(seagulls shrieking) (gentle music) (waves crashing) - [Gregory] Rhode Island, known by many as the ocean state, may be the smallest state in the US, but its waters tell a story deeper than most.

Along its coastline, the state contains bountiful shoreline and marine ecosystems that are integral to the New England region.

From the rich salt marshes that harbor hunting ground for wading birds and other animals, to rocky shores where the rigid coastline provides habitat for countless species of aquatic animals.

In this often overlooked region in Southern New England, mammals, fish, and countless other creatures call the ocean home.

Along these shores, a story unfolds, one that's on the front doorstep for many locals who live on the coast.

If you walk along its beaches, you can encounter some of the most important coastal environments in the world.

It's this area where the sky, sea, and shore meet.

(gentle music) (seagulls shrieking) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (water swirling) The ocean and the land, neither one can thrive without the other.

Here in New England, our coastlines are the heartbeat of the ecosystems around them.

Countless forms of life have grown up alongside these shores, each one playing its part in tying these worlds together.

It's nature's interconnection at its very best.

(water splashes) - Even as a person who works at the intersection between the land and the water, I often forget how connected they are, but if you zoom out and you're looking at things like satellite imagery, you really get to see how fragmented the land is with the water and how interconnected those two really are.

- [Gregory] Evidence of this interconnectivity can be seen farther inland every year during the season of renewal.

(frogs shrieking) It's spring in New England.

The frogs and toads begin to call, and leaves begin to form on the trees.

The world is waking up after a long and trying winter.

The streams during this time are almost fresh out of the thaw, but that doesn't stop a determined fish species from making a very important journey.

The river herring.

This name refers to two different species of fish, alewife and blueback herring.

These fish move from the ocean upstreams to ponds and lakes where they lay their eggs, making the species anadromous.

(water swirling) Schools of fish migrate through June and make up a very important ecological role, bringing nutrients from the sea into these fresh bodies of water.

- They're really important food species for birds, snapping turtles, river otters, and things like that.

In the early spring when their migration happens, there's such limited food resources that all of these species are really excited to see all the river herring come up, and that helps move those nutrients farther into the land.

- [Gregory] But in the way of these fish, an obstacle continues to grow.

Development of dams and low bridges have become a major obstacle for river herring.

Where calm streams once freely flowed now stands towns and roads.

Both species of river herring already have enough to deal with, their populations crashing by over 90% since the mid-1980s due to commercial overfishing and bycatch.

Now they have a hard time even getting to their breeding grounds.

Fortunately, there are local communities that are here to help.

Seeing that the herring got trapped in different choke points, a plan was made to help the herring reach their breeding grounds.

A combination of environmental groups, including the Nature Conservancy, state agencies, and citizen science initiatives work to produce effective ways for the migrating fish to get past these stopping points.

Through much work and trial and error, they were able to build a way for the herring to traverse through developed areas on their own, using a handy new addition to the dam, fish ladders.

(water pattering) (gentle music) These structures create a way for herring to swim up developed parts of rivers, mimicking waterfalls and rushing streams.

Through sheer will, luck, and lots of practice, the herring make their way up the fish ladders.

They jump and flop through each section all the way up each ladder before they push through into the lake.

(upbeat music) River herring are a harbinger of spring and a marker for the return of many migratory species.

Not far off are other species who have begun to return, including a hallmark bird of ocean environments who can be seen catching river herring for dinner.

The osprey, AKA the fish hawk, can be seen patrolling the skies during spring and summer in New England.

These charismatic birds are experts at hunting for fish.

Quite often on the coastline, they can be seen plunging talons first into the water to catch fish.

(triumphant music) (water splashes) (triumphant music continues) If successful, they bring back fish to their nest to feed their young.

Ospreys have had a difficult past.

In the '70s and '80s, DDT use caused a massive population crash that almost pushed the species to the brink of extinction.

Through intensive conservation efforts, the osprey have returned.

Today, nesting platforms have been erected throughout the region to help them nest in develop coastal areas.

Many of these platforms are located right in one of the most important ecosystems in the world, salt marshes.

(gentle music) Salt marshes are recognized as one of the most biologically productive ecosystems on the planet.

These habitats exist on the interface of fresh water and salt water systems.

For some species, it's a nursery.

For others, a feeding ground.

(birds chirping) Dominating these environments are different types of marsh grasses, which provide habitats for invertebrates and fish and more.

