Author: Matthew Humphrey

Rollin’ with Research

Posted on | by Matthew Humphrey

By Dr. Tom Radzio, Research Ecologist

If you happen to visit Jekyll Island during summer, you will likely see the JIA Georgia Sea Turtle Center Research Team patrolling our 8 miles of beautiful beaches for nesting sea turtles.  Off they go, day and night, looking to carefully locate all sea turtle nests on the island as part of long-term work to understand the status of our loggerhead sea turtle population.  The vehicles on which they ride, two beach-hardened UTVs, are important tools to conduct this conservation work, enabling the team to patrol large spans of beach quickly and thoroughly.  The UTVs also help provide guests memorable, close-up wildlife experiences in our Ride with Night and Ride with Dawn Patrol public programs. 

Although the team takes special care of these important vehicles, the salt and sand cannot be avoided and one of the GTSC research UTVs is showing signs of wear.  Recently, the Jekyll Island Foundation generously provided the team with a brand new UTV and, until the old one is retired, the research team is using the new vehicle for off-beach turtle research.  The crew also conducts research on box turtles, using miniature radios for tracking in order to understand how these species navigate and use semi-developed golf course and residential environments.  Additionally, in an expanded initiative this year, UTVs were put to good use for a freshwater turtle population study.

If you see one of our UTVs driving by, rest assured that the GSTC are grateful to have these vital research vehicles because of your generous support. We thank you and hope you may join us on one of our Ride with Patrol or other fun excursions to see the animals that we all work together to protect!         

To support the ongoing work of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, click HERE.

A Symphony in Color

Posted on | by Matthew Humphrey

By Alexa Hawkins, JIA Director of Marketing & Communications

“Color is to the eye what music is to the ear.” Those words could not ring truer than in the methodical placement of tiny fragments of glass. Each piece is individually cut, colored, and placed, playing its part, striking a chord, and transforming simple shards into a symphony conducted by rays of the sun.

Aptly named “David Set Singers Before the Lord” and harmoniously orchestrated by Louis Comfort Tiffany, there’s nothing more magnificent than the one-hundred-year-old masterpiece that sits within Jekyll Island’s Faith Chapel. In celebration of the famed Tiffany window’s centennial year, visitors can now experience an immersive exhibit within Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum.

Highlighting the history of the man who brought the masterpiece to life, take a peek inside the world of Tiffany Studios and learn how stained glass was methodically crafted. View the original artistic renderings for the window, including Tiffany’s hand-written signature within the original Jekyll Island Club register. And try your hand at ‘painting in glass’ with a life-sized, interactive replica of the window that welcomes you to explore the history of Jekyll Island.

Visitors can experience Faith Chapel through an expert-led tour and see the one-of-a-kind window in person to appreciate its significance to the island. Those fond of Tiffany’s pristine, artistic style can also explore the gift shop’s limited anniversary collection in celebration of the window.

Its beauty is difficult to replicate and impossible to forget. Join us as we celebrate 100 years of this unique piece of Jekyll Island’s history.

Celebrate Preservation Month

Posted on | by Matthew Humphrey

By Allison Dupuis, JIA Museum Educator

The story of Hollybourne Cottage began in 1890 when Charles Stewart Maurice, one of the original members of the Jekyll Island Club, chose a plot of land for his family’s winter residence. Maurice’s personality and interests were evident in Hollybourne’s very construction. Maurice was a partner in Pennsylvania’s Union Bridge Company, and he incorporated bridge-building techniques into Hollybourne. The brick piers in the basement, steel support system, and truss system that supports the second floor are all examples of Maurice’s techniques.

Hollybourne’s construction incorporated a mixture of its owner’s passion for his work and his newfound enthusiasm for his family’s winter vacation home. Hollybourne is the only cottage in the Jekyll Island Club compound to be built out of tabby, a local mixture of sand, water, lime, and oyster shells, reflecting Charles’s and his wife Charlotte’s interests in the history and culture of the area. The Maurices’ personal investment in Jekyll Island’s history led them to spearhead the restoration of Horton House and the Dubignon cemetery in 1898. Charlotte died in 1909 and Charles died in 1924, but their family’s Jekyll Island story didn’t end there. Their nine children, especially their daughters Margaret and Marion, were similarly devoted to Jekyll Island, and spent every winter season at Hollybourne Cottage until the Club’s final season in 1942.

