These zones are like all of the islands of the North Carolina Outer Banks. These zones are the ocean, the shoreline, and dunes. Each zone is home to different kinds of plants and animals. Waves crash against the shoreline, and the offshore sand and sea grass beds are home to a variety of fishes and invertebrates. Small fishes and invertebrates find shelter in the sea grass beds, and some fishes find camouflage in the sand.
Stingrays are a type of fish that are often found in the sand in shallow water near the shore.
Southern stingrays , roughtail stingrays, and Atlantic stingrays can be found at Cape Lookout National Seashore. This photograph of waves on the shoreline shows a pattern. One set of waves has already crashed, and its water is running back down the beach into the sea. Another wave is crashing behind it, and will surge up onto the beach in moments. As the water runs back down the beach, some of it seeps into the sand.