Learn about some of the amazing work being done with marine mammals from NC experts. While you’re here, take a trip to the Museum’s Featured Exhibit: Blue Whales for free during Blue Whales Community Day (reserve tickets ahead of time)!
The NC Museum of Natural Sciences is a research-based museum with Museum staff who conduct novel research and steward our collections. Our Research Highlight Days feature these researchers and their fields of study. These events are held on the first floor of the Nature Research Center and feature themed tables and presentations.
Exhibits and Activities
Marine Mammal Stranding Investigations
UNCW Marine Mammal Stranding Program
Visitors will have the opportunity to explore real specimens like bones and baleen, learn about current projects, and talk to the scientists behind that research. Folks can also discover how to help with manatee conservation in our state.
Dolphin Dentistry: Using Teeth to Identify a Species
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Mammal Unit
Bottlenose dolphins are some of the most captivating marine animals known to man, but maybe they’re more mysterious than we once thought. Scientists recently discovered that there is not just one species of bottlenose dolphin, but two. Join us to learn about the differences between the two species and how we hope to tell them apart using their teeth!
Cetartiodactyla (Cetacean) Diversity
NC Museum of Natural Sciences
The Mammalogy Research Unit will share information on some of the lesser known marine mammals. We will have specimens from the Mammalogy Research Collection on hand to show unique characters of these amazing mammals.
Harbor Seals in North Carolina: Past and Present
Duke University Marine Lab
Did you know there are seals in North Carolina? In the winter, harbor seals live in the Outer Banks, at the southern edge of their range. As a collaborative research team, we are investigating the history of harbor seals in North Carolina by looking through newspapers, strandings, archeology, citizen scientist sites (like iNaturalist), and museum specimens. Were seals here in the past? Have they been here the whole time? Come by to find out!
We Might Need a Quieter Boat: Designing a Whale Research Vessel
NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher
What does it really take to study the vocalizations of deep diving whales? Join in the challenge of designing a whale research vessel that meets all the needs of the scientists onboard and the whales down below the ocean’s surface.
Presentations- SECU Daily Planet Theater
