The waters off North Carolina’s coast have been called the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” because of the great number of ships that have wrecked there — thousands since the sixteenth century. Geography, climate, and human activity have all played roles in making this region unusually treacherous to shipping.

2,000 shipwrecks

Graveyard of the Atlantic is a nickname for the treacherous waters and area of numerous shipwrecks off the Outer Banks of North Carolina which are due to the coast’s shifting sands and inlets.

Along the Outer Banks — where tourist-friendly beaches are shrinking by more than 14 feet a year in some places, according to the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management — other towns have imposed tax increases similar to the one Avon is considering.

You also can’t buy and tear down and rebuild, the lots are too small to allow rebuilding, so they are there as long as they are there and then gone forever. This makes the price less attractive and lower.

The Northern Outer Banks is ideal for vacationers who want to enjoy an ocean swim, as there are a number of lifeguarded or patrolled beaches all along this stretch of shoreline. The central Outer Banks is equally well-guarded, with lifeguard stands stationed in Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head.

Night journeys, poor weather, erred navigation and unmapped underwater shoals all contributed to the legacy of the OBX shipwreck history, not to mention war. Today, you can find shipwrecks periodically uncovered on the beach, but for snorkel and scuba diving, there’s no place better on the East Coast.

But unlike the Atlantic Ocean, with depths which can reach 20′, 30′ or even 50′ feet just a hundred yards off the beach, the Pamlico Sound remains relatively shallow throughout, with an average depth of about 5′-6′ feet or so, even well offshore.

RMS Titanic

The Great Lakes hold the secrets of about 8,000 shipwrecks. Lake Erie covers 2,000 of them, among the highest concentration of wrecks in the world.

The entire crew of 29 people died when the vessel sank. No bodies were ever recovered from the wreckage. Later when the wreck was found, it was discovered that the ship had broken in two. It still sits on the bottom of Lake Superior at 530 feet deep.

Lake Superior Bodies There an 350 shipwrecks in Lake Superior and an estimated 10,000 people have died in the icy waters, but as legend says, Lake Superior never gives up her dead.

Lake Erie

Lake Michigan is being called the “deadliest” of all the Great Lakes.

Ojibwa natives called Lake Superior Gitche Gumee which means Big Sea Water. Rip currents take swimmers unaware (if you’re brave enough to put a toe in the icy water!) and longshore currents can make it dangerous to swim near piers. Shipwrecks hold onto their mysteries too.

The reason: The water was contaminated with algae-like cyanobacteria, which can produce toxins that sicken people and kill pets. This is the noxious goo that cut off about 500,000 Toledo-area residents from their tap water for three days in 2014 and made at least 110 people ill.

Sea Lamprey

Lake Erie’s algae blooms are caused by runoff pollution. This type of pollution occurs when rainfall washes fertilizer and manure spread on large farm fields into streams that flow into Lake Erie. This fuels a bumper crop of algae each year that can make water toxic to fish, wildlife, and people.