The mystery of the Caroline Bays: a cosmic strike or wind magic? (11 photos)
When the US Atlantic coast was first photographed from an airplane in the 1930s, explorers saw something that took their breath away. 
The entire coastline, from southern New Jersey to northern Florida, was dotted with thousands of strange oval depressions, like lunar craters. They stared out at the world with a single, inexplicable squint. All their long axes were aligned strictly northwest to southeast. 
These geological anomalies are called the Caroline Bays. In Maryland, they are called the Maryland Basins, and on the Delmarva Peninsula, the Delmarva Bays. The name "bay" has nothing to do with it; it comes from the bay laurel trees that thrive in these damp lowlands. 
The size of the "eyes" varies. In spring and winter, they fill with rainwater, and dry out in summer. But the main mystery lies not in their origin, but in their discipline. 
According to a 1942 study, the orientation of these ellipses changes depending on latitude. In eastern Georgia, the axes point to N16°W, in South Carolina to N22–39°W, in North Carolina to N49°W, and in Virginia to N64°W. If we extend these axes, they converge not in the Great Lakes region or Canada, as previously thought, but in the vicinity of southeastern Indiana and southwestern Ohio.
Hypothesis #1: Starship Troopers 
In the 1930s–50s, when geology was young and daring, a beautiful theory was born: a swarm of meteorites struck the Earth. The perfect oval shape and uniform orientation supported this hypothesis. However, modern technology has put an end to this romanticism. The depressions turned out to be too shallow to be impact craters. No meteorite fragments, no cones, no evidence of intense rock deformation were found in them.
Hypothesis #2: Ice Bombardment 
A recent hypothesis, gaining momentum, sounds like the script for a Hollywood blockbuster: a comet or asteroid slammed into the ice sheet over the Great Lakes. Enormous chunks of ice, ejected into space, enter the atmosphere and bombard the Atlantic coast's soil, already liquefied by seismic waves, leaving behind perfect, sloping casts.
Hypothesis #3: Boring, but plausible 
Most modern scientists favor a terrestrial explanation. During the Ice Age, when powerful hurricane-force winds blew, circular currents formed in shallow lakes. Water, like a lathe, sculpted the shores over millennia, giving them a perfect elliptical shape. The winds always blew in the same direction—that's the result.
The truth, as usual, eludes us. And this makes the Carolina Bays an ideal subject for scientific debate.
Bombs, Farms, and Carnivorous Plants 
Originally, there were up to half a million such bays along the coast. Today, only hundreds remain. A huge number have been destroyed by erosion, agriculture, and deforestation. During World War II, a large bay in Georgetown, South Carolina, was used as a bombing range. 
But those that survived have become protected oases. Today, the Caroline Bays are the domain of carnivorous plants. Only here, in the wild, within a 120-kilometer radius of Wilmington, does the legendary Venus flytrap grow. It is accompanied by butterworts, sundews, and sarracenias—killer plants that have switched to animal protein due to the poor, acidic, sandy soils. 
These endorheic bodies of water are also a haven for amphibians. Rare frogs and ornatus, listed as endangered species, breed here, safe from fish. 
Right now, in 2026, these ancient witnesses to cosmic catastrophes face a new threat – a legal one. Following a Supreme Court decision, many isolated wetlands have lost federal protection. Environmentalists are sounding the alarm, as the planet's unique geological "eyes" could simply be plowed into fields or built upon.
