I often tell non-believers that I’ll take them to the Kiawah River on Johns Island, South Carolina and convert them.  God was on his A-game when he created this spit of land.  A different kind of people and a special part of nature blend together and live in synchronicity on this barrier island off the coast of Charleston.  It has been my privilege to call it home for more than 25 years and there’s a not a day that ends without me giving thanks, not only for the enduring beauty but also because almost everyday delivers a new delight.  Like the day I met Captain Chad Hayes.

I was introduced to Captain Chad at Briars Creek (a golf club on Johns Island that will take away your breath along with a sleeve of balls every time you play it) where he was preparing libations for members who were admiring a sunset from the back porch of the clubhouse.  As part of the introduction, my good friend, Gus Bright, was encouraging me to experience one of Capt Chad’s Dolphin Tours. Gus explained that Captain Chad had a special pod of dolphins that he had identified and named by the characteristics of their dorsal fins.  Bianca Jagged, Captain Hook, and Scratch to name a few. I smartly asked Capt Chad if he fancied himself a dolphin whisperer (trust me, we have horse whisperers and dog whisperers and cat whisperers on this island, so a dolphin whisperer could certainly set up shop here), but he made it clear it was more about clicking than whispering. He had my attention. So, for the next hour, Captain Chad entertained us with dolphin stories, and educated us about a feeding phenomenon known as strand feeding, found along a 100-mile stretch of coastal South Carolina and Georgia.

I was initially intrigued. The term strand feeding has its own aura on the coast. South Carolinians affectionately call Myrtle Beach and the surrounding area the Grand Strand. And, ironically, our bottlenose dolphins feed on their favorite prey, mullet, with a technique called strand feeding. 

Once a pod of dolphin locates a suitable school of fish, the game begins.  The feeding behavior is a highly calculated onslaught of intelligence accompanied with speed and agility.  The pod herds the unsuspecting fish toward an exposed bank along an inlet, most often at the latter stage of a falling tide.  Once they have maneuvered the school of fish out of the current, the dolphin begin to work up and down the bank in an orchestrated formation.  The formations vary from a wedge to a line to a semi-circle depending on the size of the school of fish and the flow of the tide. They work back and forth along the bank, corralling the school of fish.  This stage of the event sometimes lasts as long as an hour or more. Once the dolphins have the fish congregated as closely together as possible, they line up side-by-side and rush toward the bank with all their strength. This creates a wall of water that hits the bank with mullet flying three or four feet into the air then landing on the land. The buffet line is now open.

The dolphins are right behind, swimming completely up onto the beach, always on their right side (all dolphins are left brain dominant), and scooping up as many fish as they can. They may stay on the bank for a few seconds or a few minutes, depending on the amount of fish.  Pelicans and great blue herons often swoop in to steal a meal. It is both exhilarating and confusing to watch these beautiful mammals as they have their feast on the beach. After clearing the bank of fish, the dolphin slide or roll back into the water to coral again, since about 75 percent of their day is spent feeding.  The stranding technique is much more efficient that chasing a single fish for dinner and about five dolphins can easily strand 100 fish at a time. 
When Captain Chad first began studying dolphins in 1999, he was enamored with these social creatures. His frequent boat trips attracted a pod of dolphins that quickly became comfortable with approaching his boat. Because of the danger of approaching fast moving vessels, Captain Chad began using a clicker to notify the pod of his arrival. Very quickly, the dolphins would peak out of the water with their telescopic vision and swim to Capt Chad.  It was the beginning of a love story.

Like all love stories, there is conflict, and along this pristine slice of coastline, the villain is called development (see sidebar).  With the addition of coastal homes and the increase in pedestrian traffic along the beach, Captain Chad has already begun to see the dolphins alter their behavior.  

Captain Sam’s inlet is located on the western end of Kiawah Island and the Kiawah River.  It lies on the end of a strip of land Called Captain Sam’s Spit, an undeveloped and pristine stretch of dune ecosystem unrivaled on the east coast. Because of the east-west orientation of the island, this end of the river is very small and shallow, only holding about two feet of water at low tide. The channel of the inlet is narrow, providing a bottleneck for the river as it flows back and forth to the ocean with the changing tides.  The banks are sloped, creating the perfect platform for strand feeding. Since it is difficult to navigate, this area sees little boating activity. Lack of traffic combined with the height of the shoreline embankments equals a perfect area for strand feeding.
But Captain Sam’s Spit is one of the next areas slated for development on Kiawah Island. Since 2005, Captain Chad has documented a 47 percent decline in feeding activity at the inlet during peak times for strand feeding. The dolphins are quick to adapt to their environment and are beginning their move to different areas. Captain Chad fears that eventually they will change their behavior and abandon their method of strand feeding.  Should this happen, we have all lost.  In the meantime, Captain Chad is doing everything he can to educate all who will listen about the special feeding by these magnificent animals.

“Education leads to understanding, and understanding leads to respect.” -Captain Chad Hayes

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