Core Sound Communities

Fresh jumping mullets and hardy collard greens

are why you have never seen a hungry Core Sounder. 

Sonny Williamson, Sea Level

            Just northeast of Stacy is a high rise bridge over Salter’s Creek, leading to the junction of US 70, which turns east and winds through Sea Level and Atlantic, and NC 12, which continues straight to Cedar Island. Those who choose to explore the fishing communities of Sea Level and Atlantic still have a route to Cedar Island and the ferry landing by way of Old Cedar Island Road.

            Sea Level lives up to its name, having one of the lowest elevations Down East. The community was once called Wit, and during Colonial times the whole region from Sea Level to Cedar Island was called Hunting Quarters, a name derived from the Coree.

Sea Level, like other Down East communities, has struggled to maintain its seafood industry amidst countless changes in regulations, ecology and perceptions. Resident Helen Beacham recalled when her grandfather sold terrapin turtles to Tilman Taylor’s fish house, where they’d then get shipped to New York as a restaurant delicacy. “I remember hearing those things scratch the bottom of that skiff … I didn’t dare put my feet down,” she laughed.

            Jimmy Morris, owner and operator of a clam hatchery in Sea Level called Millpoint Aquaculture, has adapted to shifting winds, both in terms of the market and the climate. His facility is located on Core Sound, directly across from Core Banks. The protective dunes directly across the sound on Core Banks were leveled in Isabel, making his equipment especially vulnerable to ocean overwash that came across the land in Irene.

            “Shellfish mariculture has its challenges,” he wrote. “Especially when hurricanes flatten your hatchery and nursery.” His shoreside hatchery, tanks held aloft on large beams, looks like something out of the movie “Waterworld.” Morris, considered an innovator in his field, keeps finding ways to persevere. He embodies the term “climate resilient.” 

            Despite its location “way Down East” at the edge of Core Sound, Sea Level has a business center. Sea Level is the only community Down East with a bank. An extended-care facility with a pharmacy and clinic operates across the street from the bank and fire department, and a retirement home serves the needs of the region’s elderly.