Coastal Protection for Atlantic County

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $63.3 million contract to build engineered beaches and dunes in Margate and Longport and to replenish beaches in Atlantic City and Ventnor, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.

The Absecon Island Coastal Storm Damage Reduction project is a joint effort of the Army Corps’ Philadelphia District and the DEP.

DEP PHOTO/Atlantic City

“This project is vital to the protection of homes, businesses, lives and infrastructure in these Atlantic County communities,” Commissioner Martin said. “I want to thank the Army Corps of Engineers for working closely with the DEP to ensure this project moves forward as an important part of the Christie Administration’s integrated strategy to make our economically vital shore communities more resilient by protecting them from storms and flooding.”

“I'm proud of the efforts of the team that has worked so hard to move this project forward,” said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Philadelphia District Commander Lt. Col. Michael Bliss. “When complete, the engineered dune and berm will be one system with the purpose of reducing damages to the infrastructure on the island.”
The contract was awarded to Cranford-based Weeks Marine Inc. and covers about eight miles of shoreline stretching from Brigantine Inlet south to Great Egg Harbor Inlet. The contract amount could increase based on options for placement of additional sand based on conditions that exist when the sand is placed.

The Army Corps will issue a notice to Weeks Marine Inc. directing work to commence before the end of the year. The work is expected to be completed by October 2017.
Work involves constructing an engineered dune and berm system in Margate and Longport as well as the scheduled nourishment of the previously constructed sections of the project in Atlantic City and Ventnor.

The contract calls for a 200-foot-wide beach, also known as a berm, and a dune built to an elevation of nearly 15 feet above sea level for Atlantic City. A 100-foot wide berm and a dune to an elevation of nearly 13 feet above sea level will be built for Ventnor, Margate and Longport.

More than 3.8 million cubic yards of sand will be dredged from approved offshore areas and pumped through a series of pipes onto the beaches of the four municipalities. The sand will then be built into a dune and beach system designed to reduce potential damages to infrastructure, businesses, and homes that can occur from coastal storm events.
In addition, the contract includes the construction of public access dune crossovers, placement of sand fencing, dune grass plantings, and the repair or extension of existing storm water outfalls and drainage structures.
The Absecon Island project was only partially completed when Superstorm Sandy slammed the state in October 2012. The project in place helped to dramatically reduce damages along those sections of the island.

The Army Corps had completed the initial construction of the project at Atlantic City and most of Ventnor in 2004. These sections of the project received sand nourishment in the spring of 2012, months before Sandy. The areas were restored in 2013, just months after Sandy.

The Army Corps will closely coordinate with Weeks Marine on the construction schedule and will post updates to its project website when further information is available.

Completing the initial construction in Margate and Longport is funded entirely by the federal government through the 2013 Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, commonly known as the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill.

The periodic nourishment of the Atlantic City and Ventnor portion of the contract is cost-shared, with the federal government paying 65 percent of the project and the DEP paying 35 percent. Following the completion of initial construction, the project is eligible for continued periodic nourishment.

The Absecon Island project is one of several along the New Jersey coastline being funded by $1.2 billion appropriated by Congress to rebuild and strengthen the state’s beaches following Superstorm Sandy in October 2012. Many of these projects have either been completed or are well under way.

The coast-wide system of engineered beaches is part of an overall post-Sandy resiliency strategy. These efforts include hardening of infrastructure, developing innovative strategies to restore wetlands and build natural bay shorelines to buffer against storm surge, moving willing sellers out of harm’s way, and establishing new requirements for elevating structures in flood zones.

For more information on post-Sandy coastal projects in New Jersey, visit: www.nj.gov/dep/shoreprotection/projects.htm

SOURCE  nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2016/16_0114.htm

Humpback Whales Off NJ and NYC

An example of humpback whales lunge feeding - via Wikimedia

Humpback whales were spotted this month in both the Hudson River off New York City and also in Raritan Bay between Sandy Hook and Perth Amboy.

