NATURE & SCIENCE

Lying just east of the North Carolina mainland are the barrier islands that comprise the famed Outer Banks. Cape Lookout National Seashore protects the southern-most section of this barrier island system. Within the seashore's boundaries the islands are without the usual man-made trappings of paved roads, resort facilities or bridge connections to the mainland.

Plants

In the area near Portsmouth Village at Cape Lookout National Seashore, much of the land is awash at high tide; only a few areas support vegetation. Scattered groves of trees grow on Core Banks, particularly at Guthries Hammock. The Cape Lookout Bight area and Shackleford Banks have large dunes, and it is at Shackleford that you will find the most extensive maritime forest in the park. Vines are abundant-and are at war with the trees. The changing geography of the island produces the strange and beautiful "ghost forests" on the ocean side of the groves; trees killed by advancing sand and salt spray leave their sun-bleached skeletons protruding from the sand.

Animals

Not all of the animals of Cape Lookout National Seashore are found on land. The waters surrounding the park are feeding grounds for marine mammals and sea turtles. Four sea turtle species - Loggerhead, Green, Kemp's Ridley, and Leatherback - are sometimes seen feeding in area waters. Only the Loggerhead sea turtle regularly nests on the park's beaches during the summer months. The others are found only as juveniles or are just passing through.

Birds are the most easily observed animals in the park. Spring and Fall migration brings a number of different species through the park. Stormy weather can drive a few pelagic birds in from the open ocean for a visit. In summer, a number of tern species, egrets, black skimmers, herons, piping plovers and other shorebirds nest within the park's boundaries.

Mammals are uncommon on the islands; rice rats, rabbits, river otters, and raccoons are some of the native species found here. On Shackleford Banks is a population of horses that has gone wild and adapted to their environment over the past few hundred years.

Although salt and brackish water environments dominate the islands, a few fresh water habitats support tree frogs and Fowler's toads. While diamond-back terrapins prefer the salt marsh areas, the grasslands are the preferred habitat for five-lined racerunner lizards and black racer snakes.

Natural Features & Ecosystems

Cape Lookout National Seashore is a low, narrow, ribbon of sand running from Ocracoke Inlet on the northeast to Beaufort Inlet on the southwest. These barrier islands-56 miles long-consist mostly of wide, bare beaches with low dunes covered by scattered grasses, flat grasslands bordered by dense vegetation, and large expanses of salt marsh alongside the sound. Wind, waves, and currents are continually at work reshaping these low-lying islands; one big storm can bring about extensive changes. In such an environment only the most tenacious plants can survive the constant battle. Here beach grasses play a vital role as their deep roots help anchor the sand.