Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.
-Neil Armstrong
A Mystery Hidden in the Landscape
Who doesn’t love the wonder of discovery, or even better… a good mystery? With this question in mind, I set out to discover and solve one of the Palmetto State’s greatest mysteries — the origin of a Carolina Bay.
What Is a Carolina Bay?
The bays are mysterious impressions in the earth located throughout the Atlantic Coastal Plain. While most Carolina Bays are found in North and South Carolina, I was specifically interested in the bay at Woods Bay State Park.
Oriented in a northwest-southeast direction along their long axis, Carolina Bays range in size from less than one acre to several hundred acres or larger. They are unmistakable from the air with their oval egg-like appearance, yet this is not their only unique characteristic.
Most remaining bays are in rural areas, just off the beaten path. And most have features that serve as a perfect location for a mystery. In the case of Woods Bay, it’s a swamp, complete with the unfamiliar sights and sounds — and even a bit of “eerie” — as you amble down the boardwalk over the quiet, black waters.
I arrived on a hot, muggy, summer day where the temperature and the humidity competed to see which could reach the century mark first. On this day, the humidity won.
What Makes a Carolina Bay So Unusual?
Before the advantage of aerial photography, it was difficult to distinguish the elliptical shape of the bays from the ground. Therefore, the most distinguishing feature of these mysterious depressions went generally unnoticed — except for a few distinctive features on the ground that seemed odd for the landscape of the area.
The Curious Sand Rim
The uniqueness of the bay was not lost on both locals and outside observers from the beginning, as people would marvel and even question the large amounts of sand found near the swamp.
This large deposit of sand, referred to as a “sand rim”, is characteristically most visible along the southeastern edge. It creates its own micro-ecosystem filled with curious and unusual species of plants and animals that seem out of place, at best.
Soils in the bay’s interior differ dramatically from the adjacent soils along the edge of the bay as well. While the interior soils are high in organic matter and hold water, soils surrounding the bay are dry and drain quickly — thus creating the swamp environment.
The bay serves as a type of collection basin for rainwater, often keeping water above the normal water table for the area. Mysterious, to say the least.
The 1930s: When Mystery Took Flight
In the 1930s, when the Carolina coast was being photographed from airplanes for the first time, this unusual geological feature was noticed. These strange, elliptical depressions were arranged in the same direction, seeming more like the landscape of the moon than a rural Carolina landscape.
When viewed from above, Carolina Bays create a dramatic imprint on the landscape. The first aerials stirred up quite the debate.
Theories, Legends, and Unsolved Origins
The theories were plentiful, among the most popular of how the bays were formed still stir up debate some 80 years later. One theory is they were formed from under sea springs after the ancient ocean once covering most of the landscape rescinded to its current location. Then, there is the meteorite theory, for obvious reasons after looking at the aerial photography and the artesian spring theory where underground springs created this mysterious formation. And, lest we forget, the theory of unexplained extraterrestrial activities from ancient aliens was, and still is, considered a possibility. Mmmm?
After all these years, it is still unexplainable how Carolina Bays have a mathematically precise elliptical geometry, all aligned in the same direction across the Eastern Coastal Plan. Moreover, the fact that there are no meteorite fragments, no shatter cones (geological features that are only known to form in the bedrock beneath meteorite impact craters) found in any of the bays, really narrows down the possibilities, or does it? Bottom line, the experts have reached no definitive conclusions after seeing the first aerial photography some 80 years ago. The Carolina Bay remains a mystery. Now you may be asking yourself, “I thought we were going to solve a mystery, this is disappointing.” To the contrary, it only adds to our visit. As Neil Armstrong stated, “mystery creates wonder.” Hopefully you are now captivated in the mystery and your exploration of the Bay will be even more interesting.
Seeing the Bay Through New Eyes
Although images from the air are very bizarre, explored from the ground, Carolina Bays may not seem dramatic enough to stop us in our tracks. Oftentimes, we miss the wonders of nature while only looking for the dramatic. I took a walk through the swamp one more time with a different perspective; slowly this time to “discover” all the things I might have missed on my first walk.
On my second trip through this mysterious swamp, I noticed new things. I stopped for a moment to hear the unmistakable sounds of a forest alive… a red bellied woodpecker singing over a canopy of bald cypress and carpenter frogs echoing their familiar “clack-it” chorus in perfect harmony. It was peaceful. The air that was once only filled with the humidity of a Carolina summer, was now filled with green and blue dragonflies dancing on lily pads. All this activity was taking place against a backdrop of black water with swirls of green that resembled marble more than water. Then there were the cypress knees, mysterious in their own right, protruding out of the dark waters. Upon a closer look, I discovered a “knee” that appeared to be looking right at me. It was not a cypress knee after all. It was the monarch of the swamp, the American alligator; the closest thing you’ll find to a dinosaur still walking the earth. Wonder, discovery, mystery; all are present when you truly look.
Lessons from the Landscape
Further down the boardwalk was the largest community at Woods Bay, the trees and shrubs. They overwhelm you and separate the outside world from this place of mystery. Swamp tupelo and bald cypress dominate the canopy, while fetterbush, button bush, and swamp sweet bells dot the landscape. Admiring the luscious greens of the swamp floor, I noticed there were snakes on the ground and birds roosting in the protected treetops. To think I almost missed it. The reality is, the bay itself can only been seen from aerial photos and satellites, but the wonders of the bay are found on the ground.
Much like the people who lived near the bay for centuries and never realized the mystery until aerial photography, when suddenly they “discovered” what had been there all along, we miss so many things on our quest for discovery. Too often this is simply because we forget to slow down and take it all in. Discovery stimulates the senses and re-charges the soul; when there is a little mystery, it keeps us on our toes. Did I solve the mystery? I have my own theories about the formation of the mysterious Carolina Bays, but nothing that would hold up in a scientific review, so the mystery remains. Come to think of it… I like it better this way.