Both whales were lunge feeding which is when they lunge forward from the water taking in thousands of gallons of water and fish. It appeared that these whales had found a good supply of menhaden, a small forager fish that is known to fishermen as bunker..

These whales have found sufficient food to make a stop here worthwhile.

A humpback was also spotted off Belmar, NJ this month and reportedly damaged a boat that was too near. Those who come across the whale are urged to keep their distance.

Typically, these whales should be getting ready to head south for the winter.

It is a good sign that they are being seen here more frequently as it indicates cleaner water and more abundant fish. But the busy NY/NJ waterways are not really the safest areas for feeding due to waterway traffic.

Most whales are passing the coastline but will enter a bay when they find bait fish, however, we don't want them entering rivers like the Raritan or the Arthur Kill.

The behavior of these whales has been normal, so it doesn't seem that they are in any distress.

Unfortunately, about 80 miles from Manhattan, another humpback whale was stranded for a week in Moriches Bay (off the southern coast of Long Island). After being stuck in a sand bar in four feet of water for two days, it was euthanized by NOAA’s Marine Mammal Stranding Network,

Seabirds and Plastic Garbage

Petrel at sea

An article from Discovery discusses new research that answers why some seabirds consume so much plastic waste. The waste attracts them.

Eating plastic debris in the oceans by any sea life who mistake it for food is a major problem for marine conservation. In most cases - such as plastic bags and whales - it resembles a food that they normally eat. But new research found that in some cases it also smells like food.

Seabirds hone in on a specific chemical to locate food. That chemical is dimethyl sulfide (DMS). It is naturally produced by phytoplankton when crustaceans, squid and other small marine animals are feeding.

In a cruel twist, DMS is also produced by the algae that colonize pieces of plastic floating in the ocean.

Researchers tested three common plastics left in the ocean for three weeks and every bead contained a DMS signature above the threshold detectable by birds. The researchers looked at tube-nosed seabirds, that includes albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, and they were all attracted to DMS, but they feel it is likely other marine predators use the same mechanism to find prey.

Research: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/11/e1600395

Conserve Wildlife Grants Now Available to Nonprofit Groups

Nonprofit groups working on projects directly related to wildlife diversity and education in New Jersey may now apply to the Department of Environmental Protection for matching grants to help support their endeavors, DEP Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.

Bird Banding Grants ranging from $1,000 to $3,500 are offered through the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program, using revenues generated by the Conserve Wildlife License Plate renewal fund. Approved projects will be funded for a single year. The application deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday, December 15.

The awards are 50-50 cost share grants, and at least 25 percent of the grantee’s share of the project funding must be monetary. The remainder may be in-kind support. The grant program’s allotment for 2017 is $39,000.

Work that may be eligible for grants include education/outreach projects, research projects, management projects or habitat protection projects. Some examples of eligible projects include those that minimize conflicts between humans and wildlife, control invasive species, create pollinator habitat or Monarch waystations or that gather data on underrepresented rare species.

Since its launch in 2008, the program has awarded 67 grants totaling $198,000, all of which support a broad range of nongame wildlife research, management and education projects.

Only nonprofit 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) organizations are eligible to apply for the grants. Requests must be submitted electronically to MacKenzie.Hall@dep.nj.gov and award notifications are expected to be made by January 27, 2017.

For more information about the program, or for proposal guidelines, visit the Conserve Wildlife Matching Grant Program at www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/ensp/cwgrants.htm or call the Endangered and Nongame Species Program at (609) 292-9400.

APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR MATCHING GRANTS PROGRAM IS DECEMBER 15

Politics and the Environment

I avoid most things political on this blog, but we know that politics certainly plays a significant role in how conservation and environmental issues are handled.

An email this week from Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, said:

Yes, my heart sank when I heard Trump's rumored cabinet wishlist -- Sarah "Drill, baby, Drill" Palin as Secretary of the Interior; anti-EPA Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller as Secretary of Agriculture; fracking billionaire Harold Hamm as Energy Secretary.

