Living on St. Simons Island, we’re surrounded by the vast and deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. She draws us and calls to us, beckoning us to explore her depths and her shores. Her tides soothe us and inspire us. The coast of Georgia offers more than 239,000 acres of tidal waters. Combine that with the surrounding 350,000 acres of salt marshes and you can understand the amazing diversity of life in these waters and what a unique environment it creates. The sea shapes us--its tides and weather carve the very coastlines and borders of our island, our encounters upon it have established our historic legacy and place in the world, the creatures inhabiting it and travelers on it drive our industry, its very rhythms are reflected in our lifestyle.
Of Mermaids, Monsters and Manatees
Oh, the wonderful, mysterious creatures that live in the ocean deep. We’re surrounded by all this water, and there’s so much that remains unexplored and undiscovered. So what’s out there in the depths, the winding estuaries, the brackish marshlands, and the networks of channels and canals?
Ocean tales have long included mermaids. But are they purely myth? There are some well documented cases of “real” encounters.
In 1493, Christopher Columbus described three “sirens” who “came up very high out of the sea: but they were not as beautiful as they were painted.” More than 100 years later, navigator Henry Hudson reported his own mermaid sighting: “her body as big as one of us; her skin very white; and long haire…of colour blacke…the tayle of a Porposse, and speckeled like a Macrell.” Even explorer Captain John Smith, of Pocahontas lore, spoke of seeing a mermaid, saying at first that he felt “the first pangs of love.” He then noticed upon closer inspection “from the waist down the woman gave way to the fish…and her long green hair…(was) by no means unattractive.”
Scholars have suggested that, at least in Columbus’ case, these “mermaids” might actually have been manatees. Maybe those emerald locks were seaweed? After all, women were a bit more Rubenesque in those days. I’m not sure how to explain away those whiskers though.
West Indian manatees, often referred to as sea cows, are arguably one of the most loveable sea creatures to grace (although that might not be the best word to use when referring to manatees) our coastal Georgia waters. While many consider manatees mainly Florida creatures, these gentle giants are frequently sighted in the waters of Camden, Glynn, and McIntosh counties between April and October. The slow-moving sea mammals generally weigh between 1,000-2,500 lbs. as adults and are about 10 feet in length. They spend most of their time eating, resting, or traveling in our coastal rivers, creeks and canals. Manatees are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act and are also protected under other provisions of both state and federal law, so look, but don’t touch It’s estimated that there may be fewer than 2,640 manatees left in the United States. Wildlife biologists closely monitor their movements up and down our coast. If you’d like to see one up close and personal, Southeast Adventure Outfitters often sees them on their tours and the manatees also frequently visit their Brunswick dock to nibble at the algae. They are such cute and curious things, it’s no wonder John Smith felt “the pangs of love.”
Perhaps the sightings weren't manatees at all. Maybe what they really saw was a monster.
While we’re far from Scotland and Loch Ness, legend has it that Georgia has its own Nessie-like mysterious creature in the waters of the Altamaha, near Darien. Altamaha-ha (affectionately known as Altie), who has been the subject of fireside stories since the days of the Tama Indians, even has a “life-sized” model at the Darien Welcome Center that was commissioned by the Darien Chamber of Commerce. Altie has been the subject of a children’s book and numerous news stories and investigations.
In a dispatch from Darien in 1830, a Savannah Georgian correspondent reported multiple sightings of a sea monster on the Georgia coast. The primary eyewitness was a Captain Delano of the schooner Eagle, who said he had seen a mysterious creature below the mouth of the Altamaha, off St. Simons Island:
...He repeated the...particulars precisely, describing the animal he saw as being about 70 feet long, and its circumference about that of a sugar hogshead, moving with its head (shaped like an Alligator's) about 8 feet out of the water. - Savannah Georgian, April 22, 1830.