Hollybourne sat empty and in a state of disrepair for several decades. Beginning in 1998, however, the cottage became an ongoing preservation project for the Jekyll Island Authority and a host of volunteers. Most recently, volunteers and preservationists spent several months restoring and preserving Hollybourne’s windows. Holllybourne’s present as an ongoing preservation project, as well as its past as a home for a family focused on the preservation of Jekyll Island, make it a perfect destination for this May’s annual celebration of Preservation Month. Visitors can see the family and servant areas of the cottage and observe the preservation process in action or take part in programs that highlight Historic Preservation Month, like family history programs and an outline of international design at the Jekyll Island Club.

To reserve a spot on a tour of Hollybourne Cottage or at one of our Preservation Month activities, click HERE  or to help preserve and restore Hollybourne Cottage, click HERE to donate.

Nesting Loggerheads

Posted on | by Matthew Humphrey

By Davide Zailo, Research Specialist, and Dr. Tom Radzio, Research Ecologist

Here on Jekyll Island, the unofficial start of summer is heralded by the arrival of nesting loggerhead sea turtles. These behemoths of the ocean can reach over 300 pounds and lay up to seven nests of 100+ eggs each in a single season. Some turtles will place all their nests on Jekyll Island whereas others will distribute them among multiple islands. Nesting females are at least 25 years old and very important to the survival of their species. Counting and studying nests allows us to estimate numbers of adult females and determine whether our loggerhead population is increasing, stable, or declining. The long-term data suggest a slowly increasing population, rebounding from dangerous lows at the turn of the century.

Monitoring loggerhead nesting and performing conservation-oriented studies is the responsibility of the JIA Georgia Sea Turtle Center Research Team, which includes two staff members and a talented and dedicated group of AmeriCorps Service Members. This summer, the research will include a new component, work to better understand how nest temperature influences egg development and hatchling characteristics, such as size. After hitting the books and training hard for two months, AmeriCorps Service Members start patrolling the beach in early May.  This is an exciting time as the anticipation of finding the first nest of the season builds day by day!  

From May to July, the GSTC Research Team patrols Jekyll Island’s beaches throughout the night to encounter as many nesting loggerhead sea turtles as possible. These ‘Night Patrols’ allow the team to study females directly, collect nest data, and provide unforgettable experiences for guests in our nighttime Education programs. To ensure that nesting is not interrupted, researchers carefully watch emerging turtles from a distance until they start to lay eggs. At that point, females enter a ‘nesting trance,’ which allows them to be safely examined.

At 6:00 am, a smaller team takes over to perform daily morning surveys. These ‘Dawn Patrols’ cover all of Jekyll Island’s beaches for a thorough accounting of nests laid during the previous night. Dawn Patrol crews also perform a daily check of each nest to document its progress throughout incubation, a process that requires about 50-65 days, depending on nest temperature. Five days after hatchlings emerge, the nest is carefully excavated to assess egg hatching success and collect other information. In addition to valuable data, excavations provide wonderful opportunities for public engagement, including the chance to see a live hatchling.  

These efforts would not be possible without your continued interest and support. We thank you as we strive to learn more about our native wildlife and build towards a more sustainable future. Here’s to a happy and productive turtle nesting season!

To support the ongoing work of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, click HERE.

Preserving the Gullah Geechee Heritage

Posted on | by Matthew Humphrey

By Andrea Marroquin, JIA Museum Curator

The Gullah Geechee culture can be found along the Southeastern coast of South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida.  The name Gullah Geechee comes from the African-based, creole language of the community, composed of a combination of West African, English, French and Portuguese languages.  Gullah typically refers to the islanders located in South Carolina, while Geechee refers to those living along the coast of Georgia and Florida. 

The ancestors of the Gullah Geechee people came to the United States as enslaved Africans, beginning in the 1700s.  The enslaved men and women brought to this area from West Africa came from a variety of different nations, but they shared many similar cultural traditions.  Together, they created a unique culture, blending their traditions with those of others, in order to adapt and survive in this new place.

Today, members of the Gullah Geechee community have maintained their ancestral practices and ways of life for more than 250 years.  Griffin Lotson and Yvonne Grovner, like many before them, teach others about the Gulluh Geechee heritage in an effort to preserve these traditions for future generations.  

Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters, heard here in an interview with Griffin Lotson, keep the “praise break” alive. This ritual or dance often took place during or after a Christian prayer meeting or worship service. Men and women would move counterclockwise in a circle, shuffling their feet, clapping, and often spontaneously singing or praying, including calls, cries, and shouts. It is still primarily practiced among Christians of West African descent.

