{"id":107815,"date":"2025-02-21T11:26:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T16:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/?post_type=tribe_events&#038;p=107815"},"modified":"2025-10-24T14:54:45","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T18:54:45","slug":"marine-mammal-research-day","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/event\/marine-mammal-research-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine Mammal Research Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Learn about some of the amazing work being done with marine mammals from NC experts. While you&#8217;re here, take a trip to the Museum&#8217;s Featured Exhibit: Blue Whales for free during <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/event\/blue-whales-community-day\/\">Blue Whales Community Day <\/a><\/strong>(<a href=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.ticketapp.org\/portal\/product\/143\/calendar\">reserve tickets ahead of time<\/a>)<strong>!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"x_elementToProof\">Exhibits and Activities<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Marine Mammal Stranding Investigations<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>UNCW Marine Mammal Stranding Program<\/em><br \/>\nVisitors 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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dolphin Dentistry: Using Teeth to Identify a Species<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Mammal Unit<\/em><br \/>\nBottlenose dolphins are some of the most captivating marine animals known to man, but maybe they&#8217;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!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cetartiodactyla (Cetacean) Diversity<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>NC Museum of Natural Sciences<\/em><br \/>\nThe 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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harbor Seals in North Carolina: Past and Present<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Duke University Marine Lab<\/em><br \/>\nDid 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!<\/p>\n<p><strong>We Might Need a Quieter Boat: Designing a Whale Research Vessel<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher<\/em><br \/>\nWhat 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&#8217;s surface.<\/p>\n<h3>Presentations- SECU Daily Planet Theater<\/h3>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-114625\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/DSCN2321_3788-500x375.jpg\" alt=\"Three adults are on a beach around a stranded bottlenose dolphin. A device is attached to the dolphin an it appears the humans are recording data. \" width=\"323\" height=\"242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/DSCN2321_3788-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/DSCN2321_3788-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/DSCN2321_3788-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/DSCN2321_3788-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/DSCN2321_3788-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/DSCN2321_3788-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 323px) 100vw, 323px\" \/><\/div>\n<div><strong>11 AM What Can We Learn from North Carolina Marine Mammal Strandings<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><em>Victoria Thayer, North Carolina Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator, North Carolina Aquariums, North Carolina State University<\/em><\/div>\n<div>What are some reasons marine mammals strand? What can be learned from these strandings? Why does North Carolina have relatively high species diversity in strandings? Who responds to marine mammal strandings in North Carolina?<\/div>\n<p><\/br><\/p>\n<div><strong><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-114626\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Picture5-500x375.jpg\" alt=\"A Caucasian woman wearing a white shirt and glasses kneels in the middle of a pile of whale rib bones. \" width=\"339\" height=\"254\" srcset=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Picture5-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Picture5-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Picture5-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Picture5-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Picture5-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Picture5.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 339px) 100vw, 339px\" \/><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>12 PM The Story of One North Atlantic Right Whale<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><em>Lisa Gatens, Collection Manager of Mammals,\u00a0NC Museum of Natural Sciences<\/em><\/div>\n<div>North Atlantic Right Whales are critically endangered. \u00a0This presentation tells the story of one such animal from the time she was first spotted by researchers to her untimely demise some 30 years later. \u00a0We will also discuss current conservation measures and how research on this individual has contributed to protection of the species.<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn about some of the amazing work being done with marine mammals from NC experts. While you&#8217;re here, take a trip to the Museum&#8217;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&#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/event\/marine-mammal-research-day\/\">Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":57706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[3,4,6,18,8],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/107815"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/107815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107815"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=107815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}