Everything about Cape Hatteras totally explained
Cape Hatteras is a
cape on the coast of
North Carolina. It is the point that protrudes the furthest to the southeast along the northeast-to-southwest line of the
Atlantic coast of
North America, making it a key point for navigation along the
eastern seaboard. So many ships have been lost around it that the area is known as the "
Graveyard of the Atlantic". The nearby
shoals are known as
Diamond Shoals.
The cape is actually a bend in
Hatteras Island, one of the long thin
barrier islands that make up the
Outer Banks. The first
lighthouse at the cape was built in
1803; it was replaced by the current
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in
1870, which at 193 feet is the tallest brick lighthouse in the
United States.
In
1999, as the receding shoreline had come dangerously close to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the lighthouse was lifted and moved inland over a distance of 2900 feet. Its distance from the seashore is now 1500 feet, about the same as when it was originally built. Most of the 1400 ft of beach lost since the relocation of the lighthouse was due to
Hurricane Isabel in 2003.
Oceanographically, it's of interest because it's a point of confluence for two opposing currents: the warm
Gulf Stream moving north, and a cold Virginian current moving south. Somewhat analogous to
Point Conception in
Southern California, this on-the-edge placement leads to unusually diverse biological assemblages. Many species' ranges have either a southern or northern terminus at the cape.
Cape Hatteras is also infamous for being frequently struck by
hurricanes that move up the
East Coast of the United States. The strike of
Hurricane Isabel in
2003 was particularly devastating for the area. Isabel devastated the entire Outer Banks and also split the two small towns of
Frisco and
Hatteras in half.
NC 12, which provides a direct route from
Nags Head to
Hatteras Island, was broken in half by the hurricane. This nearly demolished the small villages of Cape Hatteras. Students had to use a
ferry to get to school for almost a year. Reconstruction of the area began in 2005.
Further Information
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