Month: April 2019

By Ben Carswell, JIA Director of Conservation

Opportunities abound on Jekyll to establish and promote ecosystem values that better support the creatures that call our island home – those animals that share the landscape with us, and whose forbears shared it with Jekyll Island Club members and with Native Americans.

Modern Conservation land management practices—like invasive plant control, prescribed fire, connecting habitat fragments, pollinator-friendly landscaping, and restoration or creation of native grasslands and wetlands—all contribute to greater productivity and diversity of wildlife, great and small.

The land management activities of Jekyll Island’s past – colonial agriculture, club-era forestry, and state-park era landscape decisions – all influence the environment that exists today. And, what we learn from Jekyll Island’s deep history can inform us as we seek to improve upon the status quo to make Jekyll the best it can be for native animals.   

One example of a project that could be supported with this fund is the restoration of maritime grasslands along Beachview Road between the road and the beachfront path.  The wildlife value of this land was degraded when the area was flattened during the initial development of the island by the state. Maritime grasslands are a rare and important coastal plant community, dominated by sweet grass (also known as muhly grass), that provides abundant forage for small mammals that are the base of a diverse barrier island food web. Sweet grass is also an icon of coastal Georgia and South Carolina with roots in Gullah-Geechee cultural traditions such as basket weaving. Some of this area has already been restored, but much more remains. With your help, we can work toward making all of it more attractive for people and for wildlife.  

Donor contributions to this initiative will support conservation activities aimed specifically at improving wildlife habitat on the island by ensuring that Jekyll has the necessary resources and staff training to apply cutting-edge science and state-of-the art management practice to that goal.

Money magazine ranked Jekyll Island No. 1 among U.S. travel destinations on its list of “The 20 Best Places to Go in 2019.” This is just one of many accolades earned so far this year. Jekyll placed second on a list of “19 best beaches for families and kids” compiled by NBC-TV’s “Today” show. Driftwood Beach was designated as the No. 10 beach in the country in TripAdvisor’s 2019 Travelers’ Choice Awards.

Jekyll Island Authority Executive Director Jones Hooks said this kind of recognition affirms the work JIA has done to redevelop the island and make it more appealing to visitors and residents. It also reaffirms the value of the Carrying Capacity and Infrastructure Study, commissioned to determine the number of people, vehicles, and development that Jekyll can accommodate while still maintaining its unique character. 

“We are pleased to see Jekyll Island continuing to garner national recognition for its blend of character, culture, history, and ecology,” he said. “It underscores the importance of our mission to preserve and protect the island’s historic and natural resources, while at the same time welcoming new and returning visitors.”

Money employed a rigorous methodology “featuring more than 43,000 data points collected from dozens of sources,” including the travel booking site Kayak. The cost and quality of nearly 750 popular destinations were evaluated to determine which offered value and “activities and amenities that make vacations memorable.” TripAdvisor’s Choice Award winners are based on millions of reviews and opinions collected from travelers worldwide.

The “Today” show coverage includes the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, Corsair Beach Park, and Mosaic, the Jekyll Island Museum — which opened in April — among island amenities that are ideal for “making memories and keeping the kids occupied for hours on end.”
Additional recognition for Jekyll so far in 2019 includes being selected as one of the “Top 15 Beaches on the East Coast” (Town and Country), and “best weekend getaway” in Georgia (MSN Travel). In late 2018 Architectural Digest lauded the island as one of the “50 most beautiful small towns in America.”    

By David Steen, GSTC Research Ecologist

The waters off Jekyll Island will soon be full of giant marine reptiles. We expect the Loggerhead Sea Turtles in our region to begin crawling onto our beaches in May to lay their nests, something they can do up to eight or nine times in a season. These animals have lived for decades, are protected by the Endangered Species Act, and are some of the biggest and most charismatic animals in the world. You might think that there is little left to learn about them but what do we really know? Most sea turtles probably live their lives without ever bumping into a human being, although with a little luck maybe you’ll see one poking its head out of the water to breathe while you’re boating or fishing around the Golden Isles. If you’re strolling along the right stretch of beach during a summer night, you just might cross paths with a sea turtle; after they hatch, it’s the only time in their lives they will be on land. These moments on the beach with a sea turtle are just a brief blip in time for these long-lived creatures, but they represent our best chance to collect data that allows us to learn more about their biology, their health, and their conservation.

Studying the Loggerhead Sea Turtles that nest on Jekyll Island is the responsibility of the Research Department of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and each spring we are proud to extend this project, one of the longest-term studies of its kind, by another year. With many miles of beach and only about 120 nests each year, we have to cover a lot of ground to maximize our chances of finding a turtle before it finishes nesting and disappears into the sea. And that is where our beach utility-terrain-vehicles (UTV) come in; our UTVs allow us to safely and efficiently patrol thousands of miles of beach each year and generate the information we need to help conserve sea turtles. This year we will be taking blood samples to assess levels of endocrine disruptors, examining carapaces for evidence of injuries from boats and fishing gear, and taking skin biopsies that allow our collaborators to identify turtles by their DNA. There are only a couple programs north of Florida that work with adult Loggerhead Sea Turtles and that is because it is demanding work that requires significant support. What makes us unique, and what affords us the opportunity to continue this program, is the generous support of The Jekyll Island Foundation. Come on out with us!