21 NEW CONSTRUCTION www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM crab population closely reflects the state of the beach ecosystem as a whole. “Their absence may tell us that something has happened to the sand … or that their food is not there. If those are absent, the ghost crab is going to be absent,” Wood stresses. “They are an indicator species, but what they indicate is a need for more study to figure out why the crab is not there.” As undeveloped beachfront prop-erty declines, there are threats to the ghost crab’s habitat. The crab’s biggest threat is beach nourishment efforts. Pumping new sand onto the inter-tidal zones fills burrows and kills crabs pulled into the dredge pipes, says Nancy Fahey, volunteer coordi-nator for the Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Project. Fahey says the introduction of this new sand brings toxins not naturally found on the beach, harming not just ghost crabs, but the habitat of every creature that is a part of the coastal ecosystem. “Unless you understand a lot about JUST REDUCED the ecosystem, you wouldn’t look at it as hurting the crabs. We may not realize at first glance what an impact it has; but it does, it definitely does,” Fahey says of the renourishment process. Ghost crabs are an active threat to animals such as sea turtles as the 437 Moss Tree Drive 1215 Pembroke Jones Drive chief cause of turtle egg and hatchling $752,400 $839,000 mortality. Sea turtle protection efforts, in particular, take specific measures JUST REDUCED to deter crabs from turtle nests and from hatchlings on their march toward the sea. “We just try to live with the ghost crabs,” Fahey says. “We don’t like for them to get the turtles, but we know that it happens. We try to get them out of the way as humanely 2122 Stillwater Place 2409 Ocean Point Place as possible. I’m a big believer that $1,449,000 $1,890,000 all things in an ecosystem serve a purpose.” 1720 Drysdale Drive • 910-256-6111 • www.landfallrealty.com
2014-8
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