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Shelly Island Growth

A new land mass known by the name of Shelly Island began forming first as a sandbank around April 2017. The island is located off of the tip of Cape Point in Buxton, North Carolina. The crescent shaped island measures one mile long and more than 500 ft. wide. Although all parts of the island are constantly changing. The amount of sand that moves past the Outer Banks may be the largest in the world. The OBX is known for rapidly shifting sands, thanks to high-energy wind and waves. Small landmasses frequently appear and vanish in this area, but Shelly Island is notable for its size and speed with which it was formed. It’s not out of the ordinary for patches of ground to appear and then suddenly ease off. This is caused from the mixing of the cold water of the Labrador Current crashing into the warm Gulf Stream waters. This area of water is also known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic due its shallow region of harsh winds, hidden sandbanks and swirling tides.

 

Photo credit: National Geographic

 

It was nicknamed Shelly Island by locals because of the vast quantities of shells that are found on the shore. The discovery of the new island is drumming up a great deal of attention, but experts warn that it’s surrounded by dangerous currents. National Park Service officials have issued warnings about trying to swim or walk across the channel. There has been reports of sand tiger sharks and oceanic manta rays that were brought into the channel by the fast moving waters that separate the island from the rest of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

NASA recently released images that show the formation of Shelly Island.

 

Photo credit: Myfox8.com

 

Shelly Island could be gone with the next storm, or could get bigger for a while longer, but only be for a short period of time. Stanley Riggs, a retired geology professor and author who has written books about North Carolina’s coast says “Nothing here becomes a fixture. Nothing is the same from one hour to the next. There’s no such thing as normal.” The next hurricane that comes along could blow the island back into the Atlantic as quickly as it appeared.

Outer Banks Watermelon Festival

Outer Banks Watermelon Festival

Celebrate summer on the Outer Banks with Kitty Hawk Kites and support theOuter Banks Bicycle & Pedestrian Safety Coalition at the 11th Annual OBX Watermelon Festival on Thursday, August 3 from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at Jockey’s Ridge Crossing in Nags Head.

The festival is free to attend but tickets must be purchased to participate in the games and activities. All proceeds from this event will benefit the Outer Banks Bicycle & Pedestrian Safety Coalition.

The day will include games, food, face painting, tie-dye shirt making, arts and crafts activities, an inflatable waterslide, lots of watermelon fun and plenty more.

Compete in classic competitions like seed-spitting and watermelon-eating to win awesome prizes including various Kitty Hawk Kites adventures, swag from Dunkin’ Donuts OBX, a hammock from Kitty Hawk Hammocks, and more.

Stop by and share in this summertime tradition with watermelon provided by Food Lion. Lunch will be provided by Mulligan’s Raw Bar and Grille and frozen treats from Scoop’s Homemade Ice Cream.

 

SCHEDULE OF WATERMELON CONTESTS:
12:00 PM –
Watermelon Tower Building
1:30 PM –  Ice Cream Eating Contest
2:30 PM – Watermelon Eating Contest
3:30 PM – Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest

ALL-DAY ACTIVITIES:

  • Inflatable bounce house and slide
  • 30-foot outdoor rock wall
  • Splash Blast
  • Stanley the Mechanical Surfing Shark
  • Corn Hole
  • Kan Jam
  • Face Paiting
  • Arts & Crafts
  • Tie Dye Shirt Making
  • Toy Demos
  • and more!

For more information on Kitty Hawk Kites Watermelon Festival, please contact Janet Chesson atevents@kittyhawk.com

 

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