Salt In Our Blood
By: Taylor Holbrooks
Three towns, two counties, one island: Topsail Island.
“Growth is like a runaway freight train here,” said Jan Farmer, former Topsail Island resident.
Commercial development began on Topsail Island in 1948 and they never looked back. Realtors, retirees, vacationing families, and tourists flock to the island each year. Airbnb listings and hotels boast the area’s “golden, sandy beaches and crystal blue waters.” What’s not to like?
Aerial imagery of Topsail Island in 1950 (Ocean City Beach Citizens Council).
But as the population has grown, the island continues to shrink.
“We’ve seen development on the rise in North Carolina. And, you know, historically we've had really old towns here, and they're just kind of sitting and experiencing climate change themselves,” said Antonio Rodriguez, professor at the University of North Carolina, Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, who studies how coastal environments respond to sea-level rise, storms and human impacts.
“And then we have this population of people that have vacation homes down here and people who move down here seasonally and rent out houses. And so that is just adding to the risk,” Rodriguez said.
North Carolina's coast has experienced a significant sea-level rise of approximately 3 inches, since 1998. As a result, the three beaches on the island – Topsail Beach, Surf City and North Topsail Beach – are shrinking at a rate of two feet per year, which will effectively wipe out the entirety of the beach, where the road and water will meet by 2080.
By the time children currently in preschool are graduating college, Topsail Island will be significantly eroded or underwater. Projections determine sea levels could rise an additional 10 to 12 inches by 2050, according to North Carolina Sea Grant.
Through lawsuits, sandbags and severe coastline degradation, residents still occupy homes on North Topsail Beach (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
N.C.’s flat coastal landscape means even a slight increase in sea level can inundate extensive areas of coastal land. Tropical storms and hurricanes have been a persistent threat to the livelihood of Topsail.
From 1991 to 2020, the tropical Atlantic averaged 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes per year. However, recent seasons have been significantly more active due to warm water across the Atlantic.
A record-setting 30 named storms occurred in 2020, followed by 21 tropical storms in 2021 and 20 in 2023. The same conditions that fueled these active seasons are converging again in 2024.
“We still have people on our coast with tarps on their roofs from Hurricane Florence,” said Sarah Spiegler, the Coastal Resilience Specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant.
A demolished home sits at Public Beach Access #39, on the border of Surf City and Topsail Beach. The home was battered by hurricanes and coastal storms, resulting in its eventual collapse (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
To make matters worse, N.C.’s coast is also sinking because of tectonic forces. This is where the freight train has begun to pick up speed.
The result is a relative sea-level rise about twice the global average. The people of Topsail are experiencing the toll the environment is taking on the island each day. This is why immediate, large-scale action is essential—not only to mitigate the effects of climate change but also to preserve the island for future generations. Protecting Topsail Island means safeguarding its natural beauty, local economy, and community heritage. Every day presents a new opportunity to join this environmental movement and ensure the beach remains a place for everyone to enjoy.
With a consistent rate of on-shore development added to the equation, these coastal communities are forced to reconcile with a shrinking future.
10 houses sit on a sand road, where New River Inlet Road merges with the dunes. The sea grows closer to these houses each day and they remain inhabited (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
Jan Farmer is a North Carolina native and has spent time on Topsail Island her entire life. After moving to the area 10 years ago, she has become the “connective tissue” between the area’s various environmental groups. Farmer is a Coastal Ambassador for the North Carolina Coastal Federation and 2019 Coastal Ambassador of the Year, an active member of Topsail Island Longboard Association (TILA) and an advocate for environmental education.
From small actions like picking up trash from marshes and beaches to big actions like attending public meetings to address environmental concerns and working to ban single-use plastics and styrofoam from local businesses, Farmer is joined by a community of go-getters. Their goal is simple, to preserve Topsail Island’s ecosystems for future generations to enjoy, just as they have.
