COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Summer Standings Noted 



Several whale and dolphin strandings 

 were reported along the North Carolina coast 

 during the summer of 2005. 



Two whales — a pygmy whale and a dwarf 

 sperm whale — stranded in Brunswick County in 

 early August. In late August, 1 5 striped dolphins, 

 an offshore species, beached themselves on 

 North Topsail Beach, the second dolphin 

 stranding in the state last summer. 



When marine animals beach themselves, 

 "usually there's a reason and rescue is unlikely," 

 according to William McLellan, research 

 associate with the marine mammal stranding 

 program at the University of North Carolina at 

 Wilmington. 



Necropsies performed on the dolphins 

 suggested degenerative tooth loss, an indication 

 of old age. It did not appear that the dolphins 

 had interacted with fishing gear or had been 

 exposed to Navy SONAR in the days prior to 

 the stranding, McLellan says. Because dolphins 



swim in pods, mass strandings are common as 

 older pod members swim ashore to die and are 

 followed by other members of the pod. 



Necropsies performed on stranded whales 

 have contnbuted nearly half of what is currently 

 known about the animals, McLellan adds. 



Scientists examine the brain, heart, 

 stomach and skeletons of the animals in labs 

 around the country. This research provides 

 answers to questions of anatomy and behavior 

 of the species, as well as broader clues to the 

 health of the marine environment. 



Pygmy sperm whales are an important 

 measure of environmental conditions because 

 they consume squid, a food that humans also 

 eat. Like humans, whales are at the top of the 

 food chain, concentrating pollutants from the 

 environment. By examining contaminants in the 

 tissue of whales, researchers can track pollut- 

 ants that could enter our food chain via seafood 

 consumption, McLellan explains. — E.S. 



USS Monitor Legend 

 Debunked 



USS Monitor researchers have debunked a 142-year-old 

 legend about a "cat in the cannon." 



After spending most of August documenting the bore 

 of two 1 1-inch cannons from the Civil War ironclad USS 

 Monitor's iconic gun turret, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration (NOAA) scientists and conservators from the 

 Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Va., did not find a trace of 

 a cat in the barrels. 



By extracting sediment from two cannons, conservators 

 hoped to verify the legend that crew member Francis B. Butts 

 shoved his coat and boot in one cannon and a cat in the other in 

 1885. 



The ship sunk during a battle with the CSS Virginia in 

 Hampton Roads. Discovered in 1973 off Cape Hatteras, the 

 Monitor wreck is part of a National Marine Sanctuary managed 

 by NOAA. 



The cannon was removed from the Monitor's gun turret in 2004 as part of the ongoing 

 conservation process. 



Artifacts from the Monitor, including the steam engine, propeller and revolving gun turret, 

 are kept at the Mariners' Museum. Currently, a new USS Monitor Center is under construction. 

 To find out more about the center, visit: www.monitorcenter.org. -A.G. 



RIGHT: Sediment was extracted from a cannon recovered from the USS Monitor. 



Oyster 

 Hatcheries 

 Planned for 

 Aquariums 



The 



Illustration by John Norton 



he North Carolina Aquariums 

 soon may help restock oysters in the 

 state's waters. 



Through funding from the N.C. 

 General Assembly, the three aquariums 

 will begin planning oyster hatcheries. 



With the new 

 program, the 

 aquarium's 

 mission will 

 extend beyond 

 education and 

 coastal research to 

 restoration. 



During the last 

 century, Eastern oyster 

 populations have declined due to 



overharvest, habitat loss, water 

 pollution and disease. 



Today, the N.C. Division 

 of Marine Fishenes (DMF) 

 lists oysters as a "species 

 of concern." Commercial 

 landings in 2004 totaled about 

 69,500 bushels — a fraction of 

 the record 1.8 million bushels 

 landed in 1902. 



Several efforts are 

 underway to restore Eastern 

 oysters, including an N.C. 

 Fishery Resource Grant (FRG) 

 project that collects discarded 

 oyster shells from Carteret 

 County restaurants and 

 "recycles" them for use in the 

 state's nine oyster sanctuaries. 

 The FRG project is designed to 

 aid DMF's existing oyster shell 

 recycling efforts. 

 The oyster hatchery legislation directs 

 the aquariums to consult with North 

 Carolina Sea Grant, DMF, the University 

 of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute 

 of Marine Sciences and the University of 

 North Carolina at Wilmington. —A.G. 



COASTWATCH S 



