Coastal Environments
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Massachusetts and New Jersey
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COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS
Marine coastal areas are among the richest and most ecologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. These delicate coastal environments are highly vulnerable to environmental stresses, and over the last few decades we have come to increasingly understand the profound and long lasting damage that marine oil pollution can have on these unique and precious marine environments.
Learn more about the coastal environment in Massachusetts and New Jersey and the impact of oil spills on these vital marine ecosystems.
Learn more about the coastal environment in Massachusetts and New Jersey and the impact of oil spills on these vital marine ecosystems.
Photo Credit: CGP
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Photo Credit: Jennifer Smits / FEMA
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Photo Credit: CGP
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The Atlantic Flyway
Major flyways in the US. The Atlantic flyway in marked in purple. Credit: US Fish & Wildlife Service
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Both Massachusetts and New Jersey are central stops on one of the major flight paths travelled by birds in North America.
In the Western Hemisphere, birds typically migrate in a north-south direction. There are several places where the paths of migratory animals cross and concentrate like smaller tributaries feeding into a river. These migratory paths for birds are called flyways. The Atlantic Flyway is bordered by the Appalachian Mountains to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. |
The New Jersey Flyway funnel
In New Jersey Prevailing westerly winds carry migrating birds down the coastline where they get funneled into an ever-tighter cone that starts in Camden and peaks at the Cape May County peninsula. Every year, an estimated 425,000 to 1,000,000 migratory shorebirds converge on Delaware Bay to feed and rebuild energy reserves before continuing further north to their breeding grounds.