Part-Time Local

31/08/2024

A nicely done article on lowcountry dolphins and the learned behavior of strand feeding. I certainly do miss doing the dolphin programs on Broad Creek.

Dolphins display this feeding strategy in a few places and one of them is the coastal waters of South Carolina. “It’s one of the coolest things I think you can see.”

19/09/2023

Truth!! 😡😡😡

17/09/2023

What an amazing thing to see.

https://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/untamed-lowcountry/article279305394.html?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0C8n6x4Sgi8Erw3NJ0gX6UrEdVzM7ZFNIOBp9ww-Rn6OMRjhEj0X5IfqI

This hunting tactic is a well-kept generational secret among local dolphin populations.

08/09/2023

In all the many dolphin cruises and talks I have done, I always identified the lowcountry estuarine dolphins as the same as the larger ocean dolphins, the Common Bottlenose Dolphin. So cool that they are now recognized as their own species.

The Lowcountry’s small population of estuary dolphins, long thought to be common bottlenose dolphins, are actually their own species, according to federal and university researchers.

10/03/2023

Beautiful critters. 🥰

16/02/2023

Even in my two decades as a part-time local of Hilton Head Island, I have seen a drastic decline in the HSC population during the spawning season. Gone are the masses coming ashore to lay their eggs, masses so large the water seemed to boil with activity.

Some excerpts...
Anyone who gets a flu or Covid shot, childhood immunization, heart stent or hip replacement — and that’s almost everyone — is protected from exposure to potentially lethal contaminants known as endotoxins by a test that uses what might seem like an odd ingredient: the blue blood of the horseshoe crab.
Horseshoe crabs have survived five mass extinctions over 475 million years, but today they are gravely threatened worldwide by human exploitation. (se humans suck, btw.)
In the United States, fishermen take some 1.4 million each year, killing almost half for use as bait. Pharmaceutical companies capture and extract blood from the other 700,000 to make the endotoxin test before releasing them to the sea. Up to 30 percent may die as a result. Many others never make it to shore to lay their eggs.
Their decline also poses a threat to migratory shorebirds like red knots, which depend on the energy-rich horseshoe crab eggs they consume on beaches in South Carolina and along the Delaware Bay during their spring refueling stops as they head north from Tierra del Fuego, at South America’s southernmost tip, to the Arctic.
To protect the public health, pharmaceutical companies need an unlimited source for endotoxin tests that doesn’t depend on a wild animal. The world has only so many horseshoe crabs. It’s time for us to let them be.

Their blood is used in a critical test to detect toxins in injectable medicines. We need a synthetic version of that test.

05/09/2022

See what you think is a giant fiddler crab, grab your phone and snap a pic.

13/06/2022

Life continues to be very challenging right now, so I will need to be absent a bit longer. Hope to be back soon. Love you all! ❤ ❤ ❤

09/06/2022

This remains one of my favorite critter encounters. :)

I was walking the beach on Pine Island in Hilton Head Plantation this morning when I noticed a large Blue Crab just off shore. I stopped to look, because I always stop to check out the critters, an…

06/06/2022

Awesome opportunity.

TONIGHT!! Free Turtle Talk! Every Monday in June, July( not the 4th) and August.

11/03/2022

Moss Animals or Bryozoans are most closely related to mollusks (!), but like the sponges and corals, are colonies of animals (zooids). Bryozoan colonies are found most commonly as growths or crusts on other objects. They cover seaweeds, form crusts on stones and shells, hang from boulders, or rise from the seabed, readily colonizing submerged surfaces. Bryozoans were originally classified as plants, and some such as the Common and Ambiguous Bryozoans can easily be mistaken for seaweed or algae, hence the name Moss Animal.

The Rubbery Bryozoans form gray or brown rubbery, gelatinous colonies that encrust sessile (unmoving) objects, and form branching, shrubby masses. This bryozoan is very commonly found on Sea Whips and is considered a fouling organism. I find this bryozoan very frequently on Hilton Head Island. This was my first exposure to these creatures, and this remains one of my favorite photos. If you look closely at the tips you will also see the presence of Sea Whip Barnacles.

10/03/2022

But we already knew this! :)

This coastal town has become a grown-up beach village.

06/03/2022

While you may see a wind pruned tree on an eroded beach, this is what I see. :)

03/03/2022

Some of these animals are beloved and some not so beloved.

But here's the thing: No matter how charismatic they are (or aren't), every single one of these animals is crucial to the delicate balance of our planet's ecosystems, and really, our world as a whole.

So protect what you don't love, just as fiercely as you protect what you do love. Our world and its wildlife thank you.

Happy ❤️

25/02/2022

Today's Friday Fun Fact starts with a question...
Does an octopus have arms or tentacles?

When it comes to the cephalopod community, these words tend to get thrown around and used interchangeably.
Let us set the record straight here and now: Octopuses have 8 ARMS and ZERO tentacles.
This is not the case for all cephalopods, but when you’re talking about an octopus specifically, the word tentacles should not be uttered on your lips. Octopuses have 8 arms, which have suckers along the entire appendage, with most species having two rows per arm.

So what’s the difference?
Octopus arms are thicker near the base, getting smaller and eventually tapering off at the ends. Arms differ from tentacles, which only have suckers at the end!

22/02/2022

I won't be back on the island for the foreseeable future, but that doesn't mean you can't still catch a great Beach Discovery program.

Ever wonder who lives in those holes in the sand? Or, when sea turtles come ashore to nest on Hilton Head Island?

Explore our ever-changing marine environment with a Museum naturalist at hidden Fish Haul Beach every Tuesday afternoon during our Beach Discovery Tour!

With its mud flats and sandy areas, this beach is ideal for finding beach creatures, shorebirds, and seashells. Learn how our beaches are formed and changed with each cycle of the tide.

Reservations are required, call (843) 689-6767 ext. 223 or book online via coastaldiscovery.org/calendar.

22/02/2022

Happy Twosday!

19/02/2022

Repost from my other IG
Sharing this here because the sponges were found on beach walks on the north end of Hilton Head Island, along Port Royal Sound.
Finished making the pendants from the beached Red Beard Sponge. I’m pairing them with reclaimed turquoise, bone, and silver beads, hand knotted on h**p. It’s a different color palette for me, but I’m pleased.
Swipe to the end for examples of the sponge before it becomes weathered on the beach. I think my painting effort turned out pretty well.