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Lea Island: For seabirds and sea turtles forever... with your help.

Lea Island and Hutaff Island, joined by the closure of Old Topsail Inlet, support the greatest number of Least Terns on the North Carolina Coast. Two hundred nesting pairs, 15% of all that nest in the state, depend on these islands for nesting.

North Carolina has a spectacular coastline with more than 350 miles of barrier islands. These islands are special places formed over hundreds of years of shifting sands and shaped by winds and water. From the inshore ocean to the beach, dunes, marshes and sounds, they abound with life.

Flounder, red drum and speckled trout are among just a few of the fish that cruise the inshore waters. Sanderlings forage for tiny invertebrates on the wet sand as waves recede. Loggerhead sea turtles haul themselves out of the ocean to lay more than 100 eggs in the sand above the tide line. Least Terns, Black Skimmers, American Oystercatchers and Piping Plovers build their nests and raise their families on the bare sandy beach. And the saltmarsh, one of the most productive habitats on the planet, supports all coastal life forms in one way or another.

More than 4,000 acres of tidal marsh and creeks serve as primary nursery areas for fish, shrimp and crabs, and support thousands of birds throughout the year.

Just north of Wilmington, between Wrightsville Beach and Topsail Island, is an island that has remained undisturbed by development, dredged sand or off-road vehicles. It has been battered by storms, flooded, overwashed and eroded, until it is now a low, narrow ribbon of sand. But this is the way it should be.

This ribbon of sand is an island of life where dozens of loggerhead sea turtles nest, hundreds of terns and skimmers nest, and thousands of shorebirds stop off during their long migrations. This narrow strip of sand, already declared a state-significant Important Bird Area, is one of the last and best on the Carolina coast.

If Audubon is successful, it will remain this way.

The National Audubon Society, in partnership with the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust, the State of North Carolina and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, is leading the way to protect Lea Island so it will remain forever a haven for birds, turtles and other wildlife. You can help! In order to protect this natural treasure, we are working to acquire the island it will forever remain a birds and other wildlife. To be successful, we need your help!

A loggerhead sea turtle makes her way back to the ocean after laying her eggs in a shallow nest on the beach. In 8-10 weeks, tiny hatchlings will emerge from the sand and scurry to the ocean under the cover of darkness with hopes of one day returning to nest on their own.

Your contributions to the Lea Island Conservation Initiative will help protect seabirds, sea turtles, and much more. Your support will be crucial to the protection of this natural treasure.

If you would like to help protect one of North Carolina's last and best barrier islands, please support the Lea Island Conservation Initiative and send your contributions to:

National Audubon Society
North Carolina State Office
Lea Island Conservation Initiative
7741 Market Street, Unit D
Wilmington, NC 28411
(910) 686-7527
wgolder@audubon.org