pose major challenges, but by honoring both science and long-standing Indigenous principles, communities can help the Outer Banks adapt and thrive for future generations.

The guide explains how cigarette butts, vape waste, and other smoking materials pose a severe threat to the Outer Banks’ beaches, waterways, wildlife, and dune systems by leaching toxins, generating microplastics, causing fires, and harming animals such as sea turtles, birds, fish, dolphins, and crabs. It highlights why the Outer Banks are uniquely vulnerable—strong winds, narrow islands, dense wildlife, and heavy tourism all accelerate the movement of smoking litter into the ocean and marshes. The document also outlines public health risks, economic impacts, and community-level concerns, while providing practical solutions for individuals, families, pet owners, and local governments to reduce smoking waste through proper disposal, education, and receptacle installation. Ultimately, it emphasizes that removing even one cigarette butt helps protect the fragile barrier island ecosystem and ensures a cleaner, safer, and more resilient Outer Banks.

The Guide to Reducing Plastic explains how the unique geography, strong currents, storms, and high tourism pressure make the Outer Banks a major hotspot for plastic accumulation, threatening wildlife, water quality, public health, and the local economy. It describes how plastics enter coastal waters, break down into harmful microplastics, and impact species such as sea turtles, birds, dolphins, fish, and shellfish. The guide offers practical solutions for residents, visitors, businesses, schools, and local governments—including reducing single-use plastics, improving waste management, enhancing recycling, upgrading stormwater systems, adopting smart policies, restoring marshes, and creating living shorelines. It concludes with starter kits, community actions, and science-based recommendations to build a cleaner, healthier, plastic-wise Outer Banks.

The guide explains how tiny synthetic clothing fibers—shed during household laundry, outdoor towel shaking, and rental-home washing—have become the largest source of microplastic pollution in the Outer Banks, carried through septic systems, stormwater drains, and river-to-sound pathways into coastal waters where they harm oysters, fish nurseries, dolphins, shorebirds, marsh plants, and even local tourism and seafood safety. It details why the Outer Banks is uniquely vulnerable due to its coastal funnel effect, reliance on septic systems, and high seasonal visitor load, and it outlines practical solutions for residents, visitors, rentals, businesses, and local governments, including laundry filters, natural-fiber clothing, responsible washing habits, filtration infrastructure, marsh and oyster-reef restoration, and public education—all aimed at protecting clean water and the region’s ecological and economic health.

This guide explains that the Lined Seahorse (Hippocampus erectus) is a hidden but important resident of the Outer Banks’ seagrass meadows, salt marshes, and shallow flats, where it thrives in warm, calm estuarine waters and relies on camouflage, a prehensile tail, and constant feeding for survival. It highlights their unique biology—including male pregnancy—and their seasonal movements, while warning that seahorses are increasingly threatened by habitat loss, microplastics, warming waters, coastal development, storms, and bycatch. The guide stresses that protecting seagrass habitats, reducing microplastic pollution, promoting sustainable fishing, and supporting conservation planning are essential to their survival. Ultimately, safeguarding seahorses means protecting the broader estuarine ecosystems that support wildlife, fisheries, recreation, and coastal resilience in the Outer Banks.

Climate change is rapidly transforming the Outer Banks by intensifying droughts, heavy rains, and rising water temperatures, which together create severe stress on coastal ecosystems and marine life. These shifts drive salinity spikes, temperature swings, low oxygen events, harmful algal blooms, and bacterial outbreaks, all of which damage seagrass meadows, oyster reefs, salt marshes, tidal creeks, and essential nurseries. Species from sea turtles and dolphins to fish, shellfish, blue crabs, and shorebirds experience disrupted feeding, disease, habitat loss, and population declines. These ecological impacts ripple into human communities—affecting fisheries, tourism, and water quality—highlighted throughout the guide (see pages 3–14). Understanding these interconnected pressures is crucial for designing resilience strategies that protect both wildlife and coastal communities across the Outer Banks for future generations.

The Guide to Pelicans of the Outer Banks, North Carolina explains the two species found in the region—Brown Pelicans, which live there year-round, and American White Pelicans, which visit in winter—describing their appearance, feeding behavior, seasonal patterns, roosting habits, nesting ecology, and primary food sources. It highlights differences between the species, outlines key conservation challenges such as habitat loss, disturbance, and pollution, and provides guidance for responsible wildlife viewing.

The guide explains how the sand and dunes of the Outer Banks formed over millions of years—from the erosion of ancient Appalachian Mountains to shifting sea levels during the Ice Ages that pushed sediments landward and created early barrier islands. It describes how ocean waves, longshore drift, and wind continue to reshape the islands, how vegetation like sea oats traps blowing sand to build dunes, and how older “relict” dune systems differ from today’s young, shifting primary dunes. The guide also outlines human impacts—from early vegetation loss to the CCC’s dune-building efforts—and highlights modern threats such as storms, sea-level rise, and development, emphasizing the need for nature-based restoration and allowing dunes to move naturally for long-term coastal resilience.

The guide provides a clear, detailed overview of the Carolina ghost crab, explaining its remarkable adaptations for life on the sandy beaches of the Outer Banks, including its camouflage, speed, burrow engineering, and ability to survive both on land and in the water. It describes their diet, lifecycle, seasonal behavior, predators, and interactions with sea turtles, while also highlighting their role as key indicators of beach health. The guide outlines major threats—such as beach nourishment, lighting, dogs, and human disturbance—and offers practical beach-etiquette tips to help protect ghost crabs and their habitat, all while emphasizing their ecological importance and the need for responsible coexistence on North Carolina’s barrier islands.

The Sand Dollars of the Outer Banks guide explains what sand dollars are, how to distinguish live individuals from dead ones, and the important ecological roles they play in local coastal ecosystems. It describes their habitats, movement, diet, and life cycle, while also addressing why so many are found broken on Outer Banks beaches. The guide offers ethical tips for interacting with sand dollars, debunks myths about the “doves” and star patterns, and highlights threats from storms, heat, freshwater pulses, and ocean acidification. It also identifies the best places to find them and encourages beachgoers to protect these fragile animals as part of preserving the Outer Banks’ natural heritage.

The Migrating Birds of the Outer Banks guide provides an overview of how the Outer Banks’ barrier islands serve as a crucial stopover along the Atlantic Flyway, supporting more than 400 bird species each year through their mix of beaches, marshes, impoundments, and maritime forests. It explains seasonal migration patterns, highlights key species—from waterfowl and shorebirds to raptors and seabirds—and showcases Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge as a hotspot for both common migrants and remarkable rarities such as flamingos, spoonbills, and Eurasian vagrants. The guide also offers tips for ethical birding, describes how storms and climate change are reshaping habitats, and emphasizes the ecological importance of these islands as feeding, resting, and breeding grounds for birds traveling thousands of miles.