October 24, 2024 — The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science lab in Beaufort is celebrating its 125th year in November.
Waves lap at the shoreline of the shallow, calm waters of the Pamlico Sound in Beaufort, where the NOAA lab has stood for more than 120 years. It began as a U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries field station in 1899 — originally on Front Street — and moved to its current location on Pivers Island in 1902.
It is the second oldest federal marine laboratory in the U.S., after Woods Hole.
Dr. Larisa Avens is a sea turtle research biologist at the lab. Part of her work involves necropsies – autopsies on animals, often sea turtles that have died along the eastern North Carolina coast.
There are no outward signs of how old a sea turtle may be, so Dr. Avens uses a saw to cut into the humerus – a bone in the front flipper.
“The bones have growth rings in them that are similar to tree rings that we can count to estimate how old they are, and then, of course, each of those rings is related to a calendar year,” Avens explained.