BACK TO NATURE ON Amelia Island

Words Susanne Masters

Amelia Island’s edges shift constantly. Made of sand, and moved by waves, winds and tides, its border with the sea is not static. Plants of the dunes and saltmarsh hold on to sand and sediment, holding back the sea and shaping the island. A barrier island on north-eastern Florida’s Atlantic Coast, Amelia Island has 13 miles of beautiful beaches and, as a strategic port with natural resources, successive communities have been drawn to live here.

Vip Inhabitants

Visitors to Amelia Island are reminded to think about the mariners to whom beaches are vitally important: sea turtles. Loggerhead turtles are the most common species nesting here, but green sea and leather-back turtles lay their eggs on the island too. After hauling out of the sea, turtles shuffle ashore and dig holes in which to lay their eggs, before returning to the water.

Catching maritime bounty started with the island’s first people, the Timucua, who made sure to release the first catch to ensure there was always enough fish for another day, and Amelia Island’s inhabitants continue with this ethos.

Although the odds are against being on a beach at exactly the moment hatchlings emerge from their eggs, you can spot the tracks they leave across the sand – they look like an imprint from a wide and rugged tyre. In order to protect turtles, beach goers are asked to not leave rubbish on the beach, to fill in holes dug in sand, and knock down sand castles to leave flat sand. It’s also important that beach-front properties close their curtains to prevent artificial light illuminating the beaches.

Beachcombers Unite

While being careful to avoid leaving traces on Amelia Island’s beaches there is treasure you can collect: fossilised shark teeth. Collecting vertebrate fossils (such as reptiles and fish) requires a permit, but these need none. St Mary’s River, which divides Georgia and Florida, empties into the Atlantic Ocean at the northern end of Amelia Island and drops fossilised shark teeth on the beaches of Fort Clinch State Park – ready for beachcombers to find among the tide line.

Dunes are more than simply picturesque for scenic sunset and sunrise views, they dissipate wave energy and even mitigate waves generated by hurricanes. Just beyond the water’s edge, beach pennywort is one of the plants that can grow in the extreme environment of dunes; it tolerates salty winds and stores water in its fleshy leaves. Sea oats stabilise dunes with their deep taproots and lateral roots; their response to being covered with sand is to grow. However, trampling by foot or driving over beach vegetation will damage it.