NATURE'S NURSERY

The ocean that surrounds Jekyll Island and all the marshes therein teem with adult marine life. In between are the marsh inlets, nature’s nurseries. As the midday sun begins its descent, and the tide rolls in, rising waters deposit nutrients from the sea upon the muddy flats. There in the brackish shallows, among the cordgrass and the shorebirds scanning for insects, the innumerable spawn of ghost crabs, shrimp, and all manner of fish are safe to feed and grow. They'll need their strength. Predatory fish, knowing the same tide that feeds the young will one day carry them to the open sea, lie in wait in the deepening sound just beyond the inlet. Anglers lurk there, too, poles and baited hooks poised to snag the predators and give the younglings a fighting chance to slip through. —tony rehagen