Know Your Park - Dolphins Along the Outer Banks

Date: December 8, 2009
Contact: Outer Banks Group, 252-473-2111

Presentations to be held at Rodanthe and Ocracoke

The National Park Service Outer Banks Group Know Your Park citizen science program series continues this week with presentations from Jessica Weiss from the Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research.

There are two presentations scheduled; 7 p.m. Friday, December 11 at the Ocracoke Community Center and 7 p.m. Saturday, December 12 at the Rodanthe Community Building. Each program is free and will last approximately 1 hour.

Weiss will speak about the importance of dolphins to the Outer Banks environment and the significance of the Outer Banks dolphins to the development of conservation strategies along the U.S. Atlantic coast.

A marine mammal researcher, Weiss has over 9 years of experience in the field of marine mammal monitoring and behavioral ecology. She is a co-founder of the Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research, a non-profit dedicated to the conservation of bottlenose dolphins in the Outer Banks.  As the Scientific Advisor, she leads a long-term monitoring study of bottlenose dolphins in the northern Outer Banks.

The Know Your Park citizen science program series is designed to further connect the Outer Banks communities and residents with the rich natural world and cultural heritage of their neighboring National Park sites; Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. “These presentations offer park visitors as well as local residents an opportunity to learn more about, and better enjoy, the coastal environment and their National Parks” stated Mike Murray, Superintendent, Outer Banks Group. 

One other Know Your Park program is currently scheduled for this season.  Joseph Hoyt from the NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary will speak about recent maritime archaeology work off the Outer Banks coast including an exploration of the HMT Bedfordshire and other World War I and II vessels on January 20, 7 p.m., at the Fessenden Center in Buxton, NC.