The rocky East Coast of North America is dotted with islands and rocky shoals which have been a treacherous problem for ships since the beginning of cross-Atlantic seafaring. Many of the famous coastal shipwrecks are the result of sandbars – shifting, shallow mounds of sediment often hiding just beneath the surface of the water and impossible to detect at night. Ships run aground on the invisible sandbars, sometimes incurring serious damage and ending up beached when the tide rolls out.

A number of islands and coastal features, notorious for attracting shipwrecks due to their prevalence for sandbars, have received the ominous nickname “Graveyard of the Atlantic”.

1. Sable Island, Nova Scotia (Canada)

Sable Island is a narrow, 42 km long crescent-shaped barrier island¹ about 180 km off the coast of Nova Scotia. Perhaps the oldest and best documented of the Atlantic Graveyards, between 1583 and 1999 Sable Island lured over 350 ships to their doom.

Most of the shipwrecks have today been washed away or buried by the shifting sands, and the Google imagery of the island doesn’t include any visible wrecks; but the precarious sandbars are visible just off the island’s edges.

The government of Nova Scotia has produced a map listing the location, names, and dates of about 200 Sable Island shipwrecks which occurred between 1797 and 1946.

Sable Island today is a nature preserve, known as much for its wild horses and endemic species as for its dark nautical history.

2. Cape Cod, Massachusetts (USA)

Perhaps Massachusetts’ most noticeable geographic feature, Cape Cod is the large “hook” extending from the state’s south shore. Known today as a major seaside resort area, and the playground of New England’s upper classes, Cape Cod was one of the first places visited and settled by Europeans in the New World. As a result, it became a major shipping destination from colonial times through the 1800s.

While the long peninsula offers excellent protection from storms and heavy ocean currents to the inner waters of Cape Cod Bay, the interaction with the ocean generates many long, treacherous shoals. Over 3,000 ships are believed to have wrecked off the shore of Cape Cod between 1626 and 1898, including American War of Independence vessels like the decorated HMS Somerset. Over 20 lighthouses lie along Cape Cod’s eastern shoreline to warn navigators of the danger.

The sheer amount of shipwrecks on Cape Cod made it a haven for “mooncussers“, the pejorative term for scavengers who would, upon discovery of a wreck, rush out in skiffs and gather up any lost cargo and other goods, to then sell for their own profit. During this time the Cape became known as “Graveyard of Ships“.

Recently, the remains of a 19th century 50-foot schooner washed ashore on Newcomb Hollow Beach, well-preserved by the shifting sands for an estimated 90 years or more, so perhaps you’ll be the one to discover more undiscovered wrecks in the satellite imagery.

3. Outer Banks, North Carolina (USA)

From North Carolina to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia lies a series of barrier islands known as the Outer Banks. Like the long, curved shores of Sable Island and Cape Cod, this coastline has been responsible for over 1,000 shipwrecks dating as far back as 1526. Just like the others, this stretch of shore is also nicknamed “Graveyard of the Atlantic”, but it’s also home to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.

The coast between South Carolina and Virginia is lined with sunken vessels, many of them naval ships such as the most famous of the area’s shipwrecks, the USS Monitor, an early ironclad warship that saw action during the U.S. Civil War. The Association of Underwater Explorers has a map showing some of the most notable shipwrecks off the North Carolinian coast.

(Another area known for its shipwrecks is the Florida Keys, with hundreds of shipwrecks dating as far back as 1733. This area has not been granted the title “Graveyard of the Atlantic” but is known as Shipwreck Trail.)

You can read more about Sable Island, Cape Cod and the Outer Banks at Wikipedia.

Locations: Massachusetts, North Carolina, Nova Scotia / Categories: Islands, Watercraft

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Over here in Ireland and the UK, we have been known to celebrate with vast quantities of Guinness. Over in the US however, they like large scale annual celebrations involving crazy things like temporarily dying the Chicago River green (which sadly hasn’t yet been captured on Google Earth²).

But in today’s post we’ll be looking at some of the places that St. Patrick has found a permanent home in the USA.

This is St Patrick’s park in Indiana, where they have created a 400 metre long homage to their namesake, entirely in the medium of trees. Which is apt, given how much of the colour green gets bandied around on the 17th of March.

