Coastal Carolina Riverwatch provides service to the following Sounds:

• Back Sound
• Bogue Sound
• Core Sound
• Stump Sound
• Topsail Sound

Core Sound is located between the mainland of Carteret County and Core Banks. It lies between the Pamlico Sound to the northeast and the smaller Back Sound to the west. Although there are no permanent settlements on Core Banks, communities on the mainland side of the sound include Marshallberg, Davis, Sea Level, and Atlantic. In total, there are 13 communities surrounding this sound. Amongst the variety of activities and locations includes Cape Lookout which became a National Park in 1966. For trawlers, trout is popular from the spring to the fall, shrimp is dominant in the summer, and clams or oysters are a go to in the winter. 

Back Sound is a small saltwater sound connecting the Core and Bogue Sound. It is 8.5 miles long and up to 2 miles wide. It is shallow and calm and is protected from wind and currents by the Shackleford Banks to the south. It makes up the southern portion of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. Much of the islands in this sound are protected as part of the Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve. Its shallow and grassy regions make the perfect environment for oysters and juvenile fish. There have been over 50 constructed oyster reefs since 1990.

Bogue Sound is a body of brackish water with salt marsh ecosystems along the crystal coast from the Back Sound to the western Bogue Inlet. It is 25 miles long and up to 3 miles wide. It mostly has shallow and calm waters with slow-moving currents. Bogue sound is adjacent to 9 different Carteret County communities. This area is also commonly known as the “Southern Outer Banks”. It is bordered by the barrier islands to the south and the North Carolina mainland to the north. Its close proximity to many major North Carolina beaches makes it very popular with vacationers.

Stump Sound is a tidal estuary that is 26 miles long and lies between Topsail and Bogue Sound. This area includes 3,001 acres of wetlands, 125,293 feet of streams and creeks, and Outstanding Resource Waters. Stump sound protects Permuda Island from high-energy waves. Surrounding communities include Sneads Ferry, North Topsail, and Ocean City Beach. This sound is known for its oysters. The “Tarheel Tiderunner” is a cultivated oyster that is available year round.

Tarheel Tiderunner

Topsail Sound is located south of Stump Sound. This sound opens to the Atlantic Ocean between Lea Island and Topsail Island. Topsail Island is a 26 mile barrier island lying south of Jacksonville and north of Wilmington. Before WWII, Topsail Island was only accessible by boat. In the early 1900’s, there were less than a dozen structures built along the sound for shelter. At the southern portion of Topsail Sound lies 150 acres of an undisturbed barrier island, known as “The Point”. It is home to an array of species including the loggerhead turtle and this area is left unprotected to residential development.

Outstanding Resource Waters

Parts of Core Sound, Back Sound, western Bogue Sound, and Stump Sound are classified as “Outstanding Resource Waters” which are a subset of “High Quality Waters” by the US Environmental Protection Agency. This supplemental classification is intended to protect unique and special waters having excellent water quality and being of exceptional state of national ecological or recreational significance. 

Did you know?

British explorers described inlets containing islands as sounds, and bodies of water not fully open to the ocean. There is one theory that stems from the exploration days, that when a sailor or sailors come home on their large vessels after stormy, treacherous voyages, it was good to be safe and “sound”.