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VOLUME 18 ISSUE 5
MAY 31, 2024
No Beach? No Worries
RESEARCH SUGGESTS HORSESHOE CRABS R E G U L A R LY N E S T I N S A LT M A R S H E S by SCDNR For The Island Connection
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f you’ve ever encountered the domed shell of a horseshoe crab, chances are it was on a sandy beach. Until recently, beaches were believed to be the only places where horseshoe crab eggs would hatch and grow. But three years ago, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) biologists discovered that salt marshes might have an unexpected importance to these ancient invertebrates, offering alternate habitat where eggs and hatchlings can thrive. Now, the same research team, in collaboration with researchers at Sacred Heart University and Plymouth State University, has shared new findings confirming that American horseshoe crabs regularly spawn in salt marshes – not just in South Carolina, but across the Atlantic coastline. The research was published recently in the peer-reviewed journal “Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.” “While horseshoe crabs would occasionally be (continued on page 2) observed spawning in marsh
Kiawah Partners Submit Response to Lawsuit BY THERESA STRATFORD
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For The Island Connection
n May 13, three days after the Town of Kiawah Island, the Kiawah Island Community Association and the Kiawah Conservancy filed a lawsuit against Kiawah Partners, a response letter was sent to property owners. That letter was from the one served: Kiawah Partners. Sent out to Kiawah residents, the response noted that “the suit is entirely unnecessary.” In the response, Kiawah Partners, aka Kiawah Development Partners, denied breaching the now-expired development agreement with the Town. “KDP told the parties all along that it would meet with all three entities to work out a mutually agreeable resolution to assure the protection of Captain Sams in perpetuity if (continued on page 5) the State agrees to settle
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PHOTOS: JULIE MINCH, SEABROOK ISLAND GARDEN CLUB PROGRAMS
For the Flutterbys
S E A B R O O K I S L A N D G A R D E N C L U B C R E AT E S M O N A R C H WAY S TAT I O N BY BETH WRIGHT
For The Island Connection
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illions of monarch butterflies migrate every fall from the United States and Canada to the mountains in central Mexico, where they stay throughout the winter until the conditions are favorable for a return flight in the spring. This migration of monarchs is one of the world's greatest natural wonders, but it is threatened by habitat loss at overwintering grounds in Mexico and throughout breeding areas in the United States and Canada. Monarch waystations are gardens designed to specifically provide the resources for these butterflies to reproduce and continue their migrations. Without milkweeds and nectar from flowers, they are not able to populate and make their annual migration journey. With all of this in mind, the Seabrook Island Garden Club put plans in place to create a monarch waystation just outside the gate of the Community Garden on the island. Lead by Programs Chairperson Julie Minch, a proposal to create a waystation on Seabrook was designed and (continued on page 3) Sally Boudinot & Julie Minch.
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