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Rough dig: Dismal Swamp Canal never quite lived up to plans
With poor initial funding, shoddy engineering and enslaved laborers forced to work in awful conditions, the man-made connection between the Albemarle Sound and Chesapeake Bay fell victim to competition but is now thought to be the country’s oldest operating canal.
Spotlight
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Recent rains did little for current drought: NC Climatologist
The rainfall most of the state experienced over the weekend didn’t help the varying degrees of drought conditions North Carolina has been experiencing for the last several months.
News Briefs
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Temporary creel, length limits for sheepshead begin May 6
The regulation for sheepshead harvest in inland and joint fishing waters of the state aligns with a recent proclamation enacting similar limits in coastal fishing waters.
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Currituck to begin town hall series to discuss future priorities
Currituck County commissioners and staff are launching in May the first in a series of town halls to discuss with the community their views on housing, infrastructure, economic development and quality of life to help guide future priorities.
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Brunswick’s preparedness expo to highlight health, planning
The daytime family-friendly event in Bolivia Tuesday will have representatives from 50 area businesses and organizations with information on health and wellness, emergency planning and resiliency, disaster response and recovery and more.
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Webinar set on developing new blue crab stock assessment
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is holding the online meeting May 28 to update the public work underway to develop a new blue crab stock assessment.
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Delays likely at Wrightsville Beach bridge during NCDOT tests
Drivers in Wrightsville Beach should allow extra travel time from now into May as crews perform drilling through the West Salisbury Street bridge deck over Banks Channel.
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Special Coverage
America’s 250th Celebration
This July Fourth, the United States will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Coastal North Carolina sites and residents played an outsized role in the Revolution. Explore their history.
News & Features
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Recent rains did little for current drought: NC Climatologist
The rainfall most of the state experienced over the weekend didn’t help the varying degrees of drought conditions North Carolina has been experiencing for the last several months.
Science
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Scientists record female sperm whales assisting in calf’s birth
A research team was working the summer of 2023 off the coast of Dominica when they made the “impossibly rare” observation of a mother sperm whale giving birth and the newborn assisted by the other whales in taking its first breath, all while recording their underwater vocalizations.
Commentary
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Ancient awareness: Moon phases and when to plant each crop
Human activities, including the chosen dates for religious holidays, animal behavior and the movements of all the water on the planet are in some way tied to our cyclical views of our nearest celestial neighbor, and so are our planting schedules.
Our Coast
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Rough dig: Dismal Swamp Canal never quite lived up to plans
With poor initial funding, shoddy engineering and enslaved laborers forced to work in awful conditions, the man-made connection between the Albemarle Sound and Chesapeake Bay fell victim to competition but is now thought to be the country’s oldest operating canal.
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Bestselling author’s path to fiction began with journalism
Kristy Woodson Harvey, a New York Times bestselling author who resides in Carteret County, will begin her tour this weekend as part of the official launch of her newest contemporary women’s fiction novel, “Summer State of Mind.”
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Chance encounter reveals shared family history of service
Joan Collins, director of outreach and education with the Pea Island Preservation Society Inc., relates how she happened to meet Johnnie Van Willis of Marshallberg and the discovery of what their two families have in common.
Featured Photo
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Pit viper stare-down
Two cottonmouths, aka water moccasins and known scientifically as Agkistrodon piscivorus, came face to face while foraging Sunday at the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s 6,000-acre North River Wetlands Preserve, with one rising up and the other backing down. One of six venomous snakes in North Carolina, the cottonmouth is the most aquatic, preferring wetter habitats. It’s a pit viper, having a pit on its face that senses heat. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission offers tips on how to coexist with snakes. Photo: Doug Waters
