All photos by Sue Marshall
All photos by Sue Marshall

An old grove of cedars rises out of the sand....

The thing about barrier islands is that they are always trying to cozy up closer to the mainland. The tide rolls in, the sand erodes on the ocean side, and then it builds up on the soundside. The soundside grows vegetation, including trees, which get covered over with sand as the island rolls westward, then uncovered again as the island rolls along even more. It takes awhile, but roaring wind and raging surf can hurry the process along. 

After all the wind and tides from the sort-of hurricane/nor'easter we had last month, Ocracoke Current fan and regular Ocracoke visitor Sue Marshall went walking on the beach. She found this fairy ring of tree stumps somewhere in the northern half of the island.

NPS lead biotech Jocelyn Wright confirmed that Ocra-henge was exposed after Joaquin's overwash, but she says their tips can be seen after storm events year round. They are likely eastern red cedar or southern red cedar, and were once living trees on the soundside of the island. How long ago? Some quick googling tells me that Ocracoke Island is about 3000 years old and our marshes flats are about 500 years old, so somewhere in that neighborhood. How cool is that?

Thanks, Sue, for sending us these great photos! We love pictures! The Current welcomes contributions of photos for our Best Shots page. We love to share the beauty of Ocracoke with our readers! Send your Best Shots (we can only use horizontal photos for the front page!) to ocracokecurrent@gmail.com and tell us a little bit about yourself and where/when you took them.  

Ocra-henge
Ocra-henge
Ocra-henge
Ocra-henge
Ocra-henge