A Shelly Island in the Stream

Of many mysteries surrounding the area known as the Bermuda Triangle, a recent emergence of a mile long sandbar, dubbed "Shelly Island" by a child collecting shells, has attracted much attention from the community nearby at North Carolina’s Hatteras Point. This type of land mass often appears only to be swept away again by the southbound Labrador Current whose cool waters cause unruly conditions when met by warmer waters of the Gulf Stream.

To add to the mythological intrigue of the area, which has claimed ships, flights, and voyagers; this strip of land stretches to about a mile in length and its sandy shores are littered with whalebones, shells, and relics of shipwrecks from days past. The surrounding waters are filled with sand tiger sharks, and, according to local historian Danny Couch, "oceanic manta rays the size of car hoods."

Though unusual in size, the island is nothing remarkable from a geological perspective. According to experts it may stick around for up to a year, if that.

Tourists are advised to avoid the island due to the sharks the currents have drawn in.

Experts at Ocearch, meanwhile, have generated a real time shark tracker to raise awareness about Great Whites and Tiger Sharks. The team behind the Global Shark Tracker, and Ocearch expeditions hope to inspire the next generation of oceanographers through education, and unprecedented data collection about the habits of these great creatures of the sea.