There's a new attraction for thousands of people enjoying the long holiday weekend on North Carolina's Outer Banks. <\/p>\n
Shelly Island is a destination you won't find on a standard map. The giant barrier island suddenly formed in the Atlantic Ocean, almost overnight. <\/p>\n
CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports the mile-long island, which measures as wide as a football field, has attracted hundreds of tourists by boat for the Fourth of July. <\/p>\n
Pilot Larry Ihler told Strassmann the island \"has definitely gotten bigger\" and is \"more built up.\" <\/p>\n
Strassmann set out by kayak on Monday to explore Shelly Island with County Commissioner Danny Couch, who is a life-long resident of the Outer Banks. <\/p>\n
Couch says he's seen barrier islands pop up before, but not like this one, which he first noticed in April. <\/p>\n
\"This is the mother of all sandbars,\" Couch said. \"All of a sudden, right here where we're sitting. It's a hoss. It's huge. It is big.\" <\/p>\n
The area off North Carolina's coast is one of the most dynamic ocean environments on Earth -- nicknamed the \"graveyard of the Atlantic\" -- with more than 2,000 documented shipwrecks since 1585. <\/p>\n
This mile-long sandbar, dubbed \"Shelly Island\" for its plethora of seashells and colorful pebbles, has been forming and growing since late spring. <\/p>\n
Instagram\/@chadonka <\/p>\n
Two powerful currents collided there -- the Gulf Stream from the Caribbean flowing quickly north, and the Labrador Current from the arctic pushing south. <\/p>\n
The currents collide, churning surf and sand at Diamond Shoals, creating a cluster of shifting underwater sandbars off the coast of Cape Hatteras. Satellite imagery shows the large shoal has continued to grow ever since it surfaced last March. <\/p>\n
\"Nobody will ever be able to predict what's going to come out of the ocean or what it's going to look like,\" Couch said. <\/p>\n
Over Memorial Day, 11-year-old Caleb Regan visited the island for the first time. He noticed shells scattered everywhere and gave the place a name that stuck: Shelly Island. <\/p>\n
\"I thought it would just be like a little family nickname,\" Caleb said. \"I can't believe it got this big. Very incredible.\" <\/p>\n
Strassmann says tourists keep coming to Shelly Island, both for the shells and the novelty. But aside from its beauty, the island presents potential trouble -- sharks swimming near boaters and waders. It's so new that no federal or state agency regularly patrols the area. <\/p>\n
\"Right now, nobody's really claiming ownership,\" Couch said. \"It's sort of a no man's land. This could be yours, or mine, or somebody's. But it belongs to the American people. It's a phenomenon. Enjoy it while we have it.\" <\/p>\n
Before you rush here to build a beach house, remember that nature gives and nature takes away. The first hurricane that comes along could blow the island, as big as it is, back into the Atlantic. <\/p>\n
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Shelly Island: The new beach off North Carolina's Outer Banks - CBS News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There's a new attraction for thousands of people enjoying the long holiday weekend on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Shelly Island is a destination you won't find on a standard map. The giant barrier island suddenly formed in the Atlantic Ocean, almost overnight Continue reading