Five men aboard the schooner and a number of planters from the island also confirmed seeing something strange. The creature reportedly appeared in St. Simons Sound and was viewed through telescopes over a period of weeks that year. Even nearly a century later, men who transported the timber on the river in the 1920s reported sightings of a 20- or possibly 30-foot long creature with dull grey, spotted skin, and flippers like a seal, as did Boy Scouts and fishermen throughout the years that followed. In 1981, Altie hit the national wire when a former newspaper publisher claimed to have seen the creature while out fishing with a friend. They described it as having two large humps, about 5 feet apart, and that it left behind a wake similar to that of a speedboat when it swam. This report caused other eyewitness to come forward and share their own tales of encounters with the creature over the years.
One of the most recent reports was from 2002 when a man who was pulling a boat up the river near Brunswick reported seeing something over twenty feet in length and six feet wide break the water. The witness said that the animal seemed to emerge from the water to get air and then submerge again beneath the depths.
It has been suggested that snakes, dolphins, alligators, or possibly beavers, are really what people are seeing. Maybe a giant manatee?! But those who have seen Altie swear that they know the difference and are seeing something other than our typical wildlife. There’s also the theory that the animal could be some oceanic cryptid that swims into the Altamaha to spawn before going back out to sea. Just what Altie might be—and even how many Alties might exists—is a matter of mystery that remains unsolved.
Pirates in the Golden Isles
Where mermaid tales exist, surely stories of pirates must follow. There is no question that the history of the Golden Isles involves pirates beyond the mascot of Brunswick High and the lovely young ladies of the Pirates of the Spanish Main. One of our more remote and secluded barrier islands is, in fact, named after Blackbeard, arguably the most notorious pirate that roamed the seas of the Atlantic.
The feared pirate that captained the stolen ship Queen Anne’s Revenge was said to be an imposing man of 6’4” with long black hair and a braided beard often tied with ribbons, giving him his nickname. Facts establish that Edward Thatch (or Teach, depending on your source) was born in the late 1600s in Bristol, England. It is well-known that the notorious pirate claimed to be the brother of the Devil and preyed on ships from New England to the Virgin Islands. He would pound ships carrying riches from the New World into submission with his 40 pound cannon and then storm the decks with smoldering beard, cutlass in hand, and knife in his teeth—the very picture of nightmares.
Blackbeard’s reign of terror along the Southeast coast of the United States and the Caribbean began following the end of the War of Spanish Succession in 1713. He made his home base in North Carolina from 1716-18, pursuant to an agreement with the royal governor, and seized a French ship in 1717. He and his crew would strike ships quickly then retreat to hide in the tidal rivers, inlets, and along the barrier islands of the Georgia coast. Many believe that Blackbeard or other pirates of his ilk buried treasure here that has remained undiscovered.
Blackbeard reportedly bragged that only he and the Devil knew where he kept his treasure hidden, and the one who lived the longest could keep it. In 1718, the Devil won that contest when Blackbeard was killed in hand-to-hand combat off the coast of North Carolina. According to historical fact, Lt. Robert Maynard of His Majesty’s Pearl decapitated Blackbeard, cast his body into the sea and displayed his head as a warning to other pirates and raiders. In 1996, divers in Beaufort Inlet found wreckage of a sunken ship that dated back to Blackbeard’s era. The artifacts recovered from the site included a bronze bell dated 1705, a lead cannon apron, two cannonballs, an English blunderbuss barrel, a sounding weight, and two large anchors. These findings led to the conclusion that the sunken vessel is the Queen Anne’s Revenge. As for Blackbeard himself, legend has it that his skull was made into a macabre silver-plated cup and that somewhere on a remote, deserted, isle—perhaps our nearby barrier island bearing his name--Blackbeard’s headless ghost guards his treasure.
Blackbeard Island has been a wildlife preserve since 1924, acquired its designation as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1940, and is only accessible by boat. Even if a visit with a metal detector or secret treasure map does not yield the pirate’s hidden riches, taking binoculars and camera may yield untold treasure if you’re a bird-watcher or wildlife and nature enthusiast.
Battle of the Bloody Marsh and the War of Jenkins’ Ear
It was another act of piracy—or at least a raid that took place upon the high seas—and a severed ear that brought our island to war and left our marshes with a bloody legacy. The site of the Battle of the Bloody Marsh has its historical marker on St. Simons Island and the Debatable Land Encampment occurs every autumn at Fort King Georgia in Darien, but how many of us know about the Battle of Jenkins’ Ear and the real significance that General James Oglethorpe and St. Simons Island played in the history of Georgia?
