Henderson Field Airport, FAA identifier ACZ, is located in northern Pender County. Visitors to Pender County/Topsail Island are discovering this hidden treasure. Corporate jets, government agencies, and the flying public utilize Henderson Field Airport daily. Vacationers traveling from up north to Florida have discovered Henderson Field Airport offers a 24-hour pilot lounge and more competitive fuel prices than...

There’s a place where Pender County meets Bladen and Sampson counties. It’s a quiet place along the Black River. It’s a place for primitive camping. It’s a place to fish or launch a kayak. The place is Black River Camping Ventures, located on the sandy banks of the Black River. With 12 primitive camping sites, it is the perfect place to kick back and enjoy nature. “We opened in 2020,”...

By the time you read this most of our senior interns will have left us, each taking a different path in their future. The good news for our regular staff is that two of them will be staying on for a bit to help us through the next few months. Of course nobody, other than our turtles, gets to walk out of our doors with just a wave of their flipper. When they were chosen for our program they were told that successful completion...

SEA TURTLE HOSPITAL NEWS It’s been a busy summer with patients of various sizes and species cycling through our hospital. Many of them have been incidental catches from coastal waters and depending on where, or how many hooks were involved they’ve been short-timers ready to go home after a few days of TLC and breakfast. When a small Kemp’s arrived from Oak Island with a hook in her mouth we thought,...

Tuesday, June 14, was homecoming, or more accurately, home-going for 10 rehabilitated sea turtles: one loggerhead, two Kemp’s, and seven greens. Nine of these critters were victims of cold stunning, Kemp’s “Magic Potion” being the exception. His decision to choose a quick snack on a baited hook landed him in our hospital for a month. This was our first public release for the year and sea turtles...