PEOPLE 



& PLACES 



An old wooden "sinkbox" showcases a bygone era, 



After a guide pulls a launching 

 device, a pinball action shoots a ball 

 through a funnel cloud onto a track where 

 it starts the evaporation process. The water 

 condenses and forms raindrops as it heads 

 over land, represented by driftwood 

 collected from the coast after hurricanes. 

 The rain water continues through the 

 mountains and the Piedmont, then into the 

 coastal river where it mixes with salt water 

 to form estuaries. The cycle ends in the 

 ocean. 



"The whole process is Mother 

 Nature's way of recycling water," says 

 Randy Rouse, exhibits curator at the 

 estuarium. "It is a whole purification 

 process of water being reused. The flow of 

 water is important to the well-being of 

 aquatic life in the whole system." 



Near the lobby is a 60-seat auditorium 

 where you can watch a 15-minute film 

 with breathtaking scenery — from 

 waterfowl flying over a dark river to a 

 sunset sail on a sound. You can also listen 

 to the rush of water, the roar of a thunder- 

 storm and Red Clay Rambler Bland 

 Simpson singing "Home on the River." 

 The film whets your appetite for a boating 

 adventure through an estuary. 



"We are trying to give people an 

 emotional sense of an estuary," says 



24 EARLY SUMMER 1999 



Blount 

 Rumley, 

 estuarium 

 facilities 

 administra- 

 tor. "Many 

 people have 

 driven by 

 and sailed 

 through 

 estuaries 

 with no real 

 understand- 

 ing of its 

 impact on 

 people's 

 lives and the 

 maritime 

 and seafood 



industry. We want North Carolina's estuary 

 system to be appreciated and preserved." 



After seeing the film, you can 

 participate in a variety of interactive 

 exhibits showcasing the Tar-Pamlico 

 Watershed, Pamlico River and Pamlico 

 Sound. By touching a button, you can hear 

 a seagull laughing or shrimp snapping like 

 frying bacon. You can also feel a sharp 

 model of sedges, rushes and grasses. To 

 show that estuaries are formed when fresh 

 and salt water mix, visitors can taste 

 concentrations of salt water from the ocean, 

 brackish water from estuaries and fresh 

 water from inland rivers. 



Wander farther back and view live 

 critters in their natural habitats. One 

 aquarium holds blue crabs. The other 

 houses tiny flounder disguised so well in 

 sand that it takes a sharp eye to find them. 



You also can view numerous artifacts 

 and photos, including ballast bottles and 

 binoculars from shipwrecks off the North 

 Carolina coast. 



The oldest artifact is a dugout canoe 

 remnant that dates back 2,400 years. The 

 canoe, used by Native Americans, was 



Right: The Tar-Pamlico Region and 

 Tar River exhibits feature a variety 

 of aquatic animals and plants. 



discovered on the bottom of Lake Phelps in 

 Pettigrew State Park in the mid-1980s. 



Keep exploring and you find another 

 treasured artifact — an old wooden 

 "sinkbox" once used by duck hunters in 

 eastern North Carolina. The deck of the 

 sinkbox floated at water level, allowing 

 hunters to hide below the surface in the 

 "coffin." With decoys set nearby, the hunter 

 would await an incoming flock and then fire 

 as the birds flew by. 



The sinkbox hid hunters so well that 

 the state outlawed its use, says Rumley. 



To get a close-up of life on the water, 

 you can watch a short film featuring a local 

 fisher, trapper and others. Ann Braddy, a 

 Pungo Creek crabber, describes her long 

 workday. "I fish 400 crab pots," she says. 

 "My days start at 4:30 and end at 9 or 10. 

 Sometimes you circle. Sometimes you 

 straight line." 



Kirby Avery, a Bath trapper, sums up 

 the animals' role in the ecosystem. "The best 

 teachers are animals," he says. "They go 

 slower and tell more about their habitats." 



Other exhibits take a hard look at how 

 humans can damage estuaries. In the "Signs 

 of Stress" display, a large mural of an 

 Ocracoke marshland is fragmented to show 

 its vulnerability to human impact. Another 



