Storm swell associated with Hurricane Imelda and Hurricane Humberto breaks Tuesday along the Bogue Banks shore at Oceanana Fishing Pier in Atlantic Beach. The storm, while moving away from the U.S. Tuesday, still packed a potent punch, forecasters said, and could bring possible minor flooding in areas of onshore winds along the coast in the Southeast. At 11 a.m. Tuesday, the storm was moving to the northeast, toward near Bermuda, but swells and high surf from Imelda and Hurricane Humberto were expected to produce dangerous marine conditions and rip currents along much of the East Coast for several days. Farther north, the N.C. Department of Transportation on Tuesday closed N.C. 12 on the north end of Ocracoke Island between the National Park Service Pony Pens and the ferry terminal due to deteriorating travel conditions and five oceanfront houses collapsed on Hatteras Island. Photo: Dylan Ray
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Wild herd, long shadows
Wild horses cross tidal waters from Town Marsh to Bird Shoal along Beaufort’s barrier islands, which are part of the Rachel Carson Reserve, in Carteret County. The cluster of islands includes Carrot Island, Town Marsh, Bird Shoal, and Horse Island, and the horses are descended from those brought to the islands by a Beaufort area resident in the 1940s, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. The state manages the horse population for its health and for the health of the environment, but the herd is otherwise left to fend and forage for itself. Photo: Dylan Ray
Night flyer out on a limb
A male luna moth, or Actias luna, finds a perch in the branches of a Japanese maple near Russell Creek in Beaufort. The easily identified species flies mostly at night and is found statewide this time of year in and near hardwood forests, wooded residential areas and, on North Carolina’s barrier islands, in maritime forests. Adult luna moths do not feed and live off food they consumed as caterpillars for the moths’ seven- to 10-day lifespan.
Angry Erin heads out to sea
People on Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head watch as waves generated by Hurricane Erin crash into the concrete structure that’s part of the North Carolina Aquariums system. The storm’s center was about 260 miles east of Cape Hatteras at midday Thursday and moving out to sea, but hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 105 miles and tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 320 miles from the sprawling but weakening storm’s eye. Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions will likely continue as storm surge and flood risks subside. The pier’s website provides information on current conditions and live webcam views.
Avon inbound
The North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division vehicle ferry Avon prepares to dock at the Minnesott Beach Ferry Terminal in Pamlico County, making one of the service’s numerous daily, 20-minute trips each way, back and forth between here and the Cherry Branch terminal across the Neuse River in Craven County. The Avon is one of 21 state ferries serving commuters and visitors on seven routes across the Neuse, Cape Fear and Pamlico rivers, and the Currituck and Pamlico sounds, and their schedules vary seasonally. Photo: Dylan Ray
Blue skies over Bogue Banks
Fishing lines, sunshades and beachgoers crowd an Emerald Isle beach while two seagulls fly overhead, with another in the foreground searching for food. Photo: Robert Watkins
Shifting sands
A wall of sandbags extends along the roadside far into the distance aside N.C. Highway 12 on the north end of Ocracoke Island. This is where washouts and erosion from storm surge repeatedly chew away at the barrier island beach and roadway, part of the normal ocean dynamics that humans often try to control. Photo: Dylan Ray
Wrong tern?
Least terns are excellent fish-catchers, and when feeding their young can deliver about two fish per hour. Males also catch and display fish during courting, which is what we assumed is going on here. There’s only one problem with that theory: After showing it to the female for a few seconds, when she finally showed interest, he flew away. Photo: William Birkemeier
Mom, cubs out for a stroll
A mother black bear and three cubs stroll along Creef Cut Wildlife Trail in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, located on the Albemarle Peninsula in eastern North Carolina. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a press release featuring the photo recommends staying at least 1,000 yards away from bears. Use binoculars, scopes and telephoto lens to get a better look. Check out BearWise, an online resource that offers practical tips in the event of a bear encounter. Photo: Karen Lebing, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Sexy flex
An anole sends out a message to potential mates by flexing his throat to reveal a show of color in a Beaufort garden. Photo: Dylan Ray
Morning stretch
Daddy longlegs, scientifically speaking, a member of the Leiobunum genus, stretches its legs recently on the leaf of a sweetbay magnolia, or Magnolia virginiana, a native species on the North Carolina coast. Often called harvestmen — there are at least 6,600 suborders of the species — and mistakenly identified as spiders, the insect is an arachnid that has been found everywhere on Earth except Antarctica. Photo: Mark Hibbs
Coastal calf suns on a bed of flowers
A calf lies in a field of spring flowers near the Haystacks area of Morehead City in Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
US 70 bridge inspection in progress, plan for daytime delays
A state Department of Transportation crew works high above the Newport River Tuesday inspecting the underside of the Morehead City-Beaufort high-rise bridge next to the state port. Traffic delays were expected through Friday on this part of U.S. Highway 70 as one lane of travel was planned during daylight hours, or 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Photo: Dylan Ray
Boardwalk beneath the bridge
An angler recently tries his luck from beneath the Scuppernong River Bridge on the the Scuppernong River Boardwalk at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge visitor center in Columbia, in Tyrrell County. Money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was appropriated to replace the boardwalk, a project that was announced to take place in fiscal 2026. Congress directly appropriated $455 million to the refuge over five years for programs related to the previous administration’s America the Beautiful initiative announced in 2021. The nonprofit National Wildlife Refuge Association has said that continuing resolutions, such as the emergency funding bill signed into law last week, throw refuges into chaos and uncertainty and can prevent new project starts. Photo: Mark Hibbs
Top job
Paint crews work high above the deck of the NC State Port of Morehead City Thursday as a new protective coating is applied to the water tower. Photo: Dylan Ray
Apart from the rest
A lone cypress stands apart from those closer to the shoreline at the old mill pond in Carteret County that was originally part of a tract owned by Welshman Robert Williams, who settled in Carteret County in 1763. Williams created the mill pond by having a dam built on Black Creek. A gristmill and a sawmill operated at each end of the dam, which is now below a bridge span on Mill Creek Road. Williams was also one of two county landowners whom historians say received money to build salt works in the county to assist in the Revolution. Photo: Dylan Ray
