N.C. Gen. Stat. § 141-8: Northern lateral seaward boundary.

The lateral seaward boundary between North Carolina and Virginia eastward from the low-water mark of the Atlantic Ocean shall be and is hereby designated as a line beginning at the intersection of the low-water mark of the Atlantic Ocean and the existing North Carolina-Virginia boundary line; thence due east on a true 90 degree bearing to the seaward jurisdictional limit of North Carolina; such boundary line to be extended on the true 90 degree bearing as far as a need for further delineation may arise. (1969, c. 841; 1971, c. 452, s. 1.)