Summer at Ocracoke finds lots of kayakers plying their paddles along the shores of Pamlico Sound. Residents and tourists alike take to the water. As the temperature falls, the experience of kayaking changes, but there is still plenty to see and enjoy while paddling around the island in the winter. Warmer, waterproof clothes are a […]
Island Features | Full Article
BEAUFORT – The latest skirmish in the ongoing Sand Wars is being waged on unfamiliar terrain and pits a new opponent against an unusual alliance of adversaries. Though the first shots have already been fired, it all breaks out in the open 6 p.m. today at a public meeting at the Duke Marine Lab […]
Local News | Full Article
If you asked her about her early days as a seafood education specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant, Joyce Taylor probably would have told the crab story. Shortly after accepting the position in 1973, Taylor was tasked with teaching a blue crab cooking class in western North Carolina. She transported a bunch of the pinchers […]
Island Features | Full Article
A little shorebird bird known for its epic migrations is likely to ruffle some feathers. “If they decided to list the brontosaurus, they might have a hard time,” Derb Carter, noted North Carolina birdwatcher and the director of the Chapel Hill office of the Southern Environmental Law Center said recently when asked about potential opposition […]
Seashore News | Full Article
All around us are signs that summer is waning and fall is just a cool front away. Here is my list of clues that our natural world is in a stage of transition and crisp cooler weather is on the way to replace the sticky muggy days of summer. A Cloud of Butterflies: Yellow cloudless […]
Island Features | Full Article
After millions of years of erosion, winds, tides, currents, storms and hurricanes, the North Carolina coast is now decorated with barrier islands and three prominent capes. Each of these capes — Hatteras, Lookout, and Fear — has its own distinctive natural and cultural history. As a native of Carteret County, I am very familiar with […]
Island Features | Full Article
Legend has it that Blackbeard buried his treasure on the island of Ocracoke, and every once in a while some enthusiastic believer goes treasure hunting for a stash of gold. He’s not likely to find buried gold, but there is most definitely treasure to be found on these barrier islands. The beaches of our coast […]
Island Features | Full Article
Off the coast of eastern North Carolina lies the remote, uninhabited island of Portsmouth, renowned for birds, seashells, surf fishing and history. Getting there from neighboring Ocracoke requires a boat ride through the serene beauty of Ocracoke Inlet. Along the way, you may learn about pirates’ lairs, Civil War forts, and an effort to save […]
Island Features | Full Article
A new map developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and recently posted online would appear to put a damper on future development of land-based wind energy projects in eastern North Carolina. But Kathy Matthews, a service biologist who worked on the map, and Charles “Pete” Peterson said that shouldn’t be the case. Peterson […]
Island Features | Full Article
The Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association earlier this month hosted a training session for a project to monitor baby oysters, or spat. Students and volunteers will be trained to collect and count oyster offspring. The project, sponsored by North Carolina Sea Grant, is part of a larger effort to understand why North Carolina’s oyster population is […]
Island Features | Full Article
