CMAST News

Dec 4, 2024

Johnna Brooks and the Della John

Every year, the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island releases a collector’s ornament that celebrates Core Sound culture. This year’s numbered ornament features a painting of the fishing vessel Della John by Harkers Island native Johnna Brooks. Currently working on her doctorate in biomathematics at North Carolina State University where she…

Nov 26, 2024

Results of Whale Hearing Study Published

Dr. Craig Harms, professor of aquatic, wildlife and zoo animal medicine at NC State and director of the marine health program at CMAST, is one of two veterinarians on an international research team that has been testing minke whale hearing over the past few years.  The research findings have been released by Science, which show that…

Nov 20, 2024

NC State Students Learn about Living Shorelines

NC State students enrolled in a Nature-based Solutions course recently visited the Morehead City area, where they learned about the importance of living shorelines.  According to Dr. Stacy Zhang, who is teaching the course, “Nature-based solutions are actions that incorporate natural features and processes to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use, and manage natural or modified…

Nov 20, 2024

Manatee Rescued from Tar River

Several scientists from NC State’s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST) participated in the rescue of a female manatee on Monday that was sheltering in the warm-water outflow of a canal off the Tar River in Greenville.  The manatee had been sighted several times since October and was underweight and showing skin changes typical…

Oct 31, 2024

Price/Beeson Research on Sand Tiger Sharks Featured

The work of Dr. Carol Seals Price, NC State Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST) instructor and conservation research coordinator at NC Aquariums, and Mikayla Beeson, recent NC State graduate and Spot A Shark research technician, has been featured in an article titled, Collaborative AI-Assisted Research for Sand Tigers.  Read more about their research…

Oct 31, 2024

Manatee Necropsied at CMAST

A regular but uncommon summer visitor to NC waters suffered a catastrophic boat propeller injury to the head sometime shortly before October 15th in Bogue Sound. A 10.7-foot-long adult male Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus) was reported dead at 0815 am Tuesday morning. NC Division of Marine Fisheries Marine Patrol Officer Bolton towed it to a…

Oct 16, 2024

Oysters Year-Round, Anyone?

While North Carolina oyster season historically runs from mid-October through April, oyster connoisseurs will be happy to know that although wild oyster season officially starts this week, farmed oysters are now available any time of year, thanks to the ever-growing oyster aquaculture (farming) industry.  Although North Carolina has allowed individuals to commercially grow shellfish in…

Oct 15, 2024

Applied Ecology Team Presents Research

The NC State Department of Applied Ecology team at the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST) recently presented fisheries research at the 154th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.  CMAST Research presentations included: “Artificial reef structure selection by reef fishes: the importance of structure characteristics” by Ph.D. student, Ryan…

Oct 9, 2024

NC Science House Trains Educators

Marsha Sirkin (far right) and Michelle Taylor (far left) of The NC State Science House recently led educators in Ocracoke during a weeklong session titled “GET OUT: Using the Outdoors as a STEM tool.”

Oct 9, 2024

NC State Continues Work on Oyster Sanctuary Restoration Project

Expansion of an existing Pamlico Sound oyster sanctuary network and partnership supporting underrepresented university students to study marine sciences is making progress.  The project, titled, “Completing the Pamlico Sound Oyster Sanctuary and Training the Next Generation of Restoration Professionals”, is being funded through a $14.9 million grant to the North Carolina Coastal Federation from The National…