Week Two:
Tuesday of this week I was lucky enough to visit Sapelo Island, another one of the 14 barrier islands off the coast of Georgia. My fabulous soon-to-be host mom, Zelda, was able to use her never ending connections to send me to Sapelo with Savanna Country Day School. Sapelo is home to the Hog Hammock Community, a small neighborhood of 49 residents. The residents of Sapelo are part of the last remaining Gullah-Geechee people in the US. It is also home to University of Georgia Marine Institute, the Richard J. Reynolds Wildlife Management Area, and the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Even though getting up at 5 am wasn’t the most pleasant experience, it was well worth it. Sapelo is a beautiful island with lush forests and pure, untouched beaches where we were all lucky to spend our day.
Sapelo is only accessible by a 15 minute ferry ride from the mainland:
We spent the majority of our day on the beach. Getting there at exactly low tide made it so easy to find treasures in the tide pools and along the beach. There seems to be an endless abundance of sand dollars and massive whelk shells in the water, a family of stingrays living amongst the tide pools, and a curious group of bottle nose dolphins who seem not afraid of humans. We were also able to use a huge seine net to catch a few immature sharks, crabs, fish, and shrimp.
Later in the week the MSC was called about a live whale stranding on Hilton Head in South Carolina. Hilton Head is so close to Tybee that you can see it off the pier. Unfortunately, a group of girls from the marine biology wing of Savanna State were already headed up there so no one from the center was needed.
The week has been pretty calm at the center. I was able to go out collecting on the beach to gather food (blue crabs and jellyfish) for our sea turtle and also able to gather pieces of the Fouling community off a local dock. I really am getting the “field work” I asked for!
I will be moving housing to the Tenenbaum’s soon. Tom and Lisa Grey have been such great host parents to me. They are two loving and caring people, and I am sad to leave from their home. Luckily I will still be on the island and can visit them regularly.
Jessie Jackman
Tybee Island Marine Science Center (Georgia)
Marine Biology
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