The University of North Carolina Wilmington is eagerly anticipating delivery of its new $7.5 million, 78-foot-long, 27-foot-wide, aluminum research vessel purpose-built with an array of equipment and sensors, including those for enhanced geophysical surveys.
Spotlight
Amid moratorium hits, misses, shellfish growers seek leases
Latest in our series: As tensions grow among various users of public trust waters over site selection for North Carolina’s growing shellfish mariculture industry, new lease applications filed with the state would cover a combined 55 acres of bottom and water columns in six counties.
Surf City celebrates federal beach project with event, music
A ceremony Monday on the beach by the Surf City Ocean Pier marked the start of a federal coastal storm risk management project that the town has sought for more than two decades, and it has inspired a … “song.”
Lightning bugs: Less yardwork may reverse their decline
A glass Mason jar full of fireflies has delighted countless numbers of young nature explorers, but these illuminating creatures have more to do with gardening than what meets the eye.
Currituck Light restoration follows original maintenance plan
The $1 million restoration going on at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse is building on work completed six years ago so that it “will remain structurally sound, historically accurate, and will continue sharing its sense of place and awe for future generations.”
‘Astonishing’: Topsail Island stormwater projects yield results
Officials in the three Topsail Island towns see improvement in the chronic street flooding that had long been a problem after an agreement to take on an island-wide resiliency project.
Grower survey to assist balanced approach to mariculture
North Carolina Sea Grant and the North Carolina Coastal Federation are inviting oyster growers in Pender and Onslow counties to share their experiences and perspectives on the use of public trust waters.
DEQ chief announces resilience grants during coastal visit
Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson visited Harkers Island Monday to announce $300,000 in grants awarded for eight projects to bolster resilience to natural disasters.
Nonprofit that cares for Shackleford’s wild horses turns 30
The Foundation for Shackleford Horses is commemorating three decades of advocacy with a special program on Harkers Island featuring behavioral ecologist Dr. Dan Rubenstein, who has studied the herd for decades and helped draft the legislation approved in 1998 to protect the wild herd.
Found archival photos add new wrinkles to Pea Island story
Historical columnist Joan Collins shares a collection of recently discovered photographic negatives stored in tins at the State Archives with 19 images depicting the Pea Island U.S. Coast Guard Station crew in 1938 and the new questions the photos bring to light.
Fish tales: Sorting fact from fiction isn’t really the point
Those indelible memories, sometimes made more grandiose with the passage of time, but treasured nonetheless, and they’re all that we take with us when we go.
Corps presses toward fall decision on $1.3 billion harbor plan
The federal final environmental impact statement for the proposed channel deepening and widening at the N.C. Port of Wilmington is nearing the final approval stage, but Cape Fear area residents and advocates say their objections and questions about potential effects remain unanswered.
‘There’s no way’: Hanig decries rationale, rush to toll ferries
Sen. Bobby Hanig says the Jan. 1 deadline is impossible, but legislative leaders have so far refused to budge on the date by which the Ferry Division must implement tolling for the four state ferries that now are free to ride.
‘If there’s magic’: Coastal Federation honors water’s guardians
The North Carolina Coastal Federation honored more than a dozen individuals and groups this year during the 23rd annual Pelican Awards held Saturday in Morehead City.
My uncommon interactions with common snapping turtles
Snapping turtles have quite the reputation, a larger-than-life mystique rife with legend and lore, but despite their fierce appearance, they are rarely aggressive toward humans while in the water, but on dry land — mind your fingers!
Annual ‘Day at the Docks’ features work, life on Hatteras
The 23rd annual Day at the Docks, which showcases the traditions of Hatteras Island Watermen and islanders, has been set for Sept. 18-19.
