One of Georgia’s somewhat hidden gems is our coast, and its unique place among other state’s coasts along the Atlantic. Despite two major ports, one of which is among the busiest in the country, the Georgia coast is perhaps the most preserved. And it might not be close. The state has been able to leverage that preservation into a tourism haven, with opportunities for exploring marsh and other beautiful coastal ecosystem nearly unmatched.
To help ensure this preservation continues, the Coastal Resources Division (CRD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) publishes an annual report that scores the entire coastal environment, from water quality to bird health. This year’s score dropped three points from last year to 77%, or a B+ (apparently CRD officials are very supportive of grade inflation).
“While we’re always striving to improve our scores, this slight decrease does not represent a concern at this point in time,” said Jan Mackinnon, a CRD biologist who oversaw the report. “Slight changes in environmental factors, including weather patterns, wildlife migration, and data collection can lead to different scores each year. The report still ranks Georgia’s coast in moderately good health, and we’re confident in the long-term trends.”
The report uses a number of animals as “indicator species,” meaning that if they are doing well, it likely means the ecosystem or food chain that they sit in is also likely doing well. This year’s report added spotted seatrout and bald eagles to those indicator species. Bald eagles are an easy to envision example because they are at the top of their food chain and depend on a healthy ecosystem for abundant fish and other prey. And those bald eagle populations are doing quite well.
“When pollutants enter the marine environment it can contaminate fish, which in turn are eaten by predators such as bald eagles, potentially harming them as well.” said Jason Lee, a biologist with the Conservation Section of DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division. “The Georgia coast is actually home to more bald eagles than any other place in the state, and so to see the populations flourishing like they are tells us a positive story about the overall health of Georgia’s coast.”
Besides the bald eagle, blue crab and sea turtle nesting were also included as scoring indicators, with perfect scores of 100%. Perhaps most importantly for the Georgia economy – as well as the overall health of the ecosystem – the water quality index scored an 84%, meaning it is generally safe to swim and eat local shellfish.
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science helped to put together the report. Their early experience measuring the health of a coastal ecosystem in the Chesapeake Bay, and all the fish, crabs and other livelihoods and food that go with it, give them a unique insight into the coastal environment.
To read the full report, https://coastalgadnr.org/ReportCard
