Class 1 Wilderness: Leaving Garris Landing (closest pier above) and crossing the Intracoastal to wind through the 25,000 acres of salt marsh and estuaries between the mainland and Bulls Island, you enter a pristine paradise basically untouched by human interference.
Before & After: Prior to Hurricane Hugo, Bulls Island had a lush maritime forest of grand oaks and loblolly pines, among other vegetation (left). Thirty-five years later, the undeveloped barrier island is a living laboratory for observing how natural systems respond after a catastrophic event.
Twin Isles: If you superimposed a map of neighboring Isle of Palms over that of Bulls Island, the two are nearly doppelgangers. “The difference is one is fully developed, leaving nowhere for beaches and marshes to naturally migrate,” explains Annie Owen of Coastal Expeditions, which runs the ferry service from Garris Landing in Awendaw. The journey itself is a 30-minute ecotour, and upon landing, visitors can explore 16 miles of trails and seven miles of shoreline for a half or full day.
March 1989: Six months before Hurricane Hugo
Bull’s-Eye, Almost: A satellite image of Hurricane Hugo’s approach of the southeast coast as a Category 4 hurricane, on September 21, 1989, at 4 p.m. Its path to the left of Bulls Island delivered the brunt of the storm’s sometimes 200-mile-per-hour winds and 21-foot tidal surge to Bulls Island, as well as nearby Awendaw and McClellanville.
March 1990: Six months after Hugo
April 1995: Five and a half years after Hugo; NatureScene hosts Rudy Mancke and Jim Welch document the recovery.
July 2024: Nearly 35 years after Hugo.
NatureScene documented the remains of a live oak tree six months after Hugo.
Coastal Expeditions naturalist Annie Owen educates visitors about the flora and fauna on Bulls Island.
In the Wild: The Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, which includes Bulls, Cape, and Lighthouse islands, plays host to myriad species, including (clockwise from opposite top) black skimmers; migratory shorebirds such as red knots; loggerhead turtles (here a nest being moved to higher ground and protected by the US Fish & Wildlife Service); and alligators
“It’s just a matter of can they keep up, given sea-level rise and loss of sediment in relation to higher, stronger tides. Without these islands, species like sea turtles and shore birds can’t survive.” —Sarah Dawsey, Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge manager
In 1995, NatureScene presented “Bulls Island Revisited,” a compilation of Bulls Island footage before and after Hugo. This month, SCETV plans to re-air the episode on September 18 at 7 p.m. and September 21 at 6 p.m.
What the barrier island’s rebounding flora and fauna can teach us about our fragile yet resilient coast
