TRAVELING THE COAST 



Museums & More 



By Kathy Hart 



Going to museums and aquariums isn't what 

 it used to be. No more dark, dank rooms, bor- 

 ing displays and lifeless exhibits. Public facili- 

 ties like the N.C. Marine Resources Centers 

 and the N.C. Maritime Museum have come to 

 life — marine and coastal life that is. 



Museums, aquariums and galleries in coastal 

 North Carolina are putting their best exhibits 

 and programs forward as they tell us more 

 about the ecology, history and art of the region. 



The North Carolina Marine Resources Cen- 

 ters (soon changing their name to the N.C. 

 Aquariums), Roanoke Island, Pine Knoll 

 Shores and Fort Fisher. Entering the doors of 

 one of North Carolina's three marine resources 

 centers may mean taking a chance ... on meet- 

 ing a black-tip shark face-to-face, touching the 

 prickly spines of a sea urchin or seeing one of 

 the ocean's masters of disguise, the flounder. 

 But it's a chance that can be exciting and educa- 

 tional, too. 



Living up to their new name, the centers 

 have tank after tank of marine creatures — sea 

 turtles, eels, lobsters, stingrays, crabs, starfish, 

 sharks and other fish native to the North Caro- 

 lina coast. But the centers also offer more: 

 exhibits, programs, films and field trips on 

 coastal ecology, history and art. 



With the guidance of center personnel, you 

 can spend the day on a trawler learning about 

 commercial fishing or explore the abundant 

 and varied life in a salt marsh. Many of the field 

 trips are free. Pre-registration is often required. 

 For a calendar of summer events and registra- 

 tion dates, write the centers. 



And don't think if you've seen one of the 

 facilities you've seen them all. Each focuses on 

 a different aspect of the coast. 



The Roanoke Island center emphasizes the 

 unique ecology of northeastern North Carolina 

 by focusing on the Pamlico and Albemarle 



Photo by Mark Joyner 



sounds and the Alligator River. Along with 

 saltwater aquariums, this facility also has a 

 freshwater tank for native creatures that take 

 less salt in their water. And visitors can see a 

 newly mounted nine-foot alligator. 



To learn how creatures survive in the sea 

 through adaptation, visit the Pine Knoll Shores 

 center. There, an aquarium exhibit will show 

 how sea creatures use speed, venom, camou- 

 flage, mimicry, electricity, armor, biolumines- 

 cence and more to survive. For an enlarged 

 view of North Carolina's sea life, the center 

 features a newly constructed wall of porthole- 

 size aquariums equipped with magnifying 

 glasses. 



At Fort Fisher, the emphasis is on large sea 

 life. That facility houses the largest free- 

 standing aquarium in the state, and in its 

 20,000-gallon tank swim several 

 native sharks and their relatives. 



Continued on next page 



Photo by Steve Murray 



m 



species of 

 skates and 



At one of the Marine 

 Resources Centers, an 

 octopus (above) poses 

 for a picture and a 

 student (below) gets 

 firsthand experience 

 with a crab 