Georgia was geographically situated right in the middle of a nearly two century long conflict between the Spanish and English over the land between South Carolina and Florida. When formal hostilities broke out in 1739, only six years after Georgia was founded, the survival of the colony hung in the balance. While the causes of the war centered on disputed land claims, it was those pesky pirates and the interruption of shipping on the high seas that led to the incident that gave the confrontation its name: in 1731 a Spanish privateer severed British captain Robert Jenkins's ear as punishment for raiding Spanish ships. When Jenkins presented the ear to Parliament, the English public was outraged and demanded retribution. Diplomatic attempts between England and Spain in Europe and America only served to increase the animosity, leading to war in late 1739.
In January of 1740, General James Oglethorpe made several passes into Florida and seized two Spanish forts along the St. Johns River, west of St. Augustine. His campaign against the fort at St. Augustine in May 1740 was a failure due to disorganization and the failure to coordinate land and naval forces. In July, he retreated to Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island, discontinuing his attack, and waiting for the Spanish to invade. That assault wouldn’t take place until the summer of 1742, when the Spanish landed on the southern tip of St. Simons Island and assembled for an attack on Frederica. After English rangers encountered a Spanish scouting party, Oglethorpe led the charge against the Spaniards, who made a swift retreat. Oglethorpe’s men fortified the road to the fort to prevent further incursions while the general returned to Frederica.
The Battle of Bloody Marsh became the name for the second skirmish that occurred when the Spanish advanced another regiment and English forces repelled them to the coast, and forced their retreat to St. Augustine. Oglethorpe once again tried to take the fort at St. Augustine in March 1743, but was unsuccessful and that marked the final campaign in the war over the Georgia-Florida border. The 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle returned all colonial claims to previous owners and the St. Johns River became the established boundary between Georgia and Florida. More importantly, the colony of Georgia won its struggle for existence and remained a stronghold for the English on the continent.
Making a Living on the Water
Those storied marshes with their historic past and poetry-inspiring views are also the birthplace of what became one of the main industries for this area. Freshwater mixing with seawater and mild temperatures in the winter make our marshes and estuaries a perfect nursery for shrimp. Both white and brown shrimp are harvested from local waters, with the coveted sweet “Georgia whites” making up about 80% of the annual yield. These are not only a staple for our local restaurants, but are considered by many to be the best tasting shrimp in the world.
In good years, the annual commercial harvest is estimated to be about 3 million pounds of heads-off shrimp. With an average size of approximately 30 shrimp per pound, that means a harvest of 90 million shrimp per year. That doesn’t count shrimp eaten by predators, non-commercial catches for personal consumption, or shrimp harvested for bait. Considering those numbers, it’s likely that the annual Georgia shrimp population averages in the billions.
Jeanne McDowell
Darien Shrimp Boats
A dismal shrimping season in 2013 led many to question the viability of the industry itself. Fortunately, 2014 saw a return to normal numbers for the shrimping industry and higher sales prices for the shrimp coming off of the boats. Increased demand from consumers also helped lead to an extension of the shrimp season into January 2015. While that bounce back was much needed, the simple fact is that shrimping has become a much more difficult way to make a living with increasing fuel costs, tighter regulations, and the widespread availability of cheap internationally farm-raised shrimp in the American market. Where there were once 1,000 licensed shrimpers along the coast, today it estimated that there are fewer than 100 licensed shrimp fisherman living in Georgia and running boats full-time.
Perhaps the biggest news in the shrimping industry doesn’t have anything to do with shrimp at all. You might be surprised to learn that behind shrimp and blue crab, Georgia’s third largest fishery by volume is not one of the many delicious types of fish likely to be served up as fresh catch in our local restaurants. Instead, it’s the gelatinous blobs known as cannonball jellyfish or “jellyballs.” Once considered a nuisance to shrimpers, jellyballs were first commercially harvested from the Gulf Coast of Florida in the 1990s. They were first introduced in Darien about two decades ago by George Tai began catching, processing, and exporting them to Asia. The cannonball jellyfish were formally regulated as a state fishery by the DNR in 2013. Now Golden Island International, a licensed jellyfish processing plant operating in Darien, has become the surprise epicenter for this industry. At the plant, the jellyfish are vacuumed onto a conveyer belt to be processed, dried and shipped to China, Thailand, and Japan.
