Museum Natural Science Curator Keith Rittmaster will present on “Echo”, the Museum’s 33.5-foot-long sperm whale skeleton. When the adolescent whale came ashore at Cape Lookout in 2004, his bones and heart were preserved for study and display. Keith will cover the step-by-step process of retrieving,...
Join Education Curator Benjamin Wunderly in the museum auditorium as he reveals the final resting place for the skeletal remains of several whales that were hunted from the shores of North Carolina. The informal lecture also covers some of the historic shore based whaling practices...
Join Associate Museum Curator Benjamin Wunderly to learn about the history of U.S. Life-Saving Service operations, the precursor to the United States Coast Guard....
Associate Education Curator Christine Brin will be looking at clues from the remains of ships such as Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge and the British warship Mary Rose to share more about the lives of the sailors and pirates during what is commonly called “The Golden Age of...
Museum Education Curator Benjamin Wunderly will highlight the rescue of the captain and three crewmembers from the American schooner Leading Breeze. The vessel grounded during a severe southeast gale at Ocracoke Inlet on Nov. 23, 1901. Barely holding on to the wreckage and with all hope...
Join Maritime Historian David Bennett to reexamine and retell the origins of the menhaden industry in North Carolina. Based on new research, the talk will discuss who started the industry in North Carolina, how these people were tied to both New England and North Carolina,...
At the center of every fish story, myth or legend is a grain of truth. Join Associate Education Curator Christine Brin to learn about some of the possible origins of some of the best known sea monsters and more. The free program is part of...
Shortly after the construction of several coastal lighthouses in North Carolina, it became apparent that some locations would require additional warning lights. The dangerous shoals of Diamond (Cape Hatteras), Lookout (Cape Lookout), and Frying Pan (Cape Fear) proved difficult to navigate for many seafaring captains....
David Bennett, curator of maritime history, will explore the growth of the shrimp industry in North Carolina through changes in nets, boats, processing, and transportation. The talk will also discuss how the epicenter of the industry shifted over time from New Hanover County to Brunswick...
The whaler Seychelle, out of Provincetown, Massachusetts, was set to operate off the North Carolina coast when it happened to fall victim to the Great Beaufort Hurricane of August 1879, later known as Old Cook’s Storm. The presentation, by Associate Education Curator Benjamin Wunderly, will examine...