Shired Island Field Trip

Photos from the trip

Shired Island is a small island on the Gulf of Mexico, in the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. The approach to the island is through a large area of salt marsh.  This stretch of undeveloped coastline remains much as it has been for thousands of years.  This area is a valuable for protecting the coast from storms and is a nursery for marine life.  

The tide lines on the beach will be clearly visible, although we will be there at about high tide, so the beach width will be reduced.

One of the main features of this island is an ancient shell midden.  The early inhabitants of the area used shellfish, including clams and oysters, as a source of food and tools.  They discarded shells on the beach and the shells have accumulated from almost 3,000 years of habitation.  Today we can still see the mound of shells on the beach.  This area is a protected archeological site and nothing, including shells, may be legally removed.  The one obvious exception is trash which should be removed to preserve the primitive nature of the area and keep the environment clean.  Shell collecting is permitted outside of the protected area.

Shired Island can be viewed on Google Earth at N 29.398645, W 83.204819