Cape Hatteras

Cape Hatteras is a headland on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Gulf Stream. Its shifting shoals and currents have long made nearby waters hazardous to navigation.

Diamond Shoals: A shifting expanse of shallow sandbars extending offshore from Cape Hatteras. These submerged bars create the cape’s most notorious navigation hazard.
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse: A lighthouse near Buxton, North Carolina, famous for its height and its 1999 relocation inland. It marks the cape’s maritime danger and the effort to protect a landmark from erosion.
Barrier island: A long, narrow coastal landform separated from the mainland by a lagoon or bay. Cape Hatteras is part of a barrier-island system built from mobile coastal sand.
Graveyard of the Atlantic: A name for the shipwreck-prone waters off North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The cape’s shoals and currents are central to the region’s reputation for shipwrecks.
Gulf Stream: A powerful, warm Atlantic current that flows northward along the eastern coast of North America. Its offshore course near Hatteras helps define the meeting of contrasting ocean waters.
Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum: A maritime museum in Hatteras, North Carolina, devoted to shipwrecks and maritime history. Its collections interpret the shipwreck history associated with these treacherous waters.
Outer Banks: A chain of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. The cape is a prominent point within this island chain.
United States Life-Saving Service: A federal agency that rescued shipwreck survivors and became a predecessor of the U.S. Coast Guard. Its stations along the Outer Banks responded to wrecks near Hatteras.
Labrador Current: A cold ocean current flowing south from the Arctic along eastern Canada. Its cold waters can meet the Gulf Stream near Hatteras, producing fog and sharp temperature contrasts.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore: A protected stretch of barrier islands along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The cape lies within this national seashore, which protects its beaches and surrounding islands.

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