Drilling protesters join hands in Raleigh

Organizers of “Hands Across the Sand” said similar protests were held at beaches around the nation. Other North Carolina locations included Atlantic Beach, Emerald Isle, Nags Head and Wrightsville Beach.

The demonstration also was intended to show support for clean alternatives to fossil fuels after a massive Gulf Coast oil spill.

Oil has been gushing since the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana on April 20, killing 11 workers.

Nearly 39,000 people and more than 6,000 boats are working there, in other parts of the Gulf and on land to skim and corral the oil, protect hundreds of miles of coastline and clean fouled beaches.