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North Carolina Aquariums   by jekky

www.ncaquariums.com

North Carolina Aquariums is a system of 3 public aquariums at Fort Fisher in Kure Beach, North Carolina, Roanoke Island and at Pine Knoll Shores. All are operated by the Aquariums Division of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources since 1976 and are accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.. Each aquarium features dive shows, live animal encounters and feeding programs.

Contents

1 North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher

1.1 Expansion

2 North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores

3 North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island

4 Aquarium Piers

5 Notes

6 External links

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North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher

Sign for the aquarium

The focus of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher is to education about the waters of the Cape Fear region. The Cape Fear Conservatory, the visitor first stop in the aquarium, features freshwater life. In this large, tree-filled atrium, streams, ponds and swamps are home to frogs, snakes, bass, catfish and perch. Box turtles hide among the Conservatory groundcover. American alligators native to North Carolina occupy one of the larger exhibits in the Conservatory. An albino alligator exhibit opened in 2009. In 2006, the aquarium opened an exhibit featuring the venomous snakes of the region, including several species of rattlesnake, copperheads and cottonmouths.

The Coastal Waters Gallery, which includes the Coquina Outcrop Touch Pool, provides hands-on opportunities to learn about sea urchins, horseshoe crabs, whelk and other creatures of a rocky outcrop surf zone. Masonboro Inlet Jetty features the fishes common around a wave-washed rock jetty, an indoor salt marsh, a sea horse habitat, and a loggerhead sea turtle display.

The Open Oceans Gallery includes Sharkstooth Ledge, which features fish common to offshore North Carolina, such as pufferfish, hogfish and filefish. The gallery also displays octopus, jellyfish and corals native to the state's waters.

Holding 235,000 gallons, Cape Fear Shoals is the largest of the aquarium saltwater exhibits. The 24-foot-deep replica of an offshore reef affords two-story, multi-level views of large sharks, stingrays, groupers, and moray eels.

The Spadefish Sculpture outside the main entrance of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

The Exotic Aquatics Display features animals native to Indo-Pacific ocean regions. These displays include spiny lobsters, the red lionfish (Pterois volitans) and a North Carolina native, the spotted scorpionfish. They are both known for their inconspicuous, venomous spines. Lionfish are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, but in 2000 were confirmed as having established themselves in North Carolina.

The 550-gallon Pacific Reef Display features living corals, giant clam and anemones, cardinalfish, hawkfish, clownfish, wrasses, surgeonfish, and nearly a dozen other fish species.

Expansion

The facility closed in November 1999 for a major expansion and reopened in March 2002. The new construction increased the size of aquarium systems from 77,000 gallons to 455,000 gallons. The expansion included the creation of the Cape Fear Shoals tank, a 235,000 gallon exhibit recreating the hard bottomed coral reefs off the coast of North Carolina.

North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores

Since reopening, the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores has continued to feature aquatic animals of North Carolina. Notable among them are two sand tiger sharks one that measures nearly nine feet long, a green moray eel measuring about six feet long, a goliath grouper approaching four feet, and a number of sizable nurse sharks, sandbar sharks and various game fishes.

Most of the larger creatures inhabit the Aquarium centerpiece exhibit, the 306,000-gallon Living Shipwreck. Along with hundreds of schooling fishes and other animals, they create a swirl of constant motion around a replica of U-352, a German submarine that lost a World War II battle with a Coast Guard cutter off the North Carolina coast. The Aquarium two river otters also have lived up to expectations of stardom. With the help of the public, the two were named Neuse and Pungo after North Carolina rivers. Wide viewing windows bring their playful antics and underwater agility to child-eye-level, and the lively pair enchants people of all ages.

The North Carolina Aquarium also features two hands-on exhibits: the Tidal Touch Pool, featuring a large variety of aquatic invertebrates, and Skate and Ray Encounters.

A loggerhead sea turtle that was rehabilitated and released by the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. The turtle has a special satellite transmitter on its shell to show its location in the Atlantic Ocean.

Visitors can get a glimpse of the North Carolina Aquarium successful sea turtle rehabilitation program in the Sea Turtle Odyssey exhibit. Each year, weak sea turtle hatchlings from nearby beaches are brought by the state Wildlife Resources Commission to the North Carolina Aquarium. Once there, they are rehabilitated and often put on exhibit until they can be released back into the wild. Some of the turtles' travels are recorded daily via satellite tag and viewable to the public.

Throughout the year the North Carolina Aquarium offers free daily programs, including: live animal programs, animal feeding presentations, a "Live Dive!" show, puppet shows, quiz games and hands-on activities. A number of special activities are available for a small fee. In the summer, beginning June 1, the North Carolina Aquarium offers snorkeling, surfing classes, night treks to search for nesting sea turtles, on board collection and river cruises, kayaking and canoeing excursions, and fishing courses. Kayaking, canoing and fishing programs continue into the fall, when seafood cooking classes are also offered. Behind-the-scenes tours, Dinner with the Critters, and Breakfast with the Rays are offered year-round.

North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island

entrance to North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island

The North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island is a 68,000-square foot facility located on the Outer Banks. The focus of the aquarium is the sealife and ecosystems in the waters of the Outer Banks as well as the weather that affects it. Galleries include, Coastal Freshwaters, Wetlands on the Edge, Hurricanes and Northeasters, Marine Communities, Close Encounters, Open Ocean, and Oceans Revealed: Powers of the Planet.

