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PEOPLE & PLACES: Assessing Shipwrecks: The Value of Preservation

Rebecca Nagy

Graduate students talk to middle schoolers

Jun 1, 2011

Data Streams from the Ocean: DataStreme Ocean Class Visits the Sea

The students and their instructors are up against a bit of a salty breeze as they stroll East, towards the seaward end of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' field and research facility's pier, suspended 25 feet over the shoreward-rolling waves on North Carolina's Outer Banks.

Mar 1, 2011

Branching Out: Sustainability Series Broadens

A landscape of trees and other plants not only provides a "sense of place," but it also offers so much more, according to North Carolina Sea Grant's Gloria Putnam.
The pair of tile racks catches passing oyster spat and other organisms.

Mar 1, 2011

Citizen Science Bolsters Oyster Restoration Efforts

But here's the rub. Overharvesting, habitat destruction and disease, along with sediment and pollution from runoff, have taken a serious toll on native oyster populations.
The new pier, with its electricity-generating wind turbines, from a gull's perspective.

Mar 1, 2011

PEOPLE & PLACES: Drop a Line: State Aquariums to Christen Jennette’s Pier at Nags Head

Jennette's Pier at Nags Head is due to open to the public on May 21, the state aquariums' director says.
Seaside little bluestem planting at Rachel Carson Reserve.

Mar 1, 2011

NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK: Plants May Lure Crystal Skipper

Coastwatch readers will remember the Crystal Coast's crystal skipper, known scientifically as atrytonopsis new species 1. This rare butterfly is found on a 30-mile stretch of barrier islands, from Bear Island in Hammocks Beach State Park in Onslow County to Fort Macon State Park at the eastern end of Bogue Banks in Carteret County — and it may soon find an additional home.
Boaters in No Discharge Zone waters will be on the lookout for pump-outstations such as this one at Joyner Marina on the Intracoastal Waterway at Carolina Beach.

Mar 1, 2011

SEA SCIENCE: No Discharge Zone: Southeastern Waters Designated

The No Discharge Zone (NDZ) includes all tidal salt waters extending three nautical miles into the Atlantic Ocean along the entire length of Brunswick, Pender and New Hanover counties. The ruling encompasses the Intracoastal Waterway, as well as tributaries, tidal creeks and all "saline waters" of the Cape Fear River in Brunswick and New Hanover counties.
Beresoff displays a blacktip shark.

Mar 1, 2011

Fins to the Left, Fins to the Right: Netting Sharks To Snare Data for Fisheries Management

Such sea creatures have enthralled Teresa Thorpe — a shark researcher who works closely with North Carolina Sea Grant — since her childhood on England's southwest coast. Her fascination with aquatic life later led her to the University of London, where she earned her doctorate in marine biology, specializing in shark bycatch and mitigation. Eventually, it led her to the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Center for Marine Science, where today she is a research biologist.
A view of the Neuse River from N.C. Highway 581 in Goldsboro, after heavy rains.

Dec 15, 2010

CURRENTS: Rain and Floods Wreak Havoc

Don't blame Nicole. The widespread flooding and record-breaking rainfall at the end of September wasn't entirely the tropical storm's fault.
Bud Gruninger, Basnight's Lone Cedar Cafe, prepares samples of cooking for the audience.

Dec 15, 2010

LOCAL CATCH: Celebrating Local Seafood

Here are some of the recipes the chefs used for their cooking sessions.
A diver records details of the bow underwater.

Dec 15, 2010

PEOPLE & PLACES: Assessing Shipwrecks: The Value of Preservation

Judging by the interest in wreck sites and relics, plenty of people are intrigued by the mystery and lore of the many vessels that sank off the North Carolina coast. But gauging just how valuable shipwrecks are to the general public is tricky.