Tourists getting trapped after wandering onto remote North Carolina island, rangers say
In addition to the risk of entrapment, the waters south of Cape Lookout can be incredibly dangerous due to shifting and converging currents, park rangers say.
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CAPE LOOKOUT, N.C. – Park rangers in North Carolina warn that while the converging currents at the southern tip of Cape Lookout are stunning, they should be observed from a distance.
The lighthouse at Cape Lookout, N.C., so tall when viewed up close, becomes rather small when seen in this file aerial view of Core Banks.
(Chris Seward/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service / Getty Images)
Recently, a gap between Shark Island and Cape Lookout has begun to connect with a narrow bar of sand during the lowest of low tides, officials at Cape Lookout National Seashore said.
"In the last two weeks, we have had two separate incidents of visitors crossing to Shark Island at low tide and becoming trapped as the tide rises behind them," park rangers said online.
SEE IT: TOOTH OF LARGEST SHARK THAT EVER LIVED WASHES ASHORE IN NORTH CAROLINA
A satellite image of Cape Lookout shows a sandy beach coming to a sharp point and jetting southward. A small island can be seen south of that point, and a red arrow indicates the area between the island and the point.
(Cape Lookout National Seashore via Google Maps)
As a result, multiple law enforcement agencies have had to dispatch first responders to use intricate rescues to save the trapped people.
In addition to the risk of entrapment, the waters south of Cape Lookout can be incredibly dangerous due to shifting and converging currents, park rangers said. Traveling on foot through this narrow sandbar, park rangers said, could result in getting swept away by a rising tide.