COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



How Old Is that Fish? 



\ou can tell the age of a 

 fish in much the same way that 

 you figure the age of a tree — by 

 counting rings. Growth "rings" 

 on fish are counted either on its 

 scales or on its small inner ear 

 bones, called otoliths. The rings 

 correspond to changes in the 

 seasons, with fish growing a 

 new set of rings each year. 



These rings grow faster in 

 summer, when the space be- 

 tween two rings is wider apart, 

 and slower in winter, when the 

 rings are closer together. 



— Taken from Do Dolphins 

 Sleep? Questions and Answers 

 About the Sea, a publication of 

 MIT Sea Grant, written by Andrea 

 Cohen. □ 



New Addresses 

 for Sea Grant Field Offices 



North Carolina Sea Grant has an 

 extension program on the move. Two 

 of the field offices have recently 

 relocated. 



Jim Bahen, marine extension 

 agent; Spencer Rogers, coastal erosion 

 and building specialist; and Shonda 

 Borden, office assistant, can now be 

 reached at the University of North 

 Carolina at Wilmington Center for 

 Marine Research, 7205 Wrightsville 

 Ave., Wilmington, NC 28403. The 



phone number is 910/256-2083 

 (Bahen, ext. 212; Rogers, ext. 264; 

 Borden, ext. 263), and the fax number 

 is 910/256-8856. 



Skip Kemp, regional seafood 

 marketing specialist; Bob Hines, marine 

 extension agent; and Vanda Lewis, 

 office assistant, are now at the Com- 

 merce Development Center, 3615 

 Arendell St., Morehead City, NC 28557. 

 The phone number is 919/247-4007, and 

 the fax number is 919/726-4215. □ 



When boats are being fueled or 

 topped off, up to 8 ounces of fuel can 

 spill into the water. Although some of 

 the chemicals in gas and diesel fuel 

 evaporate rapidly, many toxic 

 compounds remain behind in the 

 water column. 



These small spills, multiplied by 

 the number of boats in a busy marina 

 and the number of boating days per 

 year, can create a big water quality 

 problem. 



Be careful when fueling your 

 boat at the dock. Don't spill. And if 

 you do, catch any overflow with 

 petroleum-absorbent materials. □ 



Coastwatch for the Holidays 



This Christmas, give the Coastwatch gives its readers 



people on your shopping list a information they can use in articles 



view of the North Carolina coast. that educate, inform and entertain. 



It's as simple as subscribing to 

 Coastwatch. And never before 

 has the magazine been a better 

 buy. For the holidays, you can 

 purchase one annual subscription 

 for $15 and get additional 

 subscriptions for $10. We'll send 

 you gift cards free of charge. 



Look back at what you read about in 

 the pages of Coastwatch this year 

 alone: the best canoe trails on the 

 Carolina coast, the pre-Civil War 

 turpentine industry and its effects on 

 the longleaf pine forests, hurricane 

 impacts on buildings and beaches, 

 trends in sea turtle strandings, the 



charm of old coastal cemeteries, 

 the pleasure of porches and the 

 adventures of hang gliding. 

 Newly added sections taught you 

 how to catch and cook your 

 favorite seafood. 



The magazine is off to a great 

 start for 1998 with more pages 

 and a wider mix of articles. So 

 subscribe now and send your 

 friends and family to the coast. □ 



COASTWATCH 5 



