Virginia's Barrier Island: Chincoteague and the National Wildlife Refuge-Biodiversity Management

Soundscapes of Summer This is for all the nature-loving, outdoor camping, backyard exploring, curiosity-driven, children of summer.   The art of listening to the sounds of nature can soothe the soul, but identifying those sounds can put to rest the fears of those who are frightened by what may be lurking in the shadows.   Amphibians and Reptiles of North Caroline website,  herpsofnc.org ,  is a colorful and user-friendly website that can help the novice as well as the intermediate nature lover conquer their fear of the wild and appreciate the sights and sounds of their natural environment. The young and young at heart will find it easy to navigate the simple and prominent page headings.   The layout of the homepage is unencumbered by graphics, chart, forms, and small writing.  The automatic slideshow that begins once you land on the page shows a picture of the animal that would best fit into each one of the headings on the...

Climate Change is imminent for everyone. The Barrier Islands of Virginia especially are no different.  This post examines the climate data of the Barrier Island region of Virginia.  It particularly looks at Chincoteague and Assateague Island's waters.  How do ocean currents behave near this stretch of ocean territory?  An element of Assateague Island beach that we found most shocking was the temperature of the water.  It was incredibly cold. So cold in fact that it was painful to stay in the water even though the temperature was a very balmy 101 degrees and a heat index of 110.  Surely there is an explanation as to why the water was so cold. With these questions and concerns in mind, I chose to look for an explanation.  I started with the NOAA website formerly known as the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).  It is now the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/regional_climate/ This w...