Sweetgrass baskets were a traditional West African craft, also brought to America by enslaved Africans. Made using marsh grasses, sweetgrass baskets had many practical uses within day-to-day activities. The ancient tradition of basketmaking continues as one of the oldest art forms of African origin in America.  Today, Yvonne Groover teaches sweetgrass basketmaking classes throughout the region. For more of Yvonne’s story and basketmaking classes, visit Master of the Craft. Sweetgrass baskets made by Gullah Geechee artisans can be found on exhibit at Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum.

STAY TUNED! In our June Seasonal Island Series, we’ll take a look at the history of the Wanderer, as well as the new Wanderer Memory Trial, found on the south end of Jekyll Island.

Learn more about Black History on Jekyll Island.

2021 Virtual Turtle Crawl

Posted on | by Matthew Humphrey

By Erin Evors, JIA Social Media Manager

Turtle Crawl is back! Created in 2003 as a fundraiser for the Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC), the Turtle Crawl races have continued to support the Center’s mission of sea turtle research, rehabilitation, and education. Since its inception, race participants have raised more than $100,000 to help sea turtles survive and thrive.

This year, to ensure the health and safety of all, the 2021 Turtle Crawl is going virtual! Run from your favorite stretch of sand or pavement on Saturday, May 1, 2021 to mark the start of sea turtle nesting season. Loggerhead, Kemp’s Ridley, and Ghost Crawler registrations provide multiple participation levels. Loggerhead registration is available for the first 200 participants at $40 per person, and participants receive a race T-shirt and medal. Kemp’s Ridley, the standard registration, is $30 per person and participants receive a race T-shirt. For those looking to sleep in and still support the Center, Ghost Crawler registrations are available for participants to provide donations in increments of $5.

Become a sea turtle ambassador and race for a cause by registering for the 2021 Virtual Turtle Crawl Race, where every turtle-loving supporter is a winner! Looking to support the Center in other ways? Consider a symbolic adoption to directly support many of the Center’s current patients undergoing rehabilitation, or text SAVETURTLES + any donation amount to 844-889-2692 to provide financial support for patient care and resources needed to continue the life-saving work.

Rise to the Challenges of Sustainability

Posted on | by Matthew Humphrey

By Ben Carswell, JIA Director of Conservation

The term, “sustainability” can be confusing because it can be used to make almost anything sound better. We can’t resist such a flexible word that generally conveys an abiding commitment to lasting positivity. Who can argue with that?! Consequently, “sustainability”, the word, is not at all hard to find. On the contrary, achieving tangible goals associated with sustainability, can be challenging and illusive.

Maybe a good starting point to understand sustainability is in relation to another familiar word, “balance”. As stewards of Jekyll Island State Park, we are charged to maintain “the delicate balance between nature and humankind” in this special place. So how can we know if we are off balance? Simply put, if natural systems are deteriorating due to human activities, we are off balance. We have taken too much from nature and failed to sustain it. When we assume that nature can endlessly absorb whatever byproducts of human material pursuits we spew forth, we are bound to fall off balance and the quality of our environment and our lives cannot be sustained.

Visitors to Jekyll Island know well the uplifting sensation of leaving our cares behind when we travel down the causeway and arrive on the Island. Some of that comes from the physical nature of an island itself – a place that is geographically isolated by its surrounding waters. Much of the wildlife that we host on and around Jekyll are seasonal visitors too, in the case of many shorebirds, relying on habitats strewn across the western hemisphere. Likewise, in terms of the Island’s air, water, and waste, Jekyll is neither self-contained nor is it self-sustaining, without abiding care and effort.

These three elements are the focal points of a new chapter added to the recent update of the Jekyll Island Conservation Plan, charting the way for Jekyll Island’s contributions to a more sustainable future. The Island already contributes to cleaner air in partnership with Georgia Power and Cherry Street Energy through the Jekyll Island Solar Field. This adaptive reuse of a decommissioned landfill site, feeds enough clean electricity into the grid to power the equivalent of over 100 homes. Jekyll Island’s LEED Silver certified Convention Center conserves water by using rainwater stored in underground cisterns to offset its landscape irrigation and toilet flushing needs. A newly built parking near the entrance to the National Historic Landmark District is 100% pervious, allowing rainwater to infiltrate the soil naturally, better sustaining the surrounding stately live oaks and protecting the adjacent marsh. In partnership with the UGA College of Engineering, an island-wide waste audit has recently been conducted to better understand the composition of our current material waste streams and to plan for reducing waste. Building on these initial accomplishments to achieve measurable sustainability goals, in energy responsibility, material waste reduction, and water conservation, will call for a systematic and innovative approach.

Just as the pursuit of sustainability challenges us to consider the impacts of human activities on Jekyll Island in a context that is broader than the island itself, it also charges us to take a long view, believing that, in building on successive advancements, Jekyll Island can continuously reduce its environmental footprint. The recipe for a sustainable Jekyll Island in 2050, has yet to be imagined, but the time to start piecing it together is now.  

