NEWS

Spectators visit the beached sperm whale known as Trouble, which washed ashore on Wrightsville Beach in April 1928. Its skeleton now hangs in the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. By Owen Hassell “In the spring of 1928, a quiet morning on Wrightsville Beach turned into a madhouse when word spread of a massive… Read More >

A photographer’s innovative technique reveals the flight paths of insects in exquisitely alluring ways. Broad-headed sharpshooter — Oncometopia orbona — filmed at 6,000 frames per second. October 2021, Raleigh NC. Photo: Xavi Bou. By Annie Roth Movements of flying insects make them tough to track, but technological advances and some creative thinking have allowed Spanish… Read More >

Photo: Snapshot USA. By Joey Pitchford A new collaborative study using thousands of cameras around the world reveals how animal behavior changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the study sheds light on how animal behavior was influenced by changes in human behavior during pandemic lockdowns. Led by the University of British Columbia, the study used… Read More >

This minke whale skull is just one of many specimens in the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ mammalogy collection. Photo: NCMNS. By Annette Weston-Riggs A minke whale washed up on the Outer Banks last week, one of several dead whales found in the region in recent days. Two humpback whales also washed ashore in… Read More >

A total solar eclipse will cross North America next month, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Dr. Patrick Treuthardt is the Assistant Head of the Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and he’s pretty excited for the April eclipse. “Everybody in the contiguous United States is… Read More >