Although I believe that what a candidate Trump said and what a president Trump will say and be able to actually do are very different, the idea that he said that in his first 100 days he would target putting Keystone XL in motion, canceling payments to UN climate change programs and lifting restrictions on coal and oil production has angered and motivated much of the pro-environment population.

Pay attention.

Support NJ's Endangered Wildlife With A Conserve Wildlife License Plate

When you buy a $50 Conserve Wildlife license plate, you not only let everyone know you believe in conservation. You let them know you're doing something about it. More than 80% of your payment, goes directly toward preserving our state's endangered wildlife.

That's crucial, because the New Jersey's endangered, threatened and nongame wildlife protection program receives no dedicated state funding and must depend completely on contributions from the general public.

Revenues from license plate sales (and the wildlife check-off on the state tax form) have made a difference in conserving wildlife that is threatened and endangered.

Conserve Wildlife license plates may be purchased during the motor vehicle registration cycle at a Motor Vehicle Commission agency, at any New Jersey automobile dealer when buying or leasing a new car, or by calling 1-888-486-3339 on weekdays to request an application to purchase a license plate via mail.

To learn more about the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s “Drive Conservation Home” License Plate Program, visit: www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/ensp/plates.htm

Follow Endangered New Jersey on Twitter

Follow us on Twitter for a daily post on news about endangered species and the environment.  You don't need to have a Twitter account to see our posts - just to retweet and interact with us.

twitter.com/Endangered_NJ

Here's a sampler:

Tweets by @Endangered_NJ

Are Bees Now Endangered?

Seven types of bees once commonly found in Hawaii are now facing extinction. They became the first bees to be added to the federal list of endangered and threatened species, according to U.S. wildlife managers. The listing decision classifies seven varieties of yellow-faced or masked bees as endangered.

Recent surveys found their populations have plunged in the same fashion as other types of wild bees – and some commercial ones – elsewhere in the United States.

Closer to New Jersey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed listing the rusty patched bumble bee for federal protection as an endangered species.

This pollinator was once widely found in the upper Midwest and Northeastern United States, but has been in decline the past two decades. This would be the first bee in the continental United States formally proposed for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Not surprisingly, the decline is due to disease, pesticides, climate change and habitat loss.

rusty patched bumble bee by Dan Mullen on Flickr

So named for a reddish "rusty" blotch on its abdomen, the Bombus affinis has declined both in numbers and distribution by more than 90 percent since the late 1990s, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. The rusty patched species is one of 47 varieties of native bumble bees in the United States and Canada.

A separate report from beekeepers in South Carolina was that they found millions of bees dead in their hives that were victims of acute pesticide poisoning from Naled, meant for controlling mosquitoes.

This past year our nation's beekeepers reported losses of 44% of their bees. Some research shows the cause as the rise of another class of pesticide called neonics.

Population numbers for wild bees are much more difficult to document than those in honey bees, as managed commercial beekeepers carefully track their hives.

Bumble bees are distinguished from domesticated honey bees, but they are essential pollinators of wildflowers and about a third of U.S. crops. Their annual economic value to farms is estimated at $3.5 billion.

Endangered Species Act status would help safeguard the bumble bee and is really the only way that there would be any legal strength in requiring further action.

Questions on Endangered Species

I occasionally get email or comment to the blog asking about how to report a sighting of a rare species and questions about identifying a species seen. Although I have been a volunteer with the Endangered and Nongame Species program for quite awhile, I'm no expert on all the flora and fauna of the state.

Recently you might have seen a post I put up about a frog species that a reader wanted to identify. I was hoping the "wisdom of the crowd" might identify it.

And this month I also got an inquiry from someone in Hillsborough who sees a peregrine falcon in a nearby woods regularly. "Anonymous" wondered if that might help prevent development of those woods.

I replied that the appearance of an endangered species doesn't immediately qualify an area for protection, though nesting might. I suggested looking at http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/protecting/projects/peregrine/ and trying to use the contact listed there.

Also, there is information from the state about reporting a rare species at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/rprtform.htm

And if you have suggestions about that frog or the peregrine situation, or other people and places to contact about endangered and threatened species, please leave a comment.