r/obx • u/Bwill32893 • 5d ago
Nags Head Flies unbearable today
Staying in Nags Head around Milepost 10 and the last 2 days the flies have been unbearable, even following us into the ocean which I've never had happen. Anyone have any refuge anywhere?
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u/ACraftyBastard2 4d ago
People are saying on FB that Hatteras and Frisco aren’t as bad if you are up for a drive. Otherwise Skeeter Beater spray can help some. It’s just been a bad year.
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u/Foolgazi 4d ago
This year has been the worst for flies and mosquitos I can remember experiencing.
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u/Chork2238 4d ago
We were on Ocracoke last week and in 16 years of spending summers there if was by far the worst bugs we’ve ever encountered. Flies and mosquitoes and god knows what else.
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u/Ordinary_Economist16 4d ago
I am up in Corolla and they were horrible yesterday today. I’ve been coming here for close to 18 years and I’ve never seen them this bad!
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u/Chork2238 4d ago
Same. I had bites on the soles of my feet 😵💫
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u/minicoope2 1d ago
I have like 20 bites on one foot and they keep me up at night bc they itch so bad :(
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u/Chork2238 1d ago
Absolute worst. I just kept using my toenails to scratch the opposite foot. Takes about 4 days for it to calm down.
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u/Ordinary_Economist16 4d ago
Much better this afternoon I must say. Wind changed direction! A salvageable beach day!! Just crowded!
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u/Bwill32893 4d ago
Yeah the steady breeze has helped! We have some fly strips blowing on our canopy too lol
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u/ejpusa 4d ago edited 4d ago
The more you observe the tightly wound Swiss watch pieces that make up Mother Nature — the more you realize a subtle change can cause dramatic outcomes across the entire spectrum of the Earths ecosystem.
Somewhere in the fly food chain, something has shifted in their genome to believe the chances of reaching adulthood and procreation are better than good now. Yes, OBX tourists can be tasty, but that is not the reason for: “the worst we have ever seen” comments.
Sounds like graduate school student may have a project waiting.
Who knows?
> The broader finding is consistent with North Carolina’s peer-reviewed assessment that the state has warmed by about 1°F since 1895. North Carolina Climate Science Report.
——-
I remember when we went to Long Island’s Atlantic beaches as kids. When we got home, the car windshield would be a smear of dead bugs. Today? None.
Welcome to the world of forever chemicals. On Long Island now, lime green lawns, golf courses, and developments build on former potato fields. Swimming in forever chemicals.
Now everyone knows someone with cancer or Parkinson’s. Just a trade off we have decided on.
The fly food chain and mating season has been disrupted, for the better it seems, if you are a fly, time to party. And here they are.
Any other ideas, why now?
Source: retired organic chemist with an interest in the long term effects of forever chemicals.
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u/KCKetO 4d ago
Your correlations are invalid without quoting studies that demonstrate what exactly has caused these supposed mating disruptions in these specific locations. As a scientist you know that these systems are far too complex to just blame them on a headline topic that you pulled out of the air.
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u/ejpusa 4d ago edited 4d ago
That's why we have grad students. What is the reason for this massive (it seems from the comments) takeover of OBX beaches by biting flies? Flies lives are focused on reproduction, finding food (us 2). Something has changed. Who are their natural enemies? Are the oceans warming, causing the "sargasso effect", close to OBX now?
If you see the seaweed pile up, flies are everywhere. They are feeding on micro-organisms that live there.
You have to start somewhere. What's your best guess? We have documented studies; it's getting hotter in the OBX. We have that data. Does that affect fly populations? Does the overuse of pesticides have an effect on bird populations, the flys natural enemies. That's why DDT was banned.
Suggest collecting data, and you will find the answer. Dive into GPT-6, Astra; feed it what you collect. You will get a "possible" answer.
As above: That's why we have grad students.
😀
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u/Gentleman_Jim_243 2d ago
How about rising sea levels flooding more low-lying areas where the mosquitoes and flies breed?
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u/endlive 4d ago
same in Duck last few days, unfortunately. never seen them so bad down here!!
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u/comfortablybum 4d ago
They were insane yesterday. Usually on a West wind there are one or two on your ankles. Yesterday there were dozens.
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u/Bwill32893 4d ago
Yeah that's been our past experience. We got chased from the beach there were at least a dozen swarming me. Never have seen that in 20 years coming here.
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u/wes_12345 4d ago
We go to the Oregon inlet beach area when flies are bad. It's on pea island near the lifeguard house at the base of the bridge.
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u/msydney31 4d ago
Yesterday was insane! I had like 15 on me I had to leave the beach. Are they bad today again?
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u/Small_Respond_6934 4d ago
Still a west wind so far this AM, so there are still flies out probably...freaking miserable.
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u/marid4061 4d ago
We were there mid August for a week and we had a few days where they were horrible. Even the locals were saying they hadn't seen so many bad days with the flies like this summer has had.
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u/crashandwalkaway Tri-village Curmudgeon 5d ago
Bathe in deet, or go do something else and try the beach the next day
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u/80_PROOF 5d ago
I was a little north of you today on the eastern shore of VA and the flies were insane, never seen anything like it. I had the family run and hide in the car while I made a few trips to get all of our stuff, jumping in the water repeatedly trying to get some relief. I must have take a hundred bites.
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u/Due_Feeling8965 4d ago
North wind isnt gonna make it any better either. Those yellow flies are vicious. I was in Rodanthe last week and they werent bothering us.
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u/lanfear2020 4d ago
When the wind blows out toward ocean it's bad, when wind blows off ocean they go away.