Is new sandbar an OBX island-to-be?
BUXTON, N.C. — A small, newly formed sandbar near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse may or may not be the beginnings of a new Shelly Island.
The spit of sand is a quarter mile south of Cape Point in Buxton and measures about 100 feet long.
“The sandbar … could continue growing in size or could just as easily get washed away with the next storm swell,” Mike Barber, spokesman for Cape Hatteras National Seashore, wrote Sunday on Facebook.
The sandbar disappears at high tides, he said Monday.
“We want to make sure people realize it’s dangerous to try to get over there,” Barber said.
Three years ago, a similar sandbar began forming in April and eventually grew into an island of 27 acres, nearly a mile long and 450 yards wide. It got the name Shelly Island in June 2017 following a report about it in The Virginian-Pilot.
A member of the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association and her grandson had collected dozens of large beautiful shells there. In an interview with The Pilot, she said her grandson had called it “Shelly
Island.” The name stuck after the report.
Afterwards, hundreds of people converged on the site. Newspapers, magazines and television stations worldwide did stories on the new island. Good Morning America and other national media outlets did reports on scene. T-shirts and hats were made displaying the moniker “Shelly Island,” with an aerial photo of the landmark that looked like a giant comma.
The island disappeared after a few months.
For decades, sandbars have come and gone near Cape Point, a favorite surf fishing destination. The Gulf Stream flowing from the south and the Labrador Current flowing from the north converge near there, causing swirling opposing currents. Waves going in opposite directions clash against each other.
Cape Point itself regularly changes shapes, sometimes increasing in size and at times shrinking.
Barber was not certain if the sandbar was still there Monday afternoon following a storm front that passed through. He expected to hear a report from rangers later Monday or early Tuesday.