Masonboro Inlet Shallotte Inlet 



from 1938 to 1996 from 1949 to 1996 



SEA 



SCIENCE 



mid-1990s, but Hurricanes Bertha and 

 Fran reopened the inlet to a width of 53 

 meters in 1996. Just two years later, the 

 inlet was closed again. 



Hurricanes Bertha and Fran left 

 their marks on other southern inlets as 

 well, including Carolina Beach Inlet and 

 New Inlet. 



Other storms have sent great 

 amounts of water cresting over the 

 oceanside dunes, but have not actually 

 cut new inlets. Such was the case with 

 Hurricane Dennis, which battered the 

 Outer Banks earlier this year, wreaking 

 havoc for Hatteras Island residents and 

 tourists and forcing state officials to 

 consider new options for N.C. 12. 



Throughout history, inlets have 

 served as gateways to commerce and 

 adventure. In more recent decades, 

 inlets' mercurial natures have become 

 the bane of developers and property 

 owners who have built dream homes or 

 resorts along the fragile barrier islands. 

 The best-known example has been 

 Mason Inlet's migration toward the Shell 

 Island Resort near the tip of Wrightsville 

 Beach. 



"Mason Inlet moved over 365 feet 

 in a year, averaging over one foot per 

 day," says Spencer Rogers, North 

 Carolina Sea Grant's coastal construc- 

 tion and erosion specialist. "Others have 

 moved over 1,000 feet in a single year." 



The inlets reflect nature's volatile 

 side. While tidal currents constantly 

 attempt to deepen an inlet's channel, 

 ocean waves transport sand into the inlet, 

 filling it again. Inlets change as the 

 balance between these forces shifts. 



"Inlets are the most dynamic coastal 

 features," Rogers says. □ 



To order a copy of Shifting 

 Shorelines: A Pictorial Adas of North 

 Carolina Inlets, send a check for $15 to 

 North Carolina Sea Grant, NC State 

 University, Box 8605, Raleigh, NC 

 27695-8605. Ask for publication UNC- 

 SG-99-04. 



COASTWATCH 25 



