With restoration work complete, the Bodie Island Lighthouse on the Outer Banks will open to visitors on Thursday.
Our Coast
A Jaunt Along the Outer Banks
From lighthouses to live oak trees, our Sam Bland takes in the cultural and natural wonders of the northern Outer Banks.
Coastal Sketch: Barry Bey
Byron “Barry” Bey had intended to play music on the beach when he moved to Southport more than 25 years ago. He became a teacher instead. He has inspired hundreds of students and his high-school aquaculture program is known the world over.
Northeast Cape Fear River
Bald eagles are among the endangered and rare creatures that live along the river, but environmentalist fear what another potential resident — the Titan Cement plant — will do to the river.
Titanic’s Chilling N.C. Connection
Weathermen manning the U.S. weather station in Hatteras almost 101 years ago received the first telegram from the sinking ship more than 1,000 miles away. When they relayed the message, they were told to get off the line.
Our Coast’s Food: Keeping It Simple
With the elaborate dishes that inventive chefs create at hundreds of restaurants lining the N.C. shore these days, it’s hard to remember why simple, traditional seafood recipes like roasted oysters or mullet and sweet potato stew endure — until you sample their pure seafood flavor.
Wildlife Without the Mosquitoes
A new visitors’ center in Manteo offers a hands-on, learning experience about the federal wildlife refuges in North Carolina.
Hatteras Center, Ecology Park Set to Open
Sea turtles will get prominent display space at the Hatteras Island Ocean Center’s new education center that should open this spring. The center will also have trails through the wetlands and free kayak and paddleboard launches.
Remembering the Fight to Save Bird Island
Residents who fought for 10 years to stop development of the island near Sunset Beach will gather this week to dedicate a kiosk that describes the fight and why it was worth waging.
The Serengeti of North Carolina
Thousands of migrating waterfowl are attracted to Lake Mattamuskeet each winter where they join the native black bears, otters, bobcats, mink, snakes, sliders, herons, egrets and dozens of other species. It is Sam Bland’s kinda place.
Jockey’s Ridge: Saving the Giant
It was 40 years ago that Carolista Fletcher Baum stepped out in front of a bulldozer to spark a movement to save the highest sand dune on the East Coast.
Atlantic Sturgeon: Is the Giant Making a Comeback?
The endangered sturgeon has been showing up in the James River in Richmond and one even spawned in the Roanoke River in North Carolina.
The ‘Plastic Ocean’ and Bonnie Monteleone
Bonnie Monteleone set out to document the plastic debris that is killing marine life after a photo of a deformed turtle in a plastic six-pack ring turned her life around.
Bear Island in the Winter
Sam Bland, our naturalist, returned recently to the home of his heart, his spirit, his soul. Come walk with him on the winter beach as he rediscovers old friends — keyhole urchins and the murex, crystal skippers and fierce antlions.
Coastal Sketch: Bill Birkemeier
As head of the Army Corps of Engineers research center in Duck, this soft-spoken, jazz-loving engineer changed the way we think about the natural forces that shape our ocean beaches. He’s retired after 32 years.
Displaying History Rescued from the Deep
Museums are trying to encourage recreational divers to display a treasure trove of historic artifacts that they salvaged from U-boats sunk off the Outer Banks before it became illegal to do so.