The state aquarium at Fort Fisher offers behind-the-scenes tours that bring you nose-to-nose with all kinds of sea critters, like this porcupine puffer.
Our Coast
A Gathering of Keepers’ Descendants
More than 250 direct descendants of the men who manned the Bodie Island Lighthouse came together in Dare County to take part in a homecoming.
The Resiliency of Jellies
Moon jelly fish stranded on an autumn beach seemed like a sad story of dislocation and abandonment, but they were also testaments to the resiliency of nature.
Pelican Award: Bob High
Chat with Bob High for five minutes and you will discover the two things he is truly passionate about: craft beer and coastal North Carolina. Chat with him a little longer and you’ll understand what a natural pairing that is.
Our Coast’s Food: Charcoal Mullet
Fall’s first chilly nips trigger a smoky scent along North Carolina’s coastal back roads where embers in barbecue pits and grills coax the savory smell of an old-fashioned dish locals lovingly call “charcoal mullet.”
Insect Safari in the Dismal Swamp
A visit to the Dismal Swamp State Park yields many stories and sights, including a myriad of six- and eight-legged critters, as seen during a recent state park’s “Insect Safari.”
Sandie Cecelski: Pelican Award Winner for Education
E.H. Ashley High School science teacher Sandie Cecelski exemplifies great teaching, getting students up close and personal with all that marine science has to offer. We gave her a Pelican Award, to thank her for her invaluable service to children.
B95 the Red Knot: The Tale of a Famous Flyer
A red knot known as B95, aka Moonbird, has been delighting bird watchers almost 20 years. Its epic migrations are almost equal to a round-trip to the moon.
A Sign of Autumn: Fall Webworms
Look for the white, cottony webs in the trees this fall. Inside are hundreds of caterpillars munching on leaves, fattening up for a winter’s hibernation. They will emerge as moths next spring.
Our Coast’s Food: No-Frills Seafood
The simple clam chowder, the basic drum stew with cornmeal dumplings or broiled mullet paired with fresh watermelon are the sorts of recipes that might have been lost had it not been for “Coastal Carolina Cooking.”
Nature’s Hints of Autumn
If you pay attention to the natural world, the signs are all around us that summer will soon give way to fall.
Take a Birding Cruise Along White Oak
Local bird expert Joanne Powell will guide birding cruises along the White Oak River, and she says participants are almost guaranteed to see something special: birds, other wildlife or just stunning beauty.
Life at the Surf’s Edge
During this long holiday weekend, summer’s last hurrah, take a stroll on the beach at the water’s edge. There, look for the brightly colored coquina clams, the scurrying mole crabs and ghost crabs wetting their gills.
Our Coast’s Food: Catch Restaurant
Catch restaurant in Wilmington prides itself on its fresh seafood. Diners may even eat fish that the chef and his wait staff caught that day.
He Left the World a Cleaner Place
Anyone who knew Elmer Eddy for very long was soon paddling alongside him picking up trash along creeks and rivers of the White Oak Basin. He was that kind of guy. Elmer died recently at age 94.
Coastal Sketch: The Bee Lady
Winborne Evans of Roanoke Island has a passion for honeybees. “Honeybees need humans to survive,” she says. “We’ve got to remember what they do for us, as well as what we do for them.”
