Is lost Outer Banks island reforming? Dry land appears where Shelly Island vanished

Two years after North Carolina’s newly formed Shelly Island was destroyed by storm surge, another island appears to be rising off the Outer Banks in its place.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore says the nearly 100-foot long formation was discovered Sunday, about a quarter of a mile south of Cape Point on the Outer Banks.

That’s the area where Shelly Island showed up on a NASA satellite in the fall of 2016.

“The sandbar, which currently measures roughly 30 meters long, could continue growing in size, or could just as easily get washed away with the next storm swell,” National Park Service officials posted, before adding a warning.

“The Seashore recommends that visitors do not attempt to access the sandbar due to the deep, cold water, and dangerously strong currents between it and the tip of Cape Point.”

Park officials issued the warning knowing Shelly Island became international news and attracted tourists from across the country. At least five people who waded to the island had to be rescued after the tide came in, media outlets have reported.

Shelly Island, so named by tourists for its plentiful seashells, survived for more than two years. It grew to 20 acres and a mile in length before a series of storms cut it in half, then washed it away, McClatchy News reported in 2018.

The island got big enough that a land dispute erupted when a Virginia businessman filed a claim of ownership to it, McClatchy News reported in September 2018.

The National Park Service and Dare County officials disputed that claim, but the disappearance of the island resolved the issue before it went to court.

National Geographic noted in 2017 that currents off the Outer Banks are known for producing and swallowing islands at a rapid pace.

“Along this dynamic stretch of sea, where the cold, southbound Labrador Current churns and crashes into warmer Gulf Stream waters, it is not unusual for patches of ground to emerge and then quickly subside,” National Geographic wrote.

“These are, after all, some of North America’s roughest waters, a shallow region of swirling tides, hidden shoals, and harsh winds.”

This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 11:21 AM with the headline "Is lost Outer Banks island reforming? Dry land appears where Shelly Island vanished."