“We moved off the island to Hampstead a little over two years ago,” Farmer said, “because we started thinking how sustainable is it to live on-island with the way things are heading.”
The ocean-front condos on North Topsail -- constructed in the 1990s -- are bolstered by sandbags, which are attempting to prevent the beach from further erosion. Many of the sandbags have washed away and this section of the beach is inaccessible to residents and visitors (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
North Topsail Beach ranked in the top 10 list of trending, domestic destinations last year. The area continues to gain national attention which feeds its profitable tourism industry, employing more than 924 people in Pender County and generating $37.1 million in total payroll, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce’s 2021 report.
“It’s amazing to me how many people want to be here, where there should be a climate fight,” Farmer said.
The people who are a part of that climate fight are fighting fiercely.
And while they are all fighting the same environmental forces threatening the island, the approaches differ because the island is home to three towns with different zoning laws, ordinances, culture and just about everything else. Policies across the island differ, from golf cart permissions and free parking to beach renourishment strategies and plastic and styrofoam use. Despite these differences, many of the area’s people are united by the common goal to preserve the island.
This community consists of surfers, oyster farmers, teachers, mayors and veterans. To them, there is no role too small and no mission too big in the fight to protect Topsail.
Keystone Species
Liz Sadler has lived in the Topsail area for more than 30 years, is a water enthusiast, and friend of Farmer. Her love for kitesurfing has connected her to the area’s environmental movement for decades.
Morris Landing Road deadends into Stump Sound, the water that lies between Topsail Island and the mainland. Sadler began kitesurfing, paddling and teaching swim lessons there in the 1980s.
Stump Sound faces three main issues today, water pollution, erosion and a stressed shellfish population, similar to most everywhere in the region.
“Over time, it just became a dump,” Sadler said.
Liz Sadler (left) and Jan Farmer (right) monitor the Morris Landing site and remove marine debris and litter from the shorelines (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
Years of polluted runoff from development and clearing, combined with erosion from boat wakes and shoreline hardening from development, have left Stump Sound’s invaluable marsh habitat in a vulnerable state.
Dr. Antonio Rodriguez
“Just day-to-day, we do what we can to help the places we love,” Sadler said.
Sadler is one of hundreds of volunteers with the North Carolina Coastal Federation where they focus on coastal protection on many levels. Volunteers clean up marine debris from estuarine shorelines, table at events and festivals, distribute recycled oyster shells to generate new oyster reefs, and plant marsh grasses. These hands-on roles give community members a targeted approach to protecting the ecosystems around them.
From the sky, the living shoreline sills form a small dark line contouring the outline of the Morris Landing marsh. The waves crash into the sills, effectively diverting energy from crashing into the shoreline which will allow the marsh grass and natural buffers to grow (Photo: Coastal Federation)
The Coastal Federation and its network of volunteers and staff have dedicated decades of work to bolstering the coastline through natural mitigation strategies. Partnering with Marine Fisheries (DMF), Coastal Federation secured nearly $1 million from the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund to purchase Morris Landing in 2004. This funding initiated projects to restore salt marsh and oyster habitat, enhance public access and protect the waters of Stump Sound.
Since 2005, Coastal Federation has partnered with various groups to complete six shoreline restoration projects. The most recent project, completed in February 2021, involved constructing a 225-foot living shoreline using oyster sills and marsh grass.
Sadler and Farmer are active members of N.C. Coastal Federation and both participated in the restoration projects. From planting marsh grass, to monitoring the Stump Sound property, to placing the “40-something” pound oyster sills in the marsh.
Coastal Federation has installed a total of 11,500 feet of living shorelines and has 74 active projects along North Carolina’s coast.
The living shorelines offer an effective, natural way to address shoreline erosion by creating new habitats for oysters, shellfish, marsh grass and other marine life to grow on. The habitat values, erosion control, and filter effects of living shorelines compare well with natural marsh and act as a natural barrier to environmental threats.
