It’s not easy to ignore the siren song of our patients. Often it starts out with only one volunteer from a family signing on, but quickly a second, third or even more of them are cleaning tanks, treating wounds and educating our visitors during tours of the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. Long-time volunteer Sandy Sly has been working with both our beach program and our hospital since...

If you were feeling the chill when the arctic blast blew in this past weekend you weren’t alone. For any sea turtle still around our inshore waters when the temps plunged into the 20’s they were most likely beyond chilled – they were stunned – literally. Yep – it’s our (not favorite) season at the hospital: cold-stunning season. While we were enjoying our extended warmth into December...

On September 9, 1977, Howard Lee, then the NC Secretary of Natural Resources and Community Development, made an audacious speech to a National Trails Symposium at Lake Junaluska in Haywood County which has fired the imaginations and energy of NC trail enthusiasts ever since. In that speech, Lee recommended that North Carolina build a “state trail from the mountains to the coast, a trail leading through communities...

Pender County, Surf City and Topsail Beach have bounced back from Hurricane Matthew. Interstate 40 was closed for a short period of time but it is open and power has been restored. Moores Creek National Battlefield is currently closed and Poplar Grove Plantation has several trees down. For the latest happenings in tourism click here.