Photo tells the tale of a delicate ecosystem.
Taken from 120 miles above the Outer Banks as Apollo 9 orbited the earth, it is an iconic image of the fragile world of this string of barrier islands. Cate Kozak tells the the story writing for the Coastal Review Online on the its 50th anniversary.
“Stark, artfully angled and shockingly skinny, the Outer Banks of North Carolina gained a whole new visual perspective of its fragile geology in a photograph taken 50 years ago by the Apollo 9 spacecraft.
The shot, taken from an altitude of about 120 miles at 10 a.m. on March 12, 1969, during the spacecraft’s 136th orbit of the Earth, was the clearest depiction of the delicate string of barrier islands and the expansive estuarine system it geographically embraces.
Viewed from space, the long sliver of sand is a thin golden line, curving gracefully southeast from the Virginia line into the Atlantic before making an abrupt turn at Hatteras, creating the cape’s famous, bold jut into the sea. The slender strand then turns southwest and traces the coast to Cape Lookout, where it again makes a dramatic 90-degree turn.”
For the complete Coastal Review Online article, click here.