When I moved to Wilmington in 1999 Shell Island was about to go into the ocean and condos were selling for $30,000. When I left in in 2004, there was plenty of sand all around and condos are now selling for $250,000, the new sand is home to lots of birds and environmentalists are, gasp, happy:
When Mason Inlet was moved 3,000 feet north six years ago to protect Shell Island Resort and other properties at the northern end of Wrightsville Beach, no one knew whether turning the old inlet channel into a bird preserve would work.
Nesting and migrating shorebirds had first started congregating on the sandy spit when it was attached to Figure Eight Island. But with the inlet relocation, the area went from being a largely inaccessible part of a private island to the northern tip of a popular beach town.
The first nesting season after the relocation reflected the biologists' worst fears.
Wood said only six birds tried to nest, and all failed.
But additional signs, a rope fence, an on-site presence and aggressive enforcement have turned the area into a little piece of waterbird nirvana.
