Hurricane Sandy “Rapid Assessment” Study Finds Significant Habitat Damage from Virginia to Massachusetts, Including Connecticut

Participating Conservation Scientists from Connecticut Audubon Society Reviewed Six Critical Habitats Along the State’s Coast and Found Major Erosion that Could Hinder Vulnerable Coastal Breeding Birds

January 10, 2013 – In the days after Hurricane Sandy hit the coast, Connecticut Audubon Society’s conservation staff made field visits to six important habitats in the state and assessed the damage to the nesting areas of vulnerable birds such as Piping Plovers and Least Terns.

Conducted in conjunction with the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbird Conservation initiative, the work was included in a report issued today by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, titled “Hurricane Sandy Rapid Assessment.”

[Read coverage of the Audubon Alliance’s work in the New London Day, here.]

Coastwide, from Virginia to Massachusetts, the estimate to repair the damage Hurricane Sandy caused to important coastal habitats is $48.7 million. The report concludes that steps can be taken now to minimize the damage and prepare for the future:

“While assessments are still being developed, actions can be taken right away to mediate negative impacts from the storm, and perhaps most importantly of all, protocols can be put into effect that will help minimize the long-term secondary effects of future storms:

• rebuild and stabilize critical waterbird nesting islands;
• immediate repair to access sites for management of conservation lands
• assess and repair water control structures and pumps for managed wetlands;
• enhance stewardship capacity on beaches to protect newly created nesting habitat;
• clear debris and hazardous material from important waterbird habitat where possible; and
• develop and deliver Best Management Practices (BMPs) for federal and local coastal managers.”

Led by Anthony Zemba, Connecticut Audubon’s director of conservation services, and Sean Graesser, a conservation technician, CAS staff visited Milford Point; Sandy Point and Morse Point, in West Haven; Long Beach, in Stratford; Harkness Memorial State Park, in Waterford; and Bluff Point State Park, in Groton.

A seventh site, Griswold Point, in Old Lyme, was inaccessible because the storm severed its connection to the mainland. Information on Great Captains Island in Greenwich, the Norwalk Islands and other locations was obtained through phone interviews.

The Connecticut Audubon conservation scientists were able to make quick assessments and before-and-after comparisons because each of the Connecticut locations was included in the Audubon Alliance’s regular coastal waterbird monitoring and stewardship program in summer 2012. Funding for the Audubon Alliance was provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Long Island Sound Futures Fund.

To assess the storm damage, CAS conservationists looked for signs that vegetation had been scoured away by wind, tide and waves; for changes to beach topography caused by erosion; and for places damaged by flotsam and jetsam left by the high tides.

At each location, they found significant erosion to the barrier beaches that serve as breeding and migratory habitat for coastal birds such as Piping Plover and Least Terns (both listed as threatened in Connecticut and nationwide), as well as by American Oystercatchers (threatened in Connecticut).

At Sandy Point and Morse Point, eroded sand was deposited in an outlet channel. At Harkness, eroded sediment blocked the outlet of Goshen Cove, a tidal creek. Throughout, nesting areas on beaches and in salt marshes were strewn with debris.

Another Audubon Alliance member, Patrick Comins, director of bird conservation for Audubon Connecticut (a chapter of the National Audubon Society), contributed a report that pointed out that beaches are dynamic systems and that erosion and the displacement of sand and sediment is natural, and not always bad.

The conclusion was that last summer’s Audubon Alliance stewardship and monitoring program for beach-nesting birds needs to be continued to fully understand long-term effects, particularly as migratory birds begin to return in spring.

According to Comins and Zemba, all of the habitats are changed and although the birds are naturally adapted to taking advantage of new nesting areas, stewardship resources are needed to monitor how they react and where they move to; and to work with communities, land managers and beachgoers to minimize conflicts so we can share the shore with these fascinating and threatened birds. — Tom Andersen, director of communications and community outreach