2010: Sea Turtle CSI

Ten years ago, our sea turtle nesting biologists joined researchers in North Carolina and Georgia on a huge undertaking – a regional project to learn more about the population of the Southeast’s nesting loggerhead sea turtles using the rapidly emerging tools of genetic analysis. By taking a genetic sample from every single nest laid on South Carolina beaches, the team has been able to identify nesting mothers down to the individual turtle, determining when mothers lay multiple nests, as well as if and when they return in following seasons. Now ten years old, the genetics project has yielded an incredible wealth of information about our area’s sea turtle nesting habits and the population as a whole – even identifying a South Carolina beach where a grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter sea turtles have all nested. (Writing and reporting contributions made by Emma Berry.)

2011: Let ‘Em Spawn, Let ‘Em Live

Spotted seatrout put up a strong fight on the end of a fishing line, but they’re notoriously fragile when it comes to cold temperatures. In 2010 and 2011, South Carolina’s seatrout experienced back-to-back blows in the form of cold winters that killed a large percentage of the population. Cold winter kills are a regular, natural phenomenon, but 2011 marked the first time SCDNR biologists asked anglers to help play a role in the recovery of one of their favorite saltwater fish. The “Let ‘Em Spawn, Let ‘Em Live” campaign encouraged anglers to release all the seatrout they caught until the survivors of the previous winter kill were able to spawn and help the population rebound faster. Anglers embraced the opportunity so much that the strategy was repeated again in 2018 (when sea trout suffered heavy losses following another unusually cold period), to great effect.

2012: Hottest Day on Record

Hot summers are unremarkable for South Carolinians, but a country-wide heat wave in summer 2012 broke all manner of South Carolina records and set the highest ever recorded temperature in the state (113° F in Columbia). Although the 2012 heat wave was extreme, it was also far from alone in cracking heat records over the past decade. The five hottest years on record for Charleston, South Carolina, have all occurred in recent decades, with three of those falling within just the past four years (2016, 2017, and 2019). From 1901 to 2015, each of South Carolina’s coastal weather stations witnessed upward trends in temperature. High temperatures on land do not necessarily equate to higher temperatures in coastal waters, but warmer waters do impact marine life in many ways, such as making fish more vulnerable to predators, parasites, and disease. During hot summers, catch-and-release anglers must take extra precaution to safely handle and revive fish.

2013: A New Species Hiding in Plain Sight

In 2013, a team of scientists led by University of South Carolina researchers formally announced the discovery of a new hammerhead shark off our coast – the Carolina hammerhead (Sphyrna gilbert). Side by side, the Carolina hammerhead and the scalloped hammerhead are indistinguishable. But specimens provided by SCDNR biologists allowed researchers to confirm that the Carolina hammerhead, with its ~10 fewer vertebrae, slightly smaller size, and genetic differences, was an altogether separate species found only off the coast of the Carolinas. SCDNR biologists and their colleagues have continued research in the years since, most recently showing that the newly described species is hybridizing with the scalloped hammerhead, which could spell trouble for the rare species. (Writing and reporting contributions made by Emma Berry.)

2014: Charleston Deep Reef

South Carolina’s pioneering use of artificial reefs – manmade structures that create fish habitat on the seafloor – has provided a model for the rest of the country for decades. In 2014, SCDNR marked a major milestone with the establishment of the Charleston Deep Reef, the first artificial reef in the nation to become a Marine Protected Area (MPA). Two 260-foot barges were sunk at the site 52 miles offshore, where surface fishing for species such as blue marlin is permitted, but the protected seafloor offers snapper and grouper species a rare place to spawn and feed without fishing pressure. Two years after its establishment, underwater footage showed the Charleston Deep Reef performing exactly as biologists had hoped – rare fish such as snowy and Warsaw grouper had already taken up residence there. Subsequent additions, including an old steel swing bridge, have grown the reef. (Writing and reporting contributions made by Emma Berry.)

—> Stay tuned later this week for our top conservation stories from 2015-2019.