Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025
Good morning! First up today, the story of how whale rescuers struggled in choppy, rolling seas last week to save the life from a juvenile right whale. Then we turn to how oysters are teaching students about their coastal home. Finally, we bring you an update on the rezoning of Sapelo Island’s Hogg Hummock.
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NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Whale of a tale
Setting out in a boat much smaller than the animal they were determined to rescue, Georgia wildlife biologists last week began a grueling two-day effort to free a 4-year-old right whale entangled in fishing gear, as The Current GA‘s Mary Landers reports. Nicknamed “Division,” the juvenile whale is one of fewer than 400 of the highly endangered whales remaining. Borrowing whalers’ techniques and receiving instructions from colleagues flying in small planes above, the rescuers approached and retreated repeatedly from the increasingly agitated 20-ton whale. They managed to remove more than 300 feet of rope, some of it embedded in Division’s flesh. Their immediate reward: learning that a previously disentangled whale was spotted that same day just up the coast with her first calf.
FEATURE: ENVIRONMENT
No place like home
A new non-profit uses oysters to instill a sense of place in Coastal Georgia schoolchildren, as The Current GA‘s Mary Landers reports. Co-founded by Laura Solomon, who with her husband owns the first floating oyster farm in Georgia, ECO teaches with field trips, hands-on data collection, and classroom exercises that connect to oysters. The program helps students, including some seventh-graders from Garrison School for the Arts who had never seen the marsh up close before, to see themselves as part of this living system.
NEWS: COMMUNITY
Sapelo mediation progresses
Last month a judge paused the litigation surrounding the controversial zoning of Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island to allow the parties to reach a settlement out of court.
In an update provided to the court Monday, the opposing parties indicated private, in-person mediation session were scheduled for Dec. 8 and 9 to resolve all pending issues in this matter. If they don’t resolve the issues, they’ll file a follow-up joint status report by Jan. 8, 2026.
The rezoning, passed in September 2023 but currently suspended, would allow larger houses to be built in the traditionally Gullah-Geechee enclave, thus increasing the rural county’s tax base. Longtime residents feared the resulting gentrification would drive them out of their homes and sweep in wealthy developers. A referendum on the issue has been rescheduled for Jan. 20, 2026, after the Georgia Supreme Court quashed the county’s challenge to its citizens’ vote. Attorneys for the referendum-backers are also involved in the mediation and it remains to be seen if the need for the January vote will be negated by the resulting settlement.
Also noted
Check out the winners of the 2025 Ogeechee Riverkeeper photo contest here. The contest celebrates the beauty, majesty and even the humor — like the smiling frog above — in the 5,500 square mile watershed.
The National Science Foundation recently renewed a $7.5 million grant for a long-term ecological research project run by the University of Georgia Marine Institute on Sapelo Island, the university reports. The next phase of the program will continue to focus on the impact of ecological disturbances — like hurricanes and freezes — on coastal salt marshes and estuaries, said Merryl Alber, director of the marine institute and a professor of marine sciences. “It’s not just about averages anymore. Extremes matter, and we’re learning how those extremes shape the resilience of our marshes.”
More North Atlantic right whale news: For seemingly the first time, a right whale initially spotted in European waters has been documented near North America, Boston.com reports.
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In two-day effort at sea, team partially frees whale of fishing gear off Georgia coast
A team from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources disentangled a four-year-old male North Atlantic right whale, nicknamed Division, from commercial fishing gear after two days of exhausting and dangerous work.
Two newborn right whales spotted as calving season begins
Two newborn North Atlantic right whales have been spotted in the Southeast, one born to a mother whale named Champagne and the other to a mother whale nicknamed Millipede, both of whom are part of an endangered species with a population estimated at 384 individuals.
Georgia’s first floating oyster farm engages students with coast
Laura Solomon co-founded ECO, a nonprofit that uses oysters to teach Coastal Georgia students about environmental stewardship and to instill in them a sense of place.
Glynn County sheriff taps son as undersheriff with $120K salary
Sheriff Emmett “Neal” Jump of Glynn County, Georgia, has appointed his son, Robbie Jump undersheriff with a base salary of approximately $120,000 — more than some comparable counties are willing to offer the most highly-credentialed candidates.
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