We’ve visited the original Dublin already on Google Sightseeing, but there are at least nine cities called Dublin in the USA alone!

See for yourself: Dublin, California; Dublin, Georgia; Dublin, Indiana; Dublin, New Hampshire; Dublin, North Carolina; Dublin, Ohio; Dublin, Pennsylvania; Dublin, Texas; and Dublin, Virginia.

In New York City we find St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a spectacular Neo-Gothic cathedral in midtown Manhattan that has become ingrained in Hollywood movie history, after being featured in several movies including 2002’s Spider-Man.

So, where else has St. Patrick and the influence of Ireland made a lasting impression around the world?

Happy Paddy’s day!

Thanks to Chris R.

Locations: California, Georgia, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia / Categories: Buildings, Large Type, Movie Locations

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Despite their name, Carolina Bays can also be found in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and northcentral Florida. They vary in size from one to several thousand acres, and are often gathered in groups. Many are filled with water and named as lakes, but most contain vegetated wetland.

Most striking however, is that every single one is invariably aligned in almost exactly same direction – which has led some people to claim that they might be the result of a meteor impact. It would have to have been a pretty serious impact, as there are estimated to be over 500,000 of them. This is Lake Waccamaw, north Carolina, which is widely considered the largest Carolina bay.

George Howard (a bit of a Carolina Bay fanatic), has created an exhaustive KML file that marks the location of many thousands of the bays in North Carolina. This image was taken in Google Earth, and shows the white outlines that have been used to mark the locations.

So, who here can solve the mystery of the Carolina Bays?

You can read more about Carolina Bays at Wikipedia. Thanks to Keith Wright, david and Ogle Earth.

Locations: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia / Categories: Natural Landmarks, Weirdness

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• Albany and Schenectady, NY
• Boise, ID
• Juneau, AK
• Kansas City, MO
• Manchester, NH
• Milwaukee, WI
• Research Triangle Park (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), NC
• San Antonio, TX
• Salt Lake City, UT

And presumably just for today (because today is Valentine’s Day in case you’d forgotten), it seems the little Street View guy is standing on a little love heart.

Aww, puke.

Locations: Alaska, Idaho, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin / Categories: Site News, Street Views

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A field in North Carolina features two antique WWII warplanes flying overhead: a Grumman TBF Avenger and a yellow North American T-6 Texan, which you can clearly see has “USAF” written on the right wing.

Of the 9,836 Avengers built, just 42 are still considered air-worthy (including the one we see here!). What’s even more amazing though is that the nearby Hickory Regional airport has two of the same rare aircraft parked on the tarmac!

OK, it’s not really a coincidence, this second image is a different aerial photograph so it’s almost certain that these are the same planes.

Thanks to morgantongis, Delta102 & jtouran at GE, via GEarth Blog

Locations: North Carolina / Categories: Aircraft

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Well I guess it had to happen sooner or later…

Thanks to Mark.

Locations: North Carolina / Categories: Large Type

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The first bit of peace is found in Watershed Park, a dense woodland near Redmond with trails for cycling, horse riding, etc. A local cyclist took this ground level photo.

There’s twice as much peace in the back yard of Yates Mill Elementary School, although the larger of the two is a bit faded.

Thanks: Sl0play & Brad Tollmann

Locations: North Carolina, Washington / Categories: Large Type

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The straight dirt path going from the main memorial to the NNW leads directly to the marker for the launch-point of the first flight (at the end of the path near the two dark structures). So that pilots can visit the memorial there is a modern runway to the west and it’s common for those flying past to dip their wings to the memorial out of respect for the innovators.

Thanks: jadam, Raymond Kallman, Joe McMahon, Chris, Adrian Likins, Tim, Patrick Howard, Chris Wesley, Scott K, Kevin Nutt, Andrew Cembor

Locations: North Carolina / Categories: Monuments

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They even have the cable mechanism there to slow the planes on landing (1/2 mile from my parents’ house). We usually see Harriers practicing from here.

Thanks Chris!

Locations: North Carolina / Categories: Structures

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Oh dear… Did I just mention aliens? Whoops.

Thanks to David for alerting us to the impending invasion.

Locations: North Carolina / Categories: Other Vehicles, Weirdness

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