Sandy Souls Frisco

04/12/2025

The N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island is honored and thrilled to announce that it is a winner in the 2025 Newsweek Readers' Choice Awards contest for Best Aquarium. Nominees from across the United States were selected by an editorial panel of travel experts and Newsweek contributors. Polls closed after a public voting period of 28 days during the month of March. The top ten winners were announced on April 3 at 12:00 noon.

Newsweek’s description of the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island praised the Aquarium’s flagship Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation Center, also known as the S.T.A.R. Center. “Known for its stellar sea turtle rehab center, the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island has something for everyone, from the alligators and turtles of the Outer Banks to the Atlantic's sharks, jellies and of course, sea turtles,” the panelists stated. The national publication, which reaches 100 million people each month, also highlights the Aquarium’s impressive Graveyard of the Atlantic exhibit, a 285,000-gallon ocean habitat featuring a model of the Civil War–era USS Monitor that serves as a home to sand tiger sharks, tarpon, sheepshead, Atlantic spadefish and more.

Responding to the win, Larry Warner, director of the Aquarium said, “The entire team at the Aquarium takes the work they do for our animals and our guests extremely seriously and with a great deal of pride. It is an honor to be a nominee, but to then be voted by the public as a Best Aquarium winner for Newsweek’s Readers’ Choice Award is a validation of the team’s pride and passion.”

A 61,000 square-foot facility sited on 16 acres, the Aquarium welcomes an average of 320,000 guests each year, including volunteers and students on school field trips. The 3,000-square-foot S.T.A.R. Center provides medical care and rehabilitation assistance to sea turtles, mostly loggerhead, Kemps ridley and greens. During the winter of 2024-25, the Aquarium provided care to nearly 800 cold-stunned sea turtles and has since successfully rehabilitated and released over 600 of those sea turtles into the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream. Founded in 1976, the Aquarium is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2026. 🐠

04/12/2025

Fun Fact Friday: Sea Turtles Don’t Have Teeth!

Did you know sea turtles don’t have teeth? Instead, they have some pretty cool adaptations to help them eat:

❇️ Beaks, not teeth: Like birds, sea turtles have beaks instead of teeth.
❇️ Keratin construction: Their beaks are made of keratin—the same stuff as your fingernails!

Built for the menu: Each species has a beak shape perfectly adapted to its diet:

❇️ Green sea turtles have serrated beaks to tear seagrass and algae.
❇️ Loggerheads have strong, wide jaws to crush crabs and shellfish.
❇️ Hawksbills have narrow, sharp beaks to grab sponges from coral reefs.
❇️ Leatherbacks have soft, jellyfish-filled diets—so they use esophageal papillae, sharp spines in their throats, to trap slippery prey!

Nature really does think of everything! 🌊 🐢

Remember, if you visit the beach, never go near a sea turtle or shine lights on them at night, and please, when you leave,
KEEP THE BEACH:
-CLEAN
-FLAT
-DARK
And don't forget:
If you're in the northern Outer Banks and accidentally hook a sea turtle, or see a sea turtle on the beach or crawl tracks in the sand, please immediately call the

NEST hotline: 252-441-8622

This conservation work for protected sea turtles in the northern Outer Banks is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 25ST10).

04/12/2025

The Hatteras-Ocracoke vehicular ferry will transition to its summer schedule on Tuesday, April 15, increasing the number of crossings per day from 36 to 52. Starting on April 15, the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry schedule will be as follows: From Hatteras: 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., 7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m., 8:30....

04/12/2025

4/12/25 6:45 AM: Dreary and cool conditions in the cards today with highs in the 50s and 60s and spotty showers. It is cold enough aloft that we may see some showers produce pea-sized hail, especially in the evening.

04/10/2025

[4/10/25 6:25 AM]
Good morning ENC! Quiet, much warmer day in store today. We are monitoring the potential for strong to severe thunderstorms during the daytime hours Friday, as there is higher uncertainty than normal. See the graphic attached for more information.

04/10/2025

Try some today!
☮️❤️HI

Today is the first day of our 45th Season! Stop by for some Fantastic Fudge!

04/08/2025

☮️❤️HI

04/08/2025

Hatteras Island resident Dee Callahan was recently selected as the new Administrative Director of Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum by a unanimous vote of the Friends of the Graveyard of Atlantic Museum on March 19. “She hit the ground running, developing a draft budget with the finance committee, ...

04/08/2025

04/08/2025

4/8/25 6:30 AM: Much cooler weather settles into our region today with temperatures falling into the 50s and 60s. Chilly conditions persist into tonight with lows in the 30s, with a chance for patchy frost in well sheltered areas.

04/03/2025

☮️❤️OBX

04/03/2025

🏖 Since its launch in June of 2024, the Adopt a Beach Volunteer Program has been a great success! Over 28 miles of beach have been adopted by 15 different groups, and over 450 hours have been donated cleaning up the beaches of Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

💙 Thank you to the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association for all of their help developing and launching this program. And thank you to our amazing partners who help keep the beaches cleaner!

✨ Are you interested in joining the program? We still have a few spots left for adoption! Check out our page at the following link to learn more about the program, its impacts, and how you can get involved:

👉 go.nps.gov/adoptabeach



📸NPS Photo

04/03/2025

NEWS RELEASE: Bodie Island Lighthouse opens for daily climbing April 18, 2025

The Bodie Island Lighthouse will be open for daily climbing from Friday, April 18 through Oct. 13, 2025.

Climbing tickets go on sale at 7 a.m. and may only be purchased on the same day of your intended climb. Tickets are only available for purchase at http://www.recreation.gov/ticket/252034/ticket/10087143.

Pro tip: Create your www.recreation.gov account prior to the date you intend to purchase tickets. Learn more about climbing lighthouses at http://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/lighthouseclimbs.htm.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse climbing opportunities are not available this year, due to ongoing restoration efforts.

News Release link: https://www.nps.gov/caha/learn/news/bodie-island-lighthouse-opens-for-daily-climbing-april-18-2025.htm

📸View from the Bodie Island Lighthouse.

04/03/2025

Our breakfast spot when on Hatteras Island
☮️❤️HI

04/02/2025

**STATEWIDE BURN BAN LIFTED EFFECTIVE 8 A.M. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2**

The N.C. Forest Service has lifted a ban on all open burning effective 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 2. The statewide ban went into effect March 21 due to hazardous forest fire conditions.

The lifting of the burn ban does not apply to fires started within 100 feet of an occupied dwelling. The local fire marshal has authority to issue or lift a burn ban within that 100 feet.

As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 2, burn permits are available statewide. Residents can obtain a burn permit from any authorized permitting agent or online at https://apps.ncagr.gov/burnpermits/. All burn permits granted before the statewide burn ban were canceled when the ban became effective. A valid permit must be obtained.

Residents with questions regarding their specific county can contact their local N.C. Forest Service county ranger or county fire marshal’s office. To find contact information for your local NCFS county ranger, visit www.ncforestservice.gov/contacts.

Read news release: https://www.ncagr.gov/news/press-releases/2025/04/01/burn-ban-lifted-all-north-carolina-counties-conditions-improve