Posted on October 25, 2021
Fins surfaced in the tidal creek, drawing Matt Wright’s attention away from the boat in the growing dusk.
The 48-year-old Illinois resident was on his first tour of a salt marsh when dolphins appeared around the vessel, gently swimming through the estuary as shadows advanced across the tideland.
Brilliant green spartina grass stood in the marsh mud, contrasting sharply with the dark water. The red-orange sun sank lower on the horizon, refracting light through the tall grass.
It’s a peaceful image Wright still can’t get out of his head, months after seeing the spectacular landscape that day in June.
“People think that if you are looking for really beautiful scenery, you’ve got to go to the Rockies,’’ Wright said. “But being out there in the creek and having the sunset cruise with all the scenery — and all the wildlife, was a very memorable experience.’’
Salt marshes like the one Wright visited are segments of the Carolinas and Georgia that many people find hard to forget. The briny wetlands provide food and shelter to marine life, fuel local economies, draw recreational anglers and commercial oystermen, and provide scenery that distinguishes them as unparalleled in the eastern United States.
But these expanses of grass, which cover 1 million acres from the Outer Banks to north Florida, face danger from the earth’s changing climate and rising seas. Higher ocean levels threaten to erode marsh banks and kill tidal grasses.
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