The Great Dismal Swamp is a marshy area in the Coastal Plain Region of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It is located in parts of southern Virginia cities Chesapeake and Suffolk and northern North Carolina counties Gates, Pasquotank and Camden. It is a southern swamp, one of many along the Atlantic Ocean's coast, including the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp in Florida, the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, the Congaree and Four Holes swamps of South Carolina, and some of the Carolina bays in the Carolinas and Georgia. Along the eastern edge runs the Dismal Swamp Canal, completed in 1805.

In this Saturday, September 5, 2015, photo, three women in costumes look at sea life swimming above them during a private party held at the Georgia Aquarium as part of Dragon Con in Atlanta. The convention draws fans from around the country to take part in sci-fi and fantasy costume contests, a massive parade through downtown Atlanta and educational seminars about science and costume making. (Photo by Ron Harris/AP Photo)

Three elephant seals put on a show in Roie Galitz's “Three Tanors”, taken on January 7, 2016 in South Georgia Island. The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards are in full swing, so check out some of the fierce competitors jostling for the top prize this year. Photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks MBE and Tom Sullam founded the awards to spotlight wildlife conservation efforts and to inject some humour into the world of wildlife photography. (Photo by Roie Galitz/CWPA/Barcroft Images)

A local man looks at a church on top of the Katskhi Pillar, rock mass about 40 meters high, in the village of Katskhi, Georgia, November 27, 2015. The church, built in the ninth century, was later abandoned and it collapsed but was rebuilt in 2003, according to local media. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)

Police haul a youth to the paddy wagon as an undetermined number of arrest were made in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, February 25, 1971, as police moved in to disperse black youths after windows were broken and rocks and fruit thrown in what officers called “a major disturbance”. (Photo by Charles Kelly/AP Photo)

A Hindu devotee lies on a road as the holy “Rath”, or the chariot of lord Jagannath, passed over her during the Rath Yatra, or chariot procession in Karachi, Pakistan, July 17, 2016. Ratha-jatra is derived from two Odia words ratha/rotho meaning “chariot” and jatra meaning “journey”. The festival involves an annual procession (journey) of a deity's idols. Other names for the festival include ratha jatra or chariot festival. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)

One of two black-and-white ruffed lemur pups born at Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park, near Stirling, UK on Friday, May 24, 2024.The critically endangered lemur pups, both female were born on April 14 and have been named Nova, meaning “new” and Evie meaning “life”. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)

Iconaster longimanus, the icon star or double star, is a species of starfish in the family Goniasteridae. It is found in the west and central Indo-Pacific Ocean. The genus name comes from the Greek eikon, meaning portrait or image and possibly referring to the way the marginal plates frame the disc, and aster, meaning star. The specific name comes from the Latin longus manus and refers to the long, slender arms.