Aquarist – Ft. Fisher Aquarium

Take a guided tour through the depths of the Aquarium or become an aquarist for the day?

The Aquarium offers behind the scenes tours on:

Thursday, April 1 at 11:30 AM and Sunday, April 4 at 11:00 and at 2:00 PM.

Accompany Aquarium staff on a guided tour of animal quarantine, life support, food preparation, and access areas with this unique opportunity. The Aquarist Apprentice program, which includes a behind the scenes tour, gives participants the chance to learn about the Aquarium’s animals and their diets, and assist staff in the preparation of food and feeding of some of the animals.

Participants will also observe the Aquarists accomplish some of their daily care and maintenance tasks. This program will be offered on Saturday, April 10 at 2:00 PM.
With the arrival of warmer temperatures, outdoor activities are an excellent option for a fun-filled day. The Aquarium offers several programs that will help you get back to nature. Salt marsh explorations will be held Sunday, April 4 at 3:30 PM.

The program involves hiking the salt marsh trail and viewing first-hand the activities of marsh-dwelling animals and the variety of plants found in this rich environment.

Popular surf fishing workshops will return starting Saturday, April 10 at 9:00 AM. The program involves a 3-hour workshop, which includes one hour of classroom discussion, then surf fishing on the beach nearby.

PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED BY MARCH 31, 2010 FOR APRIL 2 AND 3, 2010 PROGRAMS and can be made by calling 910-458-7468.

The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher is located on US 421 approximately 15 miles south of Wilmington,NC just beyond Kure Beach, NC. From Southport, NC take the Southport-Fort Fisher Ferry. For ferry schedule, call 910-457-6942 or toll free at 1-800-BYFERRY. http://www.ncaquariums.com/fort-fisher

Wilmywood

It has been 25 years since ‘Firestarter’ changed Wilmington. Back in 1984 when Drew Barrymore starred as a girl who started fires with her mental powers, a USA Today film critic commented that the movie had “gaping plot holes” and “a parade of badly directed performances.” The film wasn’t a top contender for an Oscar.  But for this area, and perhaps all of North Carolina, “Firestarter,”  was a history changing movie. Firestarter was not a huge critical or commercial success but the money saved on the location made an impression on its studio.

Back then in 1983, the population of Wilmington was less than 44,000 and the idea of making a movie here was pretty much unheard of. When filming began the curious local population showed up en mass on the location shoots to find out what the fuss was all about.

Back then no one here really knew what a key grip, gaffer or best boy was. How different it all is now just 25 years later!

These days Wilmington has a host of puesdonims like Hollywood East and Wilmywood and the list of  television and feature films shot here numbers over 325.

Nowadays in Wilmington, you’ll be hard pressed to walk up to any local on the street who hasn’t either been in a movie, doesn’t know someone who has or hasn’t had the film industry touch their life in some way.

In the years since “Firestarter,” we have gained a top notch film studio, EUE/Screen Gems, which bought the facility from Carolco Studios (originally Dino DeLaurentiis’ old DEG Studios property). This studio is the largest east of California – and growing. In late May, “Dream Stage 10” will open here with a  size  of 37,500-square-foot. This will be the third largest soundstage in the country housing the largest and deepest special effects water tank in all of North America.

Some of the feature films and TV series shot in the Wilmington area include: Blue Velvet, The Butcher’s Wife, The Crow, Dawson’s Creek, Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Empire Records, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Matlock, One Tree Hill. Sleeping With The Enemy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Road To Wellville, The Secret Life Of Bees, Weeds, Crimes of The Heart, Weekend at Bernies, Amos and Andrew, Domestic Disturbance and A Walk To Remember.

Current running and upcoming Tv series being shot here include: Eastbound & Down (HBO), Little Brittain USA (HBO) and Provinces of Night starring Hilary Duff

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