Much of North Carolina s estuaries have been in decline in recent years and water quality testing helps to increase citizen awareness of North Carolina s waters. By participating in Estuary-Net, the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium hopes to promote conservation efforts and to educate visitors about our aquatic habitats, including water quality issues. Monitoring this site and sharing this data with other sites will help to create the big picture of the health of North Carolina s waters. In an effort to educate the public about the state s aquatic environments, the Aquarium offers many environmental educational programs to its visitors. Several of these incorporate water quality sampling to illustrate the importance of water pollution within an aquatic system.
Testing is done by school groups and other groups, composed primarily of families and adults.
By participating in hands-on activities, students and the general public learn about our aquatic communities, their overall health, and their conservation. We welcome any communication with other sites involved in water quality monitoring and hope to compare our results with other groups participating in Estuary-Net. The Aquarium became involved in this project in the late spring of 1998 and looks forward to being connected to other groups.