The Frying Pan Shoals are a long, shifting area of shoals off the coast of Cape Fear in North Carolina, United States. The shoals have been a hazard to ships in the area since the beginning of European exploration of the area; the area is littered with shipwrecks. The southern edge of the shoals have been marked by a lightship, a light tower and a buoy. From May 1994 to August 2008, over 130 new shipwreck locations have been discovered in the area encompassing Frying Pan Shoals.