Question: What caused so many ships to run aground at Ocracoke Inlet during the 1700s?
Answer: A 1733 map drawn by Edward Moseley shows how obstructions at the mouth of Ocracoke Inlet (spelled Ocracock on this map) caused numerous ships to run aground. The inlet—an estuary situated in the Outer Banks—connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pamlico Sound. It also separates the islands of Portsmouth and Ocracoke. When this 1733 map was compared to other historic maps, it enabled researchers to determine how the inlet changed over several hundred years. Some shipwrecks are no longer in or near the present inlet due to these changes.