Col. Gail Halvorsen, left, nicknamed “The Candy Bomber” and this year’s inductee into the First Flight Society Paul Graber Shrine at the Wright Brothers Memorial, poses Tuesday with National Park Service Outer Banks Group Superintendent Dave Hallec during an event at the memorial commemorating the 116th anniversary of the first powered flight. Photo: Kip Tabb
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R/V Shearwater Docks in Beaufort
The new research and survey vessel R/V Shearwater paused for a photo op around 3 p.m. Tuesday at Duke University Marine Lab before making its way to the downtown Beaufort waterfront. The 77-foot catamaran will enable faculty and students to travel several hundred nautical miles offshore and to stay at sea for several days.
Wright Memorial Fee Waived on Six Days
Families spend Saturday afternoon viewing a replica of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s 1903 flyer and learning about the first successful airplane flight at the Wright Brothers National Memorial visitor center in Kill Devil Hills in this photo taken by Jennifer Allen. The National Park Service is waiving entrance fees on six days in 2020.
Students Help Build Rain Garden
Sarah Bodin, front right, of the North Carolina Coastal Federation assists students from the Career Management class at Swansboro High School in building a rain garden Tuesday at Swansboro’s town hall. The work to capture rainwater and reduce the amount of polluted runoff reaching nearby waterways is part of a larger project funded in part by the Section 319 Grant Program of the Clean Water Act. Photo: Mark Hibbs
Storm Causes Overwash on NC 12
The North Carolina Department of Transportation warned motorists Thursday via a post on Twitter that crews were repairing storm-caused dune erosion north of Rodanthe on N.C. 12. While the storm system sits offshore, motorists should expect overwash on N.C. 12, especially at high tide.
Event to Showcase Cape Lookout at Night
Cape Lookout Lighthouse shines on the night sky in this image by the National Park Service. Visitors to Cape Lookout National Seashore can experience the lighthouse under the night sky, like the lighthouse keepers did, during the ranger-led Evening at the Cape program, offered one weekend a month from June to October.
Sonar Data Used to Image Shipwreck
An image of a shipwreck off the North Carolina/Virginia coast, likely a World War II freighter, was captured Thursday via synthetic aperture sonar data collected by ThayerMahan Inc. and Kraken Robotics on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s ship Okeanos Explorer as part of a technology demonstration. NOAA says this type of data can be used to identify, assess and monitor underwater cultural heritage sites, and the resolution is high enough to contribute to archaeological studies. Image: NOAA/ThayerMahan Inc./Kraken Robotics.
Shelter Helps Opossums, Other Wildlife
Two opossums have a snack in the outdoor enclosure at the Outer Banks Wildlife Shelter and Education Center in Carteret County. OWLS is a nonprofit wildlife hospital where thousands of injured, sick and orphaned native wildlife are rehabilitated and released. OWLS cares for opossums like these two from infancy in the shelter’s nursery, to juveniles in the outdoor enclosures, to when they’re old enough to be released in a safe location. Photo: OWLS
Group Rallies Against Offshore, Seismic
More than 60 demonstrators stood together Saturday in Calabash to rally against seismic exploration and offshore drilling, according to organizers. The new environmental group based in Brunswick County, Defenders of Mother Earth, or DOME, organized the protest to share the message of protecting the coast and timed it during the busy holiday weekend for maximum exposure. Photo: Contributed
Lookout Photo Places in NOAA Contest
Roy Brownlow placed in the marine debris category of the NOAA Office for Coastal Management 2019 Coastal Management in Action photo contest for his image of remnants of abandoned vehicles on Cape Lookout National Seashore.
Sea Turtle Sighting on Pine Knoll Shores
Pine Knoll Shores police officer Nancy Montanino snapped this photo on World Turtle Day Thursday of a sea turtle while on the town’s beach. Sea turtle nesting and hatching season began May 1 and goes through October. Contact the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores if you spot any nesting turtles, or injured and dead turtles at 252-247-4003.
Patsy Pond Predator
A fledgling great horned owl watches over the Patsy Pond Nature Trail in the Croatan National Forest near Newport on an early morning last week. According to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the great horned owl is the largest owl species in the state, so named because of the two prominent ear tufts of feathers that resemble horns.
Life Under the Sea
This vibrant octopus was spotted in the Pamlico Canyon about 20 miles offshore of the Outer Banks by a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, during a dive project sponsored by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program. The dive is part of the fifth research expedition of the Deep Sea Exploration and Research of Coral/Canyon/Cold seep Habitats, or DEEP SEARCH.
View of Home
NASA astronaut Christina H. Koch, who was raised in Jacksonville, shared Monday on Twitter a photo she took of coastal North Carolina from the International Space Station. “It took my breath away as it came into focus. My first glimpse of coastal North Carolina from space. It’s a special thing to see from above the place where you grew up — the ocean that first inspired my fascination with things that make me feel small & planted the seed to explore,” she wrote.
Wind Creates Pedestals at Cape Lookout
Cape Lookout National Seashore posted on Facebook Sunday a cluster of sand pedestals, which were created by strong easterly winds that blew loose sand away from the hardened, wind-resistant sections of the beach, on the north end of North Core Banks.
State Staff Cleans up Carrot Island
North Carolina Divisions of Marine Fisheries and Air Quality employees Wednesday afternoon collected 1,500 pounds of debris on Carrot Island, part of the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort. The cleanup was held in recognition of National Volunteer Week and Earth Month.
