Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - 32

Under the sea

Black sea bass hover over the reef at Gray's Reef.
BY SARAH RUSSELL

M

'What our divers find is that sharks
don't want to eat us any more than you
want to eat them.'

32

More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

© 2010 DR. MATTHEW GILLIGAN /
CREATIVE COMMONS / FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/51647007@N08/5029461467

other Nature gave Georgia its own underwater park. The result is a unique marine area composed of multiple
Located off the coast between Savannah and Bruns- types of bottoms: flat sand, rippled sand and "live botwick, Gray's Reef is a 22-square-mile area designated tom." The latter is called that because there are a multias a national marine sanctuary. The ocean's equivalent of tude of marine residents living on the bottom.
a national park, it is federally protected for current and
Lying 65 feet below, the reef is not visible from the
future generations.
surface.
On his first trip to Gray's Reef, it quickly became clear
"If you're boating, you can boat right through Gray's
to Daniel Gleason why it has received national and inter- Reef and you won't necessarily know you are there if you
national recognition.
aren't looking at your GPS," says Michelle Riley, commu"What I was impressed with was the incredible di- nications and public outreach coordinator at Gray's Reef.
versity of organisms that are on the bottom ... a lot of
With the exception of a designated research area,
sponges, several species of corals, lots of sea squirts," Gray's Reef is open to the public year-round for recresays Gleason, director of the James H. Oliver Jr. Institute ational boating, fishing and diving. The sanctuary does
for Coastal Plain Science at
permit recreational fishers to
Georgia Southern University in
keep their catches, but you are
Statesboro. "The other thing I
not allowed to take other manoticed is that the fish popularine species home. Grab your
tions are very good. There are
fishing gear-rod and reel,
a lot of different species, abunhand line allowed-because
dant and large. These are just
what's there is tournament-Michelle Riley, communications and
things that you don't see often
level. Caught in 2004, Georpublic outreach coordinator at Gray's Reef
these days."
gia's current title-holding king
This diversity of species
mackerel was a former resident
is because of the Gray's Reef
of Gray's Reef. There are about
habitat, which is literally one
200 fish species there-some
of a kind. From 2 million to
permanent, others seasonal.
10,000 years ago, Gray's Reef
"Everything is there," says
was "customized" by nature.
Judy Helmey, a record-breakSometimes the reef was undering angler and operator of
water. Other times it was dry
Savannah-based Miss Judy
Nurse shark
land with shifting coastlines.
Charters, a fleet that fishes inGEORGIA MAGAZINE

GREG MCFALL / NOAA

Gray's Reef offers a look at colorful, varied species


http://flickr.com/photos/51647007@N08/5029461467 http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - May 2018

Contents
Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - Intro
Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - Cover1
Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - Cover2
Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - 3
Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - Contents
Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - 5
Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - 6
Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - 7
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Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - Cover3
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