Naturally Kiawah Magazine Volume 35 | Page 24

Kiawah Island’s Alligators: Preliminary Research Results J By Jack Kotz ust a year ago Professor Louis J. Guillette Jr. of the Medical University of Photo by Russ Lowes South Carolina (MUSC) was here to give a lecture on his life’s work on alligator biology. Guillette was a marvelous speaker who could awaken an interest in almost any subject in his audience, but this lecture was special. Kiawah is home to an estimated 450 alligators. In spite of the fact that we see them often, the Town biologist Jim Jordan acknowledged how little we know about them. Professor Guillette seemed just the person to help us learn how they fit into the ecology of our island! Thus was born one of the most interesting and useful research projects yet undertaken on Kiawah Island. Photo by Sue Corcoran Professor Louis Guillette Jr. and his son Matthew. Professor Guillette died unexpectedly in August 2015, and Matthew is now carrying on the fieldwork on alligator biology on Kiawah and at several other sites in South Carolina. Matt and Lou Guillette capture an alligator as the film crew captures them. 22 Naturally Kiawah