. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. Photo by J- Foster Scott. TAKING THE PLUNGE Amberjack, barracuda, spottail and cod are a few of the warm- and cold-water species of fish found around the reefs and wrecks off the Tar Heel coast. For those who scuba dive, there's nothing Hke it. The weightless feeHng. The beauty of the unfamiUar. The sense of adventure. It's all there for those who sink into this final frontier. Bob Eastep, a dive instructor and dive boat captain with EJW Sport Shop in Morehead City, says diving is on the increase in North
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. Photo by J- Foster Scott. TAKING THE PLUNGE Amberjack, barracuda, spottail and cod are a few of the warm- and cold-water species of fish found around the reefs and wrecks off the Tar Heel coast. For those who scuba dive, there's nothing Hke it. The weightless feeHng. The beauty of the unfamiUar. The sense of adventure. It's all there for those who sink into this final frontier. Bob Eastep, a dive instructor and dive boat captain with EJW Sport Shop in Morehead City, says diving is on the increase in North Carolina. "It used to be that I had the only charter boat in this area that strictly took out divers," Eastep says. "Now there are 10 dive charters in the Beaufort-Morehead City ; It's not just North Carolina divers who are flocking to our coast. Eastep says divers from Virginia, New York, Florida, Maine, Alaska and even Germany have chartered his boat. What attracts these undersea enthusiasts? For the most part, it's the hundreds of wrecks that litter the state's continental shelf. They range from Civil War blockade runners to German U-boats (see story, page 5). But the wrecks provide more than a history lesson or the lure of artifacts. They're a study in underwater biology. The wrecks become encrusted with barnacles and corals that attract baitfish, which in turn attract larger fish. The diver might see amberjacks, barracudas, triggerfish, groupers, filefish or spottails, says Jim Murray, president of the Wreck Divers Association and the director of Sea Grant's Marine Advisory Service. North Carolina's offshore waters house species of a warm and cold nature. The cold-water Labrador currents and the warm-water Gulf Stream meet along the coast, attracting species from opposite climates. Eastep, who has been diving since 1957, says most divers see a wreck once or twice and don't want to go back again. "I've been on some wrecks 70 or 80 times,&q
Size: 1281px × 1952px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
