The study looked at how waves and currents move sand along the coast at Cape Lookout, North Carolina. They used a computer model and maps to see how sediment is carried by the water. The results showed that the direction and speed of the currents change depending on the direction of the waves. This causes sand to build up at Cape Lookout Shoal, with about 512,000 to 581,000 cubic meters of sediment added each year. The sand from the shoal moves north, affecting the shape of the coast. The shoal also helps protect nearby islands by changing how waves hit the shore. However, it's still not clear how sand from the northern part of the shoal gets to the southern part.