Coastal Water Heroes, Turtle Travels

Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025

Good morning! We have kudos today from the Georgia Water Coalition for several coastal efforts to protect water. We then move along to the question of why cheaper, healthier renewable energy isn’t being adopted more quickly. Finally, we take a look at the recent travels of an old pal, a loggerhead sea turtle named Westie.

Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org

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NEWS: ENVIRONMENT

Local heroes

The Georgia Water Coalition has recognized 13 entities for their positive impacts on the state’s waterways, including two in Coastal Georgia, as The Current GA‘s Jasmine Wright reports. A citizen-led initiative in McIntosh County was recognized for ending the county’s practice of spraying herbicides to manage vegetation along its roadside rights of way. The effort is already producing results, including the re-appearance of pitcher plants like those shown above. Also lauded was an oyster hatchery on Skidaway Island that has been cultivating a comeback for oysters, which filter the water as they feed.

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ANALYSIS: ENVIRONMENT

Cheaper, healthier, but still facing roadblocks

Solar and wind power aren’t just better for the climate; they’re also less expensive today than fossil fuels at utility scale, and they’re less harmful to people’s health, as Jay Gulledge writes in The Conversation. So what’s the holdup? In the U.S., energy permitting requirements are slowing down adoption of renewables, with major energy projects taking an average of 4.5 years to permit, and approval of new transmission lines taking a decade or longer. In developing countries, financing is the hurdle. Renewable projects have a shorter track record, so present a greater risk to investors.

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Turtle travels

Westie the sea turtle was released from the Tybee Island Marine Science Center in September with a satellite tracker on her back. Since then, the center has posted weekly updates of the intrepid loggerhead’s travels every Wednesday on its Facebook page. Westie, who hatched on Ossabaw and lived at the science center for three years, didn’t stick around Georgia long after her release. In her first five days at sea, Westie swam north to Harbor Island, SC. Then it was on to North Carolina. Last week’s update showed Westie still swimming off the North Carolina coast, though she appears to be farther offshore in the Sargasso Sea, a perfect spot for a growing loggerhead.

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Also noted

• If International Paper sells the Savannah paper mill it just closed after nearly a century in operation, the site could generate interest from potential buyers in a range of industries. One such sector, shipbuilding, could create a new industry for the state of Georgia, reports Andy Peters in CoStar News.

• To mark the beginning of North Atlantic right whale calving season, the Tybee Island Marine Science Center will host a series of free events for Whale Week 2025, Dec. 1-6. Highlights include a festival at the science center, a screening of the documentary ‘Entangled’ at Savannah State University, Whale Trivia Night at Starland Yard, “Whales, Women, & Wine” panel, featuring some of the most brilliant minds in marine science, and “Lines & Strikes” art show as part of First Friday in Starland. Full schedule available here.

• The College of Coastal Georgia is hosting a Coastal Science Symposium featuring student posters and partner exhibits from 8:30 a.m. – noon Dec. 5 at the Stembler Theatre & Campus Center. Keynote speaker John Carroll of Georgia Southern University will share his experience in restoring and managing shellfish populations.

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