The marsh fiddler crab.

This small charismatic crustacean is one of the most recognizable crab species in the world, measuring only one to two inches wide.

The males have a massive claw used for sparring and attracting mates.

While they may seem insignificant, these crabs are the architects of the salt marsh.

While the tide rises and falls, the crabs stay busy burrowing in and out of the mud.

Together, thousands of fiddler crabs work as ecosystem engineers, shaping the way salt marshes develop and function.

When fiddler crabs burrow, they increase soil drainage and aerate low oxygen marsh sediment, enhancing the breakdown of organic material below ground.

The activities of these small crabs can help with the cycling of nutrients and can even enhance marsh grass growth.

Keeping the grass healthy is vital for another species, another hallmark animal of these environments, the salt marsh sparrow.

This tiny bird builds its nests on the grass and divots in the marsh, timed and placed perfectly with the tide.

The nests themselves are sheltered with a dome-like structure, built to camouflage the eggs which are laid in a weave nest of high marsh grasses.

Because salt marsh sparrows nest on the ground, these birds have been subject to population loss, largely because of sea level rise from climate change.

On a calm summer morning, a group of biologists gather.

(gentle music) The team is made up of biologists and field techs from Save The Bay, U.S.

Fish and Wildlife, and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

Through teamwork, the group has made tagging sparrows efficient.

- North to south orientation.

So remember where your long neck kind of ended across the channel last night- - These are all the different survey points.

You can see the nesting activity.

- [Gregory] The first thing to do is set up the mist nets, a common way to catch birds that is made of materials flexible enough so it does not injure the bird.

- Coming across, let's maybe do like four nets or so and see what they're thinking because we could always angle it either way.

(gentle music continues) These nets catch everything, even humans, so if you're walking along and you have a zipper or something, it will catch.

(gentle music continues) Projections for salt marsh sparrows will be extinct in like the next 30 years or so.

I forget if it was 2045 to 2055, but basically like functionally extinct.

Nests lost due to flooding is like the biggest pressure on it.

And so a lot of times like the canary in the coal mine for like the salt marsh.

There's basically tons of other tidal marsh birds out here and different other species we could talk about, but just the salt marsh sparrow, they nest on these high marsh grasses, it can survive some flooding.

Though the nest can, as long as the eggs don't float out of the nest cup, they can be inundated if it's an hour or less or so, but they're just very vulnerable.

- [Gregory] Once the nets are organized, it's time to catch some birds.

- About to push some salt marsh sparrows into some mist nets we have set up on that side of the marsh here, so we're all gonna essentially walk slowly, flap, try to corral birds gently towards the nets and we'll track them, process them, put some bands on them, learn a whole lot about how restoration is doing for them.

- [Gregory] Working is one, the team moves along together, flushing birds into the mist nets.

(gentle music) The salt marsh sparrows can be hard to find, but with the team moving as a unit, many sparrows get caught in the nets.

Carefully, the biologists untangle the birds and put them in sacks.

The soft dark interior calms the bird down while they're being transported and stowed back at the research camp.

Now comes the important part, the data collection.

The team again uses teamwork to their advantage, each member having a specific role in the process.

- It might retain these and not hold them.

- It might retain- - Each bird, if not already cataloged, is fitted with a band, a small bracelet that's wrapped around their leg.

These tags help other teams identify where the birds have come from and where they go if recaptured.

- So on the left here we have the salt marsh sparrow.

These are the ones that breed locally here in Rhode Island, and on the right is the Nelson sparrow.

And so these ones nest a little bit further north of here, but when they migrate, they use the same habitats and they co-occur with the salt marsh sparrow.

So during the fall, we'll see both of them here in these salt marshes.

- [Gregory] The birds' characteristics, like age, sex, and condition, are also recorded.

- A lot of times we're looking for are there females at the site?

And if there are females at the site, were they able to breed successfully?

So we're coming back in that second round of mist knitting, we're really focused in, are there hatch-year birds that might have been produced by this marsh?

Because some marshes, if you just give me point count surveys or walk into a marsh, okay, salt marsh sparrows are here, but are they there and are they actually being productive fledging young?

- [Gregory] With the banding complete, each bird is released back to the salt marsh.

For many on the team, this remains their favorite part of the research trip.

