A new land mass has appeared off the coast of North Carolina within the mysterious Bermuda Triangle. Theisland was observed to be a small spot of sand in April but has since expanded to at least a mile long and as wide as a football field, according to a Wednesday CNN report.

Nicknamed Shelly Islandbecause of the wide variety of seashells dotting the sandbanks, the land mass has already become a popular attraction to folks visiting the Outer Banks Cape Hatteras National Seashore,after a man vacationing in the area posted a birds'-eye-view photo of the island on social media.

But beware, tourists: The journey from Cape Hatteras to Shelly Island is a said to be dangerous, and for good reason.

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For starters, the waters surrounding the new island are deep and the current is intense, capable of pulling under even the strongest of swimmers, Dave Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, told CNN Wednesday.

"Travel to the sandbar is best accomplished by experienced kayakers or paddleboarders that are using appropriate floatation and mindful of the strong currents in the area, Hallac said.

The crescent-shaped island is surrounded by the Labrador Current and warm Gulf Stream waters that typically wash over sandbanks that appear in the area. In most cases, isles that emerge in the region end up disappearing nearly as quickly as they surface.

Also worrisome: Shelly Island is in an area of the Bermuda Triangle referred to as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, due to the number of shipwrecks.

Some 300 wrecks have been identified in the area waters, including the205-foot Sunk, an English ship that was sailing North Carolina waters in 1877 when it was mysteriously pulled to the bottom of the ocean. The ancient ship is still easily visible, and it has attracted tourists to North Carolina over the years.

Albeit sprinkled with beautiful seashells, the islands shoreline is riddled with whale bones wreckage from ships. The waters surrounding Shelly Island are known for tiger sharks and oceanic manta rays, which locals described to National Geographic as being the size of car hoods.

Despite Shelly Island's allure, Hallacwarned it most likely won't be around for long.

"It's unusually large compared to what we've been seeing in recent decades," he said in a separate interview with National Geographic,"But if you put this in geological perspective, it's nothing really."

Excerpt from:

How Are Islands Formed? New Land Mass Appears in Mysterious Bermuda Triangle - Newsweek