Kiawah’s Small Wonders
They come in all shapes and sizes
Pluff Mud and Fiddler Crabs
From Jake Zadik
Not only does Mother Nature on Kiawah Island
sport some of her most beautiful attire, but she
actually smells pretty good much of the time
as well. That is no small accomplishment in the
Lowcountry where the scent of pluff mud is all
too familiar. Of it, Pat Conroy said, “I don’t know
of any place that smells like this. It’s a magnificent
smell. It’s the smell of where all life comes
from.” The fact of its smell is arguably much less
romantic than the author’s description; in fact,
rotten eggs may well come to mind. So why is
its briny odor not ever-present on Kiawah? Jake
Zadik from the Kiawah Island Golf Resort Nature
Center tells us that the offensive scent is a result
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of hypoxic substances—low oxygen environments
that harbor bacteria and other microbes that
emit hydrogen sulfide as they break down the
decaying grasses and marine life that fuel our
nutrient-rich marshes. Some scientists believe
that our numerous fiddler crabs create burrows
in the marsh substrate that help aerate it. Jake
cites a couple of research papers on the subject,
one that attributes a dissipation of the odors from
pluff mud to fiddler crabs, and one that suggests
they play a much smaller role. No matter what the
reason, we are happy to be relatively free of this
memorable smell!