Day Forty-five - Charleston, SC

 

It was sunrise as the Octantis entered Charleston Harbor.  Centered on an island at the harbor's entrance was Fort Sumpter, the location where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.  In fact, today is the anniversary of of that battle: April 12, 1861 at 4:30 AM.  The Union Army surrendered the fort 34 hours later to the Confederates. 

Once again we find ourself boarding a small boat to search for wildlife, this time Dolphins of the low country.

Our captain guided the flat bottom boat through the inlets, creeks and marsh flats around Charleston.  This "low country" was once filled with rice paddies and today is home to about 300 resident Atlantic bottlenose dolphins.  

We are at low tide and oysters are in abundance on every sandbar.  Residents are permitted to harvest two bushel a day, and many do.  They nudge their boat up to a sandbar and in a few minutes have their day's limit.

The marsh flats are are rich with marine life which attract pelicans and other sea birds.

Our boat captain stopped and provided a biology lesson on smooth cordgrass.  The plant has a "salt gland" at its base which allows it to tolerate the brackish water of the tidal basin.  When the stem is broken, its interior smells like a fresh cucumber.

Finally we locate a bottlenose dolphin "logging" on the surface.  In fact, it is a female with her calf.  She is apparently logging as she feeds the offspring.  Remember, dolphins are mammals, they breath air, their offspring are born (not hatched) and a calf nurses until they are able to survive on fish.

Back aboard the Octantis, we enjoy a spectacular view of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. It is a cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River in South Carolina, connecting downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant. The bridge has a main span of 1,546 feet, the third longest among cable-stayed bridges in the Western Hemisphere.