Aquarium Piers

In 2002, the NC Aquarium Society purchased Jennette Pier in Nags Head, the oldest pier along the Outer Banks, with plans to refurbish it as an outreach site. Those plans were put on hold in September 2003, when Hurricane Isabel destroyed the structure. Plans were revived and updated to include three hurricane-resistant concrete structures near each of the NC Aquariums. Programs such as recreational fishing, field trips and extension education are planned for the piers.

Notes

^ a b North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. "Welcome to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores". Press release. http://www.ncaquariums.com/pks/mediakit/PKS%20Aquarium%20Information%20Packet.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-14. 

^ Association of Zoos and Aquariums

^ Hall, Martha and Tabbie Nance. Insider Guide: North Carolina Central Coast and New Bern. 2007. Page. 104.

^ Hall, 2007

^ seaturtle.org - Satellite Tracking

^ "North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island". http://www.ncaquariums.com/roanoke-island. Retrieved 2009-09-23. 

^ "Aquarium Piers". http://www.ncaquariums.com/aquarium-piers. Retrieved 2009-09-23. 

^ "Jennette's Pier Reconstruction Now Underway". Press Release (Town of Nags Head). July 08, 2009. http://www.townofnagshead.net/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC={4C25AA5A-7376-4E36-8405-78E760F242E2}&DE={04C7D29C-37F3-4219-A949-9A18F4537447}. Retrieved 2009-09-23. 

External links

Official website

Jennettes Pier

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Zoos and aquaria of North Carolina

Aquariums

North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher   North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores   North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island

Zoos

JB's Rattles Traveling Reptile Zoo   Museum of Life and Science   Natural Science Center of Greensboro   North Carolina Zoo   Triangle Metro Zoo   Western North Carolina Nature Center

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Zoos, aquaria, and aviaries

Types of zoos

Aquarium  Aviary  Bear pit  Butterfly zoo  Dolphinarium  Herpetarium  Insectarium  Marine mammal park  Menagerie  Safari park  Oceanarium  Petting zoo  Reptile centre  Serpentarium  Vivarium  Zoo

Conservation

Biodiversity  Endangered species  Extinction  Ex-situ conservation  In-situ conservation

Lists

Aquaria  Dolphinariums  Zoos  Zoo associations

Animals

Amphibian  Bird  Fish  Invertebrate  Mammal  Reptile

Other topics

Animals in captivity  Animal training  Behavioral enrichment  Captive breeding  Frozen zoo  Immersion exhibit  Nocturnal house  Zookeeper  Zoology

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The Outer Banks of North Carolina

Landforms

Bodie Island  Roanoke Island  Pea Island  Little Hatteras Island  Hatteras Island  Cape Hatteras  Ocracoke Island  Portsmouth Island   Core Banks  Cape Lookout

Places

Currituck County  Dare County  Hyde County  Carteret County

Carova Beach  Corolla  Duck  Southern Shores  Kitty Hawk  Kill Devil Hills  Nags Head  Manteo  Wanchese  Rodanthe  Waves  Salvo  Avon  Buxton  Frisco  Hatteras  Ocracoke  Portsmouth

Waterways

Atlantic Ocean  Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway  Currituck Sound  Albemarle Sound  Croatan Sound  Roanoke Sound  Oregon Inlet  Pamlico Sound  Hatteras Inlet  Onslow Bay  Raleigh Bay  Ocracoke Inlet  Core Sound  Drum Inlet  Barden Inlet  Back Sound  New Inlet  Isabel Inlet

Lighthouses

Currituck Beach Light  Bodie Island Light  Cape Hatteras Light  Ocracoke Light  Cape Lookout Light

Protected areas

Cape Hatteras National Seashore  Cape Lookout National Seashore  Fort Raleigh National Historic Site  Jockey's Ridge State Park  North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island  Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge  Wright Brothers National Memorial

Transportation

North Carolina Highway 12  U.S. Highway 64  U.S. Highway 158  Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge  Dare County Regional Airport   First Flight Airport  Billy Mitchell Airport  North Carolina Ferry System

History

Pea Island Life-Saving Station

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The Crystal Coast of North Carolina

Landforms

Cape Lookout  Harkers Island  Core Banks  Shackleford Banks  Bogue Banks  Bear Island

Places

Carteret County  Onslow County

Beaufort  Morehead City  Atlantic Beach  Pine Knoll Shores  Salter Path  Indian Beach  Emerald Isle  Cape Carteret  Cedar Point  Swansboro

Waterways

Atlantic Ocean  Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway  Core Sound  Bogue Sound

Protected areas

Cape Lookout National Seashore  Shackleford Banks  Fort Macon State Park  North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores  Hammocks Beach State Park

Transportation

U.S. Highway 70  North Carolina Highway 58  North Carolina Highway 24  North Carolina Highway 101

Michael J. Smith Field  Albert J. Ellis Airport  Coastal Carolina Regional Airport

Categories: Crystal Coast | Aquaria in North Carolina | Wilmington, North Carolina | New Hanover County, North CarolinaHidden categories: North Carolina articles missing geocoordinate data | All articles needing coordinates

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