According to information published by the Georgia Conservancy relating to the industry in Darien, jellyballs are seasonally fished while the shrimp industry is out of season, during the late winter and spring, and thus serves as a key fishery to bridge seasons for some shrimpers. It also has the potential to supplement a poor shrimping season. The jellyballs can fetch between $0.06 and $0.08 per pound and, therefore, must be harvested in very large quantities to be profitable.
DNR biologist Jim Page told Modern Farmer, “It has been a really good success story. We went from a critter that back in the ’60s fishermen hated because it clogged their shrimping nets to an animal these guys have been able to take advantage of, and I imagine this fishery will continue to expand.”
It’s estimated that fewer than 10 boats are legally fishing jellyfish in Georgia, but with several million pounds of jellyfish in the Atlantic for the taking and increased demand from China and Japan, due to their own overharvested waters, the market value of the jellies is in the millions. The main thing limiting the industry at the current time is the need for more processing plants.
But why China? If there’s a demand for jellyfish there, shouldn’t there also be a market for it here in America? What do they do with jellyfish there that we don’t do here? Simply: eat them. In Asian cooking, the dried jellies are generally sliced into strips and served in salads or put in soups. Eating jellyfish hasn’t caught on here in the States. Page has said he’d tasted jellyfish but he’s not a fan. “If it was up to me, it would be a tough sell,” he said. “But they’ve found a market overseas that certainly thinks it’s a delicacy.” With the industry booming, other fisheries declining, and plenty of inventive and talented chefs around, perhaps it will become one here too. For some sea-inspired recipes, including one for jellyfish salad, click HERE.
She Sells Seashells…
Something else that goes hand in hand with living by the ocean is collecting seashells. In 2007, Cumberland Island National Seashore was ranked #7 in Coastal Living’s Top 10 Shelling Beaches. They said, “Seventeen miles of virtually unpeopled Atlantic beach allow leisurely browsing of un-picked-over specimens, including sand dollars. No bridge reaches this barrier island just north of the Florida line, and the National Park Service strictly controls access by ferry. So beachcombers may go hours without seeing another person, though birds and other wildlife abound. Shark teeth can often be found on the marsh (west) side of the island.”
The best time to find shells is at low tide. There are optimal conditions right after a coastal storm has come through, usually from late August to early spring. What kinds of shells will you find here? Oyster shells are everywhere. Razor and hard clams are common. Beach shells may also include olives and coquinas, various types of whelks, and moon snails. Sand dollars are also plentiful too. An important note is to make sure that you’re not taking away any living creatures. Sand dollar skeletons are okay to take, but when they’re brown and spiny, they’re still alive and may not be removed from the beach. Also be sure to check the interior of any shells carefully for hermit crabs. You don’t want to find out the wee beasties were in your treasure trove of shells by getting a whiff of them after they’ve been sitting in the car or in a beach bag for a few hot summer days.
If you’re looking for something really special in the shell department, we have a recommendation for you that’s a little off the beaten beach path: head up to 300 Franklin Street in Darien between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. There you’ll find the most amazing—and delicious—coquilles, angel wings, cockle shells, periwinkles, and even pink peppermint shrimp and mini sea turtles. Sugar Marsh Cottage Specialty Confections is a small batch artisan confectioner that creates award-winning gourmet chocolates, toffee, and shortbread with a coastal touch. Decadent sweets with artful flair and elegance are owner Dale Potts’ specialty, and boy, does she do them well! If you can’t make it to Darien, you can find several varieties of Sugar Marsh Cottage candies on St. Simons Island at Golden Isles Olive Oil in Redfern Village and at The Market on Sea Island and you won’t even have to shake any sand out of your shoes.
Robert Wyland said, “The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination and brings eternal joy to the soul.” How lucky we are to live by the sea.