Sustainable ecotourism gets certified through University of Georgia program
It was a gray morning Aug. 23, the perfect atmosphere for a stealthy excursion to Dead Man Hammock. Two skiffs carrying biologists and tour guides departed the Skidaway Island docks in search of some elusive shorebirds. Waiting in the marshes west of Wassaw were the objects of their quest — the unmistakable American oystercatcher and the outrageously long-billed whimbrel.
It was media day to publicize the Coastal Awareness and Responsible Ecotourism (CARE) program. The program was recently developed by UGA’s Marine Extension Service, Georgia Sea Grant, and Manomet Inc., and it provides a bona fide certification for ecotourism guides.
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Media folks got to explore Wassaw Sound with the program creators and with some of the guides certified last spring. My schedule did not permit me to go on the tour, but I experienced it vicariously from those who did.
Kathryn and Francis Lapolla, the owners of Savannah Coastal EcoTours, were in that first CARE-certified class. Francis sent me his Google Earth track for the tour. I could see the waves and surf, the shallows and beaches, the marsh and forest. Following Lapolla’s track, I could feel the breeze, smell the salt air, and almost hear the far-carrying oystercatcher peeps.
I felt like I was on the boat, going down the Wilmington River under the watchful gaze of ospreys on Cabbage Island. I enjoyed the view of the bleached tree skeletons on Wassaw Island’s north boneyard beach. I could see that Lapolla’s track through Romerly Marsh and Joe’s Cut kept to the deeper parts of the creeks.
If you go
What: Coastal Awareness and Responsible Ecotourism (CARE) program
Info: gacoast.uga.edu/care/
I tread softly on the shell rakes of Dead Man Hammock. The oystercatcher, probably my favorite shorebird, rests and nests here above the high-tide line. Their blood-red long beaks and bright yellow eyes are stunning; they walk and run along the shorelines as much as they fly; males and females incubate their eggs in small scrapes on open ground.
One of the CARE creators, Abby Sterling, was on this tour. She is Manomet’s director for the Georgia Bight Shorebird Conservation Initiative. Her bio on the Manomet website has a photo of her holding an oystercatcher with bands on both his feet.
Manomet, the world leader in shorebird conservation, is dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of shorebird migration and addressing threats to them. Since responsible ecotourism benefits bird health and human health, working on the CARE program was a natural for Manomet.
Georgia’s coastal terrain boasts critical habitat for shorebirds throughout the year, from marshes, mudflats, and sand bars, to undeveloped barrier island beaches which provide sites for nesting, feeding, and roosting. Over 300,000 birds visit these areas each year.
The CARE program gives guides the tools to follow best practices in minimizing recreational disturbance to those flyway birds — whether it’s staying on the wet sand below the high-tide line on Little Tybee to avoid spooking oystercatchers or not landing at all on Williamson Island when red knots are dining on the eggs of spawning horseshoe crabs.
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The first CARE class of 17 guides graduated this past spring. From the Savannah area they included
• Savannah Coastal EcoTours, savannahcoastalecotours.com
• Savannah Riverkeeper, savannahriverkeeper.org
• Ogeechee Riverkeeper, ogeecheeriverkeeper.org
• Bull River Cruises and Moon River Kayak, bullriver.com
• Sundial Charters, sundialcharters.com
From Brunswick and St. Simons Island, they included:
• Coastal Tide Excursions, shrimpcruise.com
• Southeast Adventure Outfitters. southeast-adventure-outfitters.myshopify.com
• Coastal Outdoor Adventures, coastaloutdooradventures.com.
Francis Lapolla, the owners of Savannah Coastal EcoTours Fran Lapolla sums it up well: “Most responsible tour companies respect the environment and add a wealth of knowledge to their clients. The CARE certification and education is a welcome and key component to assuring the public that those with the certification are responsible and respectable. Anyone can call themselves an ecotour operator; there are no associations or permitting necessary. Even for all the years we have spent as educators and guides, we learned a lot from the course and certification process. UGA Marex, Manomet, and DNR have done an outstanding job of getting the ball rolling to ensure that guides and tour companies act responsibly, educate and protect our amazing coast.”
Indeed, these CARE guides are the ones who can tell you about the oystercatcher banded on Wassaw that was re-sighted in Nicaragua. Or that the whimbrel they saw on Dead Man Hammock was migrating to the mangrove marshes of Brazil after breeding this summer in the Arctic.
Ben Goggins is a contributing lifestyles columnist for the Savannah Morning News. He is a retired marine biologist and lives on Tybee Island. He can be reached at 912-547-3074 or bengoggins9@gmail.com. See more columns by Ben at SavannahNow.com/lifestyle/.