Plants & Animals

  • Team Seeks Skittish Seabird Off NC Coast

    Researchers are looking for the mysterious black-capped petrel off Cape Hatteras, a threatened pelagic bird that breeds on Caribbean islands and travels far to forage.

  • New Tool Makes Oyster Restoration Easier

    Scientists and stakeholders have created a mapping tool that indicates optimal locations to restore oyster reefs, which is being put to use creating a sanctuary in Pamlico Sound.

  • Study: Nesting Turtles Prefer Dark Beaches

    Anna Windle at the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort has been leading a study on sea turtle nesting and artificial light, finding that nest density is higher on darker beaches.

  • Not Just Young Sharks, More Big Ones, Too

    Bull sharks are increasingly using North Carolina’s Pamlico Sound as a nursery, according to a recent study, but long-term research has shown that waters in the region are teeming with more large sharks – a good sign for the ecosystem.

  • Venus Flytrap Could Get Federal Protection

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a petition seeking endangered or threatened status for the Venus flytrap, the famed carnivorous plant native to the Carolinas.

  • Students Dig Into Decades of Turtle Data

    Two grad students in the math department at UNCW are crunching three decades’ worth of raw data on sea turtle nesting at Bald Head Island as part of an effort to better understand their behavior.

  • Venus Flytraps Don’t Eat Their Pollinators

    These carnivorous plants native to the Wilmington area rely on insects as pollinators and prey, but researchers have discovered that Venus flytraps don’t feast on the bugs that pollinate them.

  • Study: Corals Prefer the Taste of Plastic

    Plastic debris in the ocean is often mistaken for food by marine animals, but researchers at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort recently discovered that coral found off the N.C. coast prefer it to food.

  • Reefs As Carbon Sinks? Location Matters

    Researchers at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences have found that oyster reefs may help in mitigating climate change, but near-shore reefs sequester carbon better than others.