NC Aquarium

New Alligator Mount on Exhibit

 

KURE BEACH—Visitors can get as close as they want to the newest exhibit animal at the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher. The eleven-foot American alligator just inside the aquarium’s Conservatory entrance ended its old life more than a year ago, and began a new one as an educational display in mid-June.

Exhibits Curator Dick Roberts said boaters found the alligator’s remains in Brunswick County in January of 2006 and alerted the aquarium. With permission from the N.C. Wildlife Commission, aquarium staff retrieved the animal and sent it to a taxidermy specialist named Warren Kimsey.

Kimsey has decades of experience preparing displays for museums and other education facilities. After retiring from a twenty-six-year career as exhibits curator at the Schiele Museum in Gastonia, N.C., he opened his own business creating educational displays for museums, many of which exhibit wild animals preserved by taxidermy.

For the aquarium, Kinsey created a “skin mount” of the alligator. This involves applying the ‘gator’s real skin to a fiberglass replica of its body. In the finished display, the tongue is a dense foam covered in plastic and the eyes are made of glass. The base is made of a thick resin, with leaves, sticks and other natural materials spread on top “like a big birthday cake,” said Kimsey.

The new skin mount replaces a similar display created by Kimsey more than a dozen years ago for the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. Fort Fisher borrowed the original ‘gator while Pine Knoll Shores was closed for expansion, then gave it back when construction was finished.

Visitors to both facilities find the mounted alligators fascinating, said Roberts, the exhibits curator at Fort Fisher. “Everyone loves touching the alligator, and it’s a great photo opportunity.” Roberts said the mounted version provides visitors a good introduction to the living, breathing alligators they will find in another exhibit, only a few steps away.

 

The N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher is located just south of Kure Beach, near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, on U.S. 421. The site is less than a mile from the Fort Fisher ferry terminal. Hours: 9 to 5 daily (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day). Admission: $8 adults; $7 seniors; $6 ages 6-17. Free admission for: children under 6; registered groups of N.C. school children; N.C. Aquarium Society members.

The state’s three public aquariums are located at Fort Fisher, at Pine Knoll Shores, and on Roanoke Island. Administered by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the aquariums are designed to inspire appreciation and conservation of North Carolina’s aquatic environments. General information:  http://www.ncaquariums.com.

 

Visitors love touching and photographing the new eleven-foot mounted alligator now on display at the

N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher.