Oh my estuary, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways… You provide habitat for dreamy birds like these black skimmers, you support the economy, you buffer coastal communities from storms. . . and we’ve barely skimmed the surface! Why do you ❤️ estuaries? #iHeartEstuaries

Happy Valentine's Day! Roses are red, octopus blood is blue, did you know they have not one, not two, but three hearts to love you?! Spread the love and share this amazing #WildlifeWednesday fact with someone special today. 💕❤🐙 #ValentinesDay #IncredibleOctopuses #Octopus

📅 Apply by February 21st for this summer unpaid internship in our Wilmington office (you can get course credit for it)! More information: deq.nc.gov/coastal-manage…

🌺 Discover the vibrant red blanket flowers (Gaillardia pulchella) at Masonboro Island Reserve and Rachel Carson Reserve. You'll see these blooming from April to October. 🔥 AKA fire wheel, these resilient flowers thrive in the challenging conditions of barrier islands.

🌿 #DYK that invasive species often find their way to our reserve sites through residential plantings? One impactful way to help is by planting native species in your yard. Learn more about native plants: ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/plant-this-ins… InvasiveSpeciesAwarenessWeek 📷 Beach Vitex

It’s #WorldSeagrassDay! Do you know what seagrass is? Seagrasses AKA Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) are flowering plants with roots, unlike seaweed, which is macroalgae! #DYK that in NC, we have3 species of seagrasses?!

Sharpening our skills at Buxton Woods Reserve! Northern sites manager, Erik Alnes, led a chainsaw training for our dedicated staff, ensuring everyone's safety while we maintain our beautiful reserve sites.

📢 Calling all North Carolina graduate students! NC Sea Grant & @ncreserve are accepting applications for the 2025 North Carolina Coastal Research Fellowship. Deadline is 4/7! Learn more: ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/nc-coastal-res… #CoastalResearch #NorthCarolina #GraduateStudents #FellowshipFriday

#DYK The Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort, NC is named after an influential woman biologist and nature writer. Inspire all the children in your life with stories of Rachel Carson and other women scientists: conta.cc/3YUGbvk! #InternationalWomensDay

#GoGreen! Today is #GlobalRecyclingDay. We have some tips & tricks to make the recycling process easier for you AND the recycling system! ♻️Bagging your recyclables? Time to quit! ♻️Anyone who sorts recycling will tell you — when in doubt, throw it out.

Guess what day it is? Whelk Wednesday! 🐚Have you seen a whelk eggcase? #WildlifeWednesday

On #WorldWaterDay we celebrate estuaries - nature's water filters! 💧Rachel Carson spent the early part of her career at the Reserve here in Beaufort. Hence the name, the Rachel Carson Reserve. Carson wrote about it in what would become her first book, Under the Sea Wind.

Calling all coastal kayakers! N.C. Coastal Reserve, N.C. Wildlife, and partners are looking for volunteers to participate in kayak surveys to document diamondback terrapin sightings. There is a training session on April 12. Learn more: sites.google.com/view/terrapint…

📢 Calling all NC graduate students! Exciting opportunity alert! NC Sea Grant and @ncreserve are accepting applications for the 2025 NC Coastal Research Fellowship. Due April 7: ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/nc-coastal-res… #CoastalResearch #NorthCarolina #GraduateStudents #FellowshipFriday

#FieldworkFriday This newly installed "living shoreline" I'm working at along the N.C. Coastal Reserve's Rachel Carson Reserve seems to be living (😉) up to its name #Biodiversity #marinescience #intertidal #outerbanks

April is community science month! Want to be a community scientist? Check out the ways you can participate with the Reserve: deq.nc.gov/blog/2025/04/1… #CommunityScience #CitizenScience #iNaturalist

Serenity is found on Currituck Banks, the northernmost site of the N.C. Coastal Reserve in The Northern Outer Banks. 🌊 Explore 965 acres of maritime forest, freshwater marsh and tidal flats, bordered by views of the Sound.

Early morning discoveries at Masonboro Island Reserve! Not one, not two, but three loggerhead sea turtle nests were documented on the island so far! 🐢🌊

Teachers!! The summer is heating up so cool down with a trip to an estuary “NERR” you–starting next week. There’s a whole series of Teachers on the Estuary trainings to give you science lessons and data to bring back to the classroom. 📷: @ncreserve coast.noaa.gov/estuaries/teac…

Playing games? Learning about science? And receiving a stipend for it? That’s what 13 N.C. teachers got to do in June at the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort, N.C. Check out the link to watch a video about the 2025 Teachers on the Estuary workshop! deq.nc.gov/blog/2025/07/2…