UNCW Studying Frying Pan Shoals as Possible Offshore Sand Source
University of North Carolina WilmingtonAbout 30 miles off the coast of eastern North Carolina stands Frying Pan Tower, a local maritime relic that looms over a frying pan-shaped, sandy ridge known as Frying Pan Shoals. Treacherous for boaters yet a saltwater angler’s dream, the shoals are known for strong currents and shallow waters that have caused hundreds of shipwrecks through the years, but also harbor a thriving, high-producing ecosystem that includes an elaborate web of marine life from microscopic phytoplankton to shrimp, crab, and baitfish, to sea birds, loggerheads and porpoise, to grouper, billfish and sharks.