For more information on Jekyll Island conservation efforts, click HERE.

Mosaic Museum – Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Posted on | by Matthew Humphrey

By Michael Scott, JIA Director of Historic Resources

As Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum approaches its 2nd anniversary, we look back on a year filled with challenges but also see many success stories. On the eve of the 1st anniversary, plans to celebrate were interrupted with what turned out to be a health crisis that few, if any, had ever anticipated. While the COVID-19 pandemic did cause some disruption early on, the Mosaic Museum took a proactive approach to minimizing impact as safely as possible. Upon reopening our doors, visitors were greeted with increased sanitization of commonly touched surfaces, reduced capacity in the Gallery and on trolley tours to allow for social distancing and an increase in engaging outdoor programming. Because of this, Mosaic reopened earlier than many other spaces around the nation.

To welcome back visitors, new opportunities and programming was introduced. In coordination with the Authority’s Conservation Department, Ranger Walks to see the island’s active bald eagle nest now begin and end at Mosaic, allowing visitors to experience the museum as a launching point for both natural and cultural history. Additionally, for the first time, Hollybourne Cottage opened to the public for regular tours. Visitors are able to see the inside of the cottage while staff actively work to conserve, preserve, and restore portions of the home. Increasing guest access to the historic district, expanded tours are now in play on Jekyll’s famous red trolleys. While enjoying the fresh air, guests are able to ride thru the historic district and learn about the Island’s over 2000 years of history or take a deeper dive into the cottages that represent the gilded age experience of the Jekyll Island Club and its members. Continuing to facilitate the need for social distancing, exciting seasonal programming included Macabre Tales tour and the Holly Jolly Lights tour made the most of the 2020 holiday season. Finally, to help tell some lesser-known stories, the team kicked off a successful series of gallery exhibitions, telling powerful stories in a way that’s never done before.  

As we move toward year three, Mosaic will continue to serve as the ambassador and hub for Jekyll Island’s natural and cultural history. By growing the museum’s place-based learning options and developing new opportunities for exploration, Mosaic will continue to make a visit to Jekyll Island a special event for everyone.

New spaces, places, and stories from the island’s history are under development, which will allow even more visitors to learn about the special role that Jekyll has played in the past and how that connects to the world today. Education is at the heart of any museum’s work, and the Mosaic will continue to serve as a space to reach the broadest range of visitors through its exhibitions, tours, programs, and special events.

If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to experience one of our unique cottage tours that begin at Mosaic, particularly the new Hollybourne Cottage tour, we encourage you to purchase a ticket online to take a peek inside and see years of preservation first-hand.

Keeping Jekyll Island Beautiful

Posted on | by Matthew Humphrey

By Katherine Doherty, GSTC Research AmeriCorps Member and
Dr. Tom Radzio, JIA GSTC Research Ecologist

For many visitors to Jekyll Island the issue of marine debris may not spring to mind thanks to ongoing efforts of the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) and countless volunteers. In 2013, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC) initiated a marine debris volunteer program on Jekyll Island. In addition to coordinating regular clean-up events, ongoing monitoring efforts allow us to understand the specific marine debris issues that Jekyll faces. By encouraging use of University of Georgia’s Marine Debris Tracker App, everyone can contribute to the greater understanding of marine debris worldwide. Even while facing the challenges of COVID-19, there has been a huge push by the Jekyll Island Authority, GSTC, and individuals in the community to continue keeping the beaches clean. In 2020, over 30,000 pieces of marine debris were collected and recorded on Jekyll Island using the tracker app.

Marine debris initiatives on Jekyll Island span the GSTC’s mission of rehabilitation, research, and education.  For example, when turtles are found with ingested fishhooks, the GSTC works to carefully remove them and collect data to better understand the problem and contribute to future solutions.  The GSTC is collaborating with scientists from other institutions to understand this issue and others, such as microplastic in sea turtle nesting beaches, on a global scale.  The Center also pursues other efforts that extend our reach into the local community.  For example, Sea Turtle Patrollers often find children’s toys on the beach.  Rather than being thrown away, these toys are collected and shared with children that are in need. 

The conservation and education work of the GSTC could not be accomplished without the ongoing support of the Jekyll Island Foundation and its donors.  Most recently, a new UTV was purchased for turtle nesting season patrols, marine debris efforts, and much more.  To support the work of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, click HERE and add “GSTC” into the comments. To join in or learn more, visit the GSTC’s Marine Debris program.