I learned at an early age that barrier islands change shape and move with the currents. My impression was that subtle changes took place over decades.
In 2006 to see the ship wreck (a sunken shrimp boat) up close we had to go at low tide. At high tide tide the wreck was in 5′ or more of ocean. Now at the maximum February high tide of 7.5′ the ocean does not reach the wreck. Going back over our pictures taken during our Jekyll Island visits I found an interesting way to visualize how much sand had filled on the island’s south end as the island’s north end disappears and sand fills in on the south end.
11/15/2006 Low tide .
Spreader is '2 Ruths high' that's about 10' 10".
11/21/2006 High tide. Wreck is in about 5' of water.
2008 Not much change.
8/11/2008 Linda, Ruth and Don check wreck. Steve photo.
2010 The mast spreader has disappeared.
11/25/2010 High tide. Wreck is in about 5' of water.
2012 Leaning structure has disappeared completely and sand has filled in.
1/3/12012 Sand has lifted Ruth so her head is just below where the spreaders had been.
2/08/2012 High tide for the month 7.7' doesn't quite cove the wreck area.
In a few years storms and corrosion will erase the last visible marker of the wreck and eliminate my convenient landmark for measuring the changes at the south end of the island.
To see photos of the north end of the island disappearing click on: Jekyll Moving South 2