- You know, people might have seen a song sparrow at their backyard feeder, but who knew there's a sparrow with an orange face that actually lives out in those marsh grasses, builds a nest that can flood, and then just gets back on and keeps incubating, threatened by something called sea level rise.

So it really brings things home for people, and so I love to get the word out about the marsh and the vegetation and these different species so people can have a connection to it.

- [Gregory] Save The Bay's work with the tiny, underappreciated bird is important for the understanding of the broader coastal environment, but these songbirds are not the only birds under threatened coastal habitats.

Many different kinds of birds nest right on the beaches across the northeast.

Shorebirds, a term used to identify birds that spend most of their time on the shoreline, come in all shapes and sizes, from the rutty turnstone to the red knot.

During this season, shorebirds can be observed in large flocks numbering in the thousands.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - There are billions of birds that migrate from South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and the United States, north to the Arctic and to the Boreal Forest of Canada.

They need critical stopover places to feed and rest.

New England is one of those important places.

The shores and waters of New England are critical for these birds as they move north and south in these great migrations.

- [Gregory] Most of these birds travel up and down the Atlantic Flyway, a major migratory path for hundreds of different species.

One of the most recognizable is the American oystercatcher, easily identifiable by its long, orange bill and comical demeanor.

These fascinating birds can be seen on the shoreline dipping their bills in the sand in an attempt to find food.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) Another species present is the piping plover.

These small sand-colored birds are an important indicator species.

Like the salt marsh sparrow, this bird is under threat.

Currently, there are only about 8,000 piping plovers left on the planet, a very alarming trend.

The main challenge for these shorebirds, like many others, is navigating human land development and activity on the coastline.

Piping plovers need undeveloped coastline to flourish as they travel back and forth from dunes to the wrack line.

Beaches in New England are continuing to get more crowded, whether through coastal development or through foot traffic.

But even with the growing challenges, there are those who work tirelessly to save shore birds across the coast.

- Set up, if you guys wanna start, we can just start laying outposts, and then once we've got a few out, we'll have a couple people post pounding and then we can show you guys the ropes and the signs.

Sound good?

All right- - U.S.

Fish and Wildlife has created a system to help plover populations slowly increase throughout the years.

- We're walking a bit, but you guys can just start going that way.

They've got the plan and the layout of what it's supposed to look like, and then a couple people can start following Maureen down that way.

We'll do about 20 to 25 cases.

- [Gregory] It's in areas like Napatree Point, overseen by the Watch Hill Conservancy, where U.S.

Fish and Wildlife set up their enclosures to dissuade foot traffic.

(metal clanking) - So, long term, we're really hoping to increase our breeding population of piping plovers and least terns on Napatree.

Giving them an area to rest, to forage, to raise their young is really important.

The trend line for shorebirds is not great, it's been going down every year, so the more we can help successfully get the next generation started, the better we're going to do.

- [Gregory] Unlike other kinds of birds, plovers do not make typical nests.

Instead, they lay their eggs right in the sand.

The eggs, modeled and speckled, almost appear like small rocks camouflaging into the environment.

- Piping clovers and other beach nesting birds, they nest on the ground, so they don't have the same kind of protection that a bird that nests up in a tree might have from predators, so what they rely on is what we call crypsis, or egg camouflage, to keep their eggs from predators.

So their eggs blend in incredibly well with the substrate, the sand and the rocks that we have here.

So even as monitors and biologists, we have to be incredibly careful when we're going and trying to find these nests because you're essentially looking for a needle in a haystack, looking for a few little eggs that blend in really well with the sand, which can make it difficult for us to find them, but also is one of the only protections that they have from predators.

- [Gregory] When the eggs begin to hatch, the process can take several hours and the chicks may appear lifeless.

That is until... (gentle music) In this crazy world, it helps to grow up quick.

Piping plover chicks learn to navigate the beach fast.

Running about as they search for food, at times they rest underneath a parent, warm underneath an umbrella of feathers and hidden from the view of predators.

(gentle music continues) Sometimes the parents can have their hands full with several chicks seeking shelter at a time.

It's time to make some room.

(gentle music continues) Other times they run about the wrack lines, feeding on whatever they can find.

(gentle music continues) Understanding is the first step toward protecting these birds, and while closed beaches can be an inconvenience for beach goers during the summer, these temporary restrictions can play an important role in giving wildlife the space it needs to thrive.

