We're Crabby About Drilling facts for kids

We're Crabby About Drilling is a group of people from Oak Island, North Carolina. They work to stop oil drilling and special sound tests in the ocean near their homes. People in the area often call them the "Oak Island Crabbies." The group does not agree with the government's plan for ocean drilling and sound blasting. This plan is for the Cape Fear coast from 2019 to 2024.

Why Protecting Our Ocean Matters

Proposed Offshore Drilling Areas

In 2014, a small town called Kure Beach, North Carolina was one of the first places to say no to ocean drilling. This town is just north of Brunswick County. Since then, many towns and groups have joined them. More than 130 towns, six governors, and a large group of businesses and fishing families now oppose ocean drilling. They are against drilling and testing for oil and gas in the Atlantic Ocean. We're Crabby About Drilling started in 2018. They joined this big effort to stop ocean drilling and sound tests.

How the Crabbies Work Together

We're Crabby About Drilling has about 40 people who volunteer their time. Most of these volunteers are retired. They often have past experience that helps them with their tasks. The group meets when they need to. This helps them plan their activities. It also keeps everyone updated on what is happening.

What the Crabbies Do

Crabby Against Drilling Booth-Earth Day 2019

The group mainly focuses on towns along the Brunswick County coast. These towns include Southport, Bald Head Island, Caswell Beach, Oak Island, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle, and Sunset Beach. Their main goal is to have these towns officially say they are against ocean drilling and sound testing. They also want these towns to join a lawsuit. This lawsuit was started by the Southern Environmental Law Center and others in South Carolina. It aims to stop the government from allowing sound testing.

The Crabbies also work to teach people about ocean drilling and sound testing. They set up an information booth at the yearly Earth Day event. They also showed a movie at the Oak Recreation Center. This movie was about worries related to ocean drilling. In May 2019, the group helped with an event called "Hands Across The Sand." They encouraged many people to come and show their support.

Hands Across The Sand–Oak Island NC gathering on May 18, 2019