While visiting High Falls State Park we purchased a Georgia Parks Pass so we made several visits to Skidaway Island just outside of Savannah. Actually it ended up surprising the number of state attractions like memorials, monuments, and historic sites are not covered by the pass and have their own admission charge. I'll likely repeat this several times but the southeast has refined fleasing the tourist to a high art.
With the mass of islands sometimes connected at low tide It's hard to figure out how the early explorers managed. With your ship anchored offshore, try to imagine being sent in a small rowboat to find some fresh water and then actually find the ship again.
Just a few steps off the trail here can put you in a mud hole and graveled paths are a very recent addition. With the limited pathways that have to be used by the park residents also we had opportunities to see wildlife that are normally hiding when the park is open. The deer had to stop and reproach us for disturbing him, the cardinal was a familiar sight, and we heard but did not see the woodpeckers that have riddled this old tree.
While strictly speaking only on the approach to the island these Turkey Vultures
are very fascinating birds we tend to dismiss because they are nature's garbage men at this point cleaning up a deer killed by a passing car. Since they deal with some very messy situations they have no feathers on their head to get dirty. Their legs are not actually white but covered in their droppings to keep them clean. They also have amazing digestion being able to eat even anthrax and render it harmless. Really really cool guys but who likes garbage men.
Skidaway Island has also been popular with moonshiners as shown by this destroyed still out behind the huge trees at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography operated by the University of Georgia. In addition to these nice trails along the Willimington River, the institute has an aquarium exhibit in the visitors center
Unlike the big zoo and aquarium exhibits, this is primarily a teaching and research facility and the exhibits show the students what can be expected during ocean trips without a whole lot of fancy frills. As I remember the flat guy here is a skate which is a stingless stingray relative.
Probably my favorite was this little seahorse type creature. I have seen them now in the Seattle Aquarium but can't seem to find out exactly what they are called. This one has an ultra tiny tail while others have a tail much like a fish. They are rather small and could swim in a shot glass with room to spare.
These are the real seahorse with little propulsion fins on the lower back and the long pretensil tail to anchor in the weeds.
Here is a sea snaile just approaching the size where it could be termed a conch
. There is a rather grey subjective dividing line but I remember this sample being labeled as a conch.
And finally we have the endangered sea turtle and the delicious crab although I don't care for them myself. It is an interesting point that the way to keep a crab in a bucket is to put in at least two. If one manages to climb up near the edge his buddy will pull him back in. Dumb.