The Editor’s Desk
Kiawah, naturally …
A
s I write this, the Kiawah
Island turtle patrol has
discovered and marked
over 315 nests so far
during the 2016 loggerhead turtle
nesting season. This number puts us on
a pace to exceed the 404 nests found in
2014, the highest total since we began
keeping records. There is probably no
single explanation for this extraordinary
number, but certainly research has
something to do with it.
The fact is that we are all researchers
of one kind or another. We became
researchers the day as small children
we asked “Why?” Why is the sky blue?
Why does the kite stay high in the
sky? Do animals sleep? In this issue we
have taken a closer look at research as
it pertains to our beloved Island. We
visit and even make our homes here
because we love its natural habitats and
the exceptional array of wildlife that
thrives here. We are curious about our
surroundings and the living creatures
that had been living here long before
we arrived. We want to know more.
Back to the loggerheads. Kiawah
Islanders have watched them
carefully for over 40 years. In 1973
five enterprising graduate students
determined to study the turtles and
learn how to protect these amazing
reptiles. Since then we have continued
to observe them and to adapt our
practices in an attempt to keep them
coming back to our beaches.
Would turning off lights along the
shoreline at night help? We do it so only
the moon guides their steps to and from
the ocean. Would moving nests that
would otherwise be washed out to sea
or invaded by predators further into the
dunes help? We kneel and dig and count
and do it. Would patrolling the beach
in the earliest hours of daylight to find
tracks and identify nests help? We get
in our truck, bleary-eyed and caffeinefueled, and do it.
Would putting protective nets over a
nest help keep unwanted invaders out?
We pound in stakes, set pole markers
and do it. We (and by “We” I mean the
Town of Kiawah Island, our professional
biologists, turtle patrol members, and
every single turtle lover who lives on or
visits Kiawah) do all this, shaping our
practices in accordance with the lessons
we learn from careful observation—
research of the highest order.
The contributors to this issue have
all asked why about Kiawah Island, its
wildlife and habitats. Junior Naturalists
have cast nets into the Kiawah River to
discover treasures beneath the surface.
Michael Dorcas highlighted his research
on our Diamondback terrapins. Scott
Snider focused his words and his
amazing camera on our iconic dolphins.
Whit Gibbons showed us some truths
about our smallest residents. We are
grateful to each of them for their
research. Sarah Latshaw gave us ideas
about how to take better care of our
feathered neighbors.
Every one of these experts opened
our eyes to the wonders around us. We
will honor them by learning from what
they have to teach us and by shaping
our practices and our lives so our
children and their children will know
the Island we love so much. NK
Fall 2016
“The time will come when diligent research over long periods will bring to light things which now lie hidden.
A single lifetime, even though entirely devoted to the sky, would not be enough for the investigation of so vast a subject...
And so this knowledge will be unfolded only through long successive ages.
There will come a time when our descendants will be amazed that we did not know things that are so plain to them...
Many discoveries are reserved for ages still to come, when memory of us will have been effaced.” — Seneca
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