Living shoreline sills trace the shoreline of Morris Landing, generating oyster growth and providing a habitat for marine life. The barrier this provides allows for marsh grass to regenerate and strengthen the shoreline from erosion and hardening (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
“The places where we have installed living shorelines faced better than bulkheads during hurricanes,” Farmer said. “We are already seeing them make a difference.”
This focus on preserving and restoring the natural environment extends beyond shorelines and into the water itself. Matt Schwab is the founder and owner of Hold Fast oyster farm in Sneads Ferry where he has two leases, one at the mouth of the New River – near the shore of North Topsail Beach – and the other in Stones Bay.
As the local population has surged and development has increased, Schwab said the oyster farming community is no stranger to the challenges posed by water pollution and runoff.
“Oysters are a keystone species,” Schwab explains. “They filter and clean the water, which is great, that’s what makes them so crucial to the ecosystem. But they’re also incredibly sensitive to changes in water quality.”
Farmed oysters provide some of the same environmental benefits that wild oysters do including, improved water quality and forming a natural barrier to lessen the effects of wave action and shoreline erosion. The oyster farming industry is sustaining the area’s waterways for a healthier future.
Matt Schwab -- founder and owner of Hold Fast oyster farm -- and Morgan Klein flip and off-bottom oyster cages. These cages are designed to float high in the nutrient rich water column where single oysters grow faster when not crammed into a space with too many other oysters competing for food. Schwab and Klein take cages out of the water that are ready to be sorted and return to shore to tumble the oysters (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
Schwab said he is thankful that Hold Fast has not experienced any oyster mortality due to runoff in the farm’s decade of operation.
“The goal is to not just to farm oysters but also to be stewards of the environment,” Schwab said. “We want to make sure these waters are actually healthy for future generations.”
Hold Fast is a part of the Shellfish Growers Climate Coalition, a group of farmers like Schwab who are dedicated to running an environmentally focused farm. That includes practices such as recycling oyster shells and hosting farm ecotours to educate the community on sustainable aquaculture and the positive impacts oysters have on the region.
For the People, By the People
Ecotourism is a self-sustaining practice that allows visitors to boost the local economy and engage with local issues.
Chris Lener saw this industry as an opportunity to transform her 25 years of teaching experience into an eco-education program.
Lener founded Funky Fins three years ago. It’s a family-oriented, marine education program that invites locals and tourists to adventure into marshes and along beaches to learn about the area’s ecosystems and how to protect them. The “Learning with Loggerheads” program brings families out to get hands-on experience learning about the local sea turtle population and what is threatening their habitats. In all of Lener’s programs she equips families with the tools and understanding they need to become more educated and active conservationists in their day-to-day lives.
“We’re just conservation-focused people. Around here we don’t just talk about it, we do it,” Lener said.
Chris Lener and her son Joey Lener, who is a fellow educator, guided a dozen families through their "Explore the Shore" program. Children and parents dove head-first into the immersive event, finding marine life along Topsail Beach's shores (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
The programs invite people to go beyond their enjoyment of the beach and become informed conservationists improving their “ocean literacy.” Lener said she hopes Funky Fins is creating a network of inspired and educated citizens who can contribute to the environmental mission to protect the area for future generations.
Veteran families participated in Funky Fins' "Explore the Shore" program on April 27, where Chris Lener guided families along Topsail Beach. Parents and their children searched for sea life in the sand and learned about how the coastal environment is changing (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
“Making the programs more family oriented let me hit a multitude of generations, starting with the little itty bitty kids to their parents who are worried about the health of our oceans,” Lener said.
Building a strong foundation of adults who are engaged with environmental issues, will help raise the next generation of environmental advocates.
Ears to the Ground
The Topsail Island Longboard Association shares the same mission as Funky Fins. Corey Sydes was born and raised in the Topsail area and he has been surfing the island’s waters for three decades.
“This is the only home I’ve known,” Sydes said. “Nobody knows these beaches better, really nobody knows this community better than the surfers.”
