Scientists turn to coconuts to save the New Jersey coastline

Ecologist Shane Godshall tromps in waders through two feet of mud in Thompsons Beach marsh on the Delaware Bay in Heislerville, in New Jersey's Cumberland County. He pauses, then sticks his hand in the ooze and pulls out a piece of the secret weapon scientists have been deploying to fight erosion from climate change and to save America’s coastline: the coconut. More accurately, it’s the fibrous outer husk of the coconut shell called coir (pronounced koy-uh, but often referred to as core). Typically, coir is packed into 10-foot logs tied together by biodegradable twine. Many of the $80 to $169 ...