- Areas where there might be divisions of certain areas for recreating and certain areas that are closed for conservation is really helpful in order to make sure that we have an area where the birds can still persist, and then we can still have our areas where we can recreate because we all like the beach, we all like to go to the beach, and that's not going to change, but we can find a way to share the beach for these birds.

- [Gregory] These habitats are tightly interconnected with inshore and even offshore environments.

Terns, including least and common terns, also nest on beaches.

They fly offshore to feed on small fish, pursuing a bait ball beneath the surface.

They're joined by gulls and cormorants all after dinner.

The chase begins.

(upbeat music) The bait ball's also been targeted by a large school of bluefish.

They work in unison to push their prey up to the surface.

What ensues is pure chaos.

(water splashing) (birds shrieking) (upbeat music continues) (water continues splashing) The bluefish also mimic this pattern.

They try to swim together to avoid becoming dinner, as they're not the only predatory animal in the area.

(suspenseful music) The sandbar shark, known by many as the brown shark, patrol the waters that lie just off the coast.

These sharks can get large, up to eight feet in length.

They grow slowly, not reaching maturity until they're 13 to 16 years old.

- The sandbar shark, one of the most beautiful sharks you'll ever see, easily distinguished.

A couple of things, first of all, a really oversized dorsal fin.

It almost looks like it's mismatched for the rest of the body of the shark, and also this gorgeous golden eye, almost has like a catlike slit right down the middle of it, really distinguishes it because most sharks will have a darker or black eye.

It's a real bridge between the inshore and offshore environments.

We'll run into these sharks 40, 50, 60 miles offshore.

We'll also run into them in 15 feet of water along the shallows.

So this is a shark that really spends a lot of time in a lot of different depths, a lot of different environments, chasing a lot of different bait sources.

- [Gregory] Because of their large fins, sandbar sharks were heavily targeted and overfished throughout the 20th century, with fishing peaking in the 1980s before federal protections in 2008.

In 2026, the number of sandbar sharks seen in Southern New England appeared to increase significantly.

That's brought hope that the ban on keeping these sharks may have led to an increase in this once devastated population.

The Atlantic Shark Institute has teamed up with Florida International University on a study of movement, genetics, and population in these protected sharks.

And so they've come to where offshore meets inshore, the coast of Block Island.

- Yep.

Great.

So we're marking some good marks and we're gonna send this right to the bottom.

These sharks are sitting right on the bottom in this area right now.

We're only in 34 feet of water, so there it is.

We're on the bottom.

All right, and now we wait.

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

- Yeah, there it is.

Fish on.

- We didn't wait long.

We've been running into, this is gonna be a sandbar shark.

Jerry's gonna grab the rod.

You can see there's a lot of pressure on it.

And hopefully we'll get this shark in relatively quickly so we don't tire him out too much, or her, I should say.

- Oh yeah, that's a big boy.

- [Gregory] Sandbar sharks are powerful fighters, so much so that the team needs to reorient the boat and take turns while they battle the shark.

- The shark's trying to go under the boat, so every time he goes that way, I'm going in reverse to get the bow so that that shark stays on the side, not under the boat.

So we'll be doing circles until that shark gets up and we can calm it down.

(water splashes) (fishing reel whirs) - These fish are still very green, even though they're fighting, they're just not fighting from depth, and these fights are short, so they're just big, strong sharks.

And when they get boat side, they still have a lot in them.

- [Gregory] After a hard fought effort, the team finally brings the shark alongside the boat, tagging it and then measuring it from snout to tail.

Every detail crucial to the project.

- This is a good size female, actually.

She's about six feet in total length, about 5 1/2 feet in fork length.

You can see we've got an acoustic tag in her.

We picked her up really, really quickly.

You can see she's in great shape.

We're gonna boat tuck this hook away.

We're gonna get her on her way and we can track her for 10 years.

This is a nice project that we're doing with a team of collaborators, and we look forward to learning where this little girl goes.

- [Gregory] The sandbar shark is set free, slipping back into the depths.

That tag will now track every move the shark makes, revealing how the species travels through its world.

Another job well done.

(gentle music) New England's inshore waters are a true bridge between land and sea.

From the salt marsh to the coastline, the animals that call these places home are what tie every ecosystem together.

Some build and some balance.

Each one plays a role no less vital than the next.

And just as vital are the biologists and conservationists working tirelessly to protect these animals, even the ones no one sees.

They are the stewards watching over every living thing that calls the sky, the sea, and the shore home.

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