The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) is extending seasonal closures on a portion of Crab Bank to protect brown pelican chicks. The move comes amid the return of brown pelicans to Crab Bank Seabird Sanctuary for nesting.
Located at the mouth of Shem Creek, Crab Bank once supported between 10% and 20% of seabird nesting in the state; however, years of wave and storm activity gradually reduced the size of the island, and with it, the available nesting habitat for birds. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma (2017), the island was flattened, leaving only an intertidal shoal unsuitable for nesting.
SCDNR will extend the closure of the eastern end of Crab Bank beyond the standard reopening date of October 15. Beginning October 16, the western end of the island (intertidal zone only) will reopen for public access, while the eastern end will remain closed through November 15th.
Conservation partners including SCDNR, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, conservation organizations, community members, and elected officials collaborated to save Crab Bank. In 2021, this joint effort was successful and the island was rebuilt using dredged material from the deepening of Charleston Harbor.
In the years following the restoration, American oystercatchers, black skimmers, least terns, and gull-billed terns were documented nesting on the island. This past July, SCDNR biologists counted 155 brown pelican nests, marking the first successful pelican nesting season on Crab Bank since its restoration.