Sydes is a part of the area’s close-knit surfing community, where surf etiquette and conservation go hand in hand.
In 2017, Sydes started Topsail Island Longboard Association (TILA), a nonprofit founded with the goal of unifying the community with the ocean. Sydes said he grew up with a “troubled” surfing community, where young surfers were getting “caught up in the wrong stuff.” Sydes’s best friend died by overdose 10 years ago.
“This is our way to reach that younger generation,” Sydes said. “We have older surfers who can be those mentors and those friends to them in the water. That’s what our community needs.”
On May 21, Audrey Mills (center) received a scholarship from TILA for $2,000 for her upstanding environmental dedication and academic performance. Larry Rice (left) gave a scholarship dedication speech for Mills and the members of TILA celebrated her accomplishment (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
TILA brings together community members, surfers and non-surfers alike, to join efforts to protect the area’s natural ecosystems. The nonprofit conducts weekly beach cleanups, recently expanding those efforts to all of three beaches on the island.
One of TILA’s primary outreach initiatives is awarding young students who are committed to protecting North Carolina’s coast. TILA’s outreach is rooted in uniting generations to give back to the island and environment.
“They know the water. They can tell you what has changed in the water,” Lener said about Topsail Island’s surfing community.
The members of TILA -- including Jan Farmer, Chris Lener, Larry Rice and founder, Corey Sydes -- celebrate the expansion of their beach cleanup initiative. The group will now have volunteers cleaning across the island every Monday at 8 a.m. (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
As the island continues to react and adapt to natural and anthropological changes, the surfing community continues to strategize on how to keep the island healthy through the change.
Two years after TILA was founded, OceanFest was born. TILA became a sponsor for the new festival and there was a natural bond between the two nonprofits because they were founded with the same goal in mind.
OceanFest was founded by three surfers who had a dream to unite the community under a strong environmental movement and to share their love for nature. Mark Anders is one of OceanFest’s founders, Sydes’s close friend and a longtime surfer. He said OceanFest is “all about giving back to Mother Ocean.”
The festival has run for three years in October and won 12 different awards, including “Best Green Initiative” by Southeast Festivals & Events Association.
The festival features a vintage surf competition, music festival, 5K beach run, educational tabling and a free adaptive surf experience for children with autism and wounded veterans.
“These organizations are like the Trojan horses. You get people excited about being a part of something and in the process they’re learning things, you know. It builds that foundation of education through a shared interest, like surfing,” Anders said.
Beyond the Grave
The groups focused on improving Topsail’s environmental outcomes are thinking and acting on the here and now and the future simultaneously. You see that in the efforts to clean beaches, create a healthy shellfish population, educate the community, fight for change and fund scholarships for future environmentalists.
And the island’s aging environmental advocates are also thinking about how they might commit themselves to helping the ocean after they pass away.
Eternal Reefs is a 501(c)(3) that provides a green funeral option by designing reef systems across the East Coast. Each “reef ball” is made of cremated remains and environmentally safe concrete that are made into permanent memorials and placed on the ocean floor. After the memorial reefs are placed, they create new marine habitats and serve as a natural reef barrier for the island. Topsail is one of nine locations that Eternal Reefs operates in.
Jeannette Regetz's daughter (left) and granddaughter (right) trace her reef ball inscription, "Caring soul, lover of family, friends & nature." Families can keep the traced impression to remember their loved one after their reef ball is placed on the ocean floor (Photo: Taylor Holbrooks).
13 families gathered in the Karen Beasley Turtle Hospital parking lot on April 5, where they brought their loved ones’ remains to be mixed with concrete and poured into their concrete reef ball.
Each deceased person has their chosen inscription on their reef ball, a final testament to their life.
Many of the inscriptions are a testament to each person’s passion for the ocean. This final act was made with great intention, to be a part of something that will continue to generate life and protect the land they love.
