UNDER A BRIGHT BLUE SKY IN early May, about 20 people gathered at a boat ramp south of Ocean City, Maryland, to launch an unusual structure into Chincoteague Bay: A makeshift island that could be Common Terns’ best chance to survive in the region.
The volunteers wheeled eight 8-by-16-foot wooden platforms into the water and connected them two at a time. Then a backhoe operator coated them with crushed clam shells, and—painstakingly slowly—a boat captain pulled each quadrant to an undisclosed location that would provide protection from curious tourists, hungry predators, noisy boats, and extreme weather. There, the team bolted
