Summer offers a special delivery to local waters

With a sweltering weekend in store, summer conditions are becoming entrenched in coastal waters along the Grand Strand as the ocean water temperature has topped 80 degrees with no turning back until autumn.

As summer arrives, so do notable warm-season visitors from the south – one protected mammal and one sport fish. These are marine visitors that need protection and respect from local fishermen, boaters and residents.

Tarpon and manatees annually migrate up the coast of the Southeastern U.S. from Florida in late spring before heading back home typically sometime in September when the water begins cooling down again.

Manatees

One of the most amazing spectacles I’ve witnessed in a marine environment along the Grand Strand came in August 2011, when a manatee rode a high tide into the backwaters of Murrells Inlet in Garden City Beach, through a culvert pipe and into a deep-water area near my family’s home.

In almost 50 years of observing the area, it was the first time a manatee had been spotted this far back into the inlet. A crowd gathered and S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR)officers arrived to make sure the manatee was safe.

On another high tide, the manatee swam back through the pipe and made its way safely back into the inlet’s main body of water.

There are an estimated 3,000 manatees in United States waters and they are protected as an endangered species by federal and state laws.

If a manatee is found hanging around a location in an estuary, the public is urged to not feed or water it.

“Feeding and watering manatees is illegal and encourages the mammals to spend time at docks and marinas, making them susceptible to boat strikes, which is one of the main causes of mortality for manatees,” said S.C. DNR veterinarian Al Segars.

Collisions between boaters and manatees are more likely to occur in shallow waters particularly around docks and at the edge of marshes where the mammals feed. Following boater safety regulations and observing no-wake zones can reduce the chances of a collision with a manatee.

The public can submit sightings and photographs of live manatees online at www.dnr.sc.gov/manatee/ sight.htm. The date, time, location, coordinates and number of manatees seen should be reported if possible.

Tarpon

Tarpon are nicknamed the Silver King and rightly so – they are the king of sportfish with the frantic, acrobatic and powerful fight they put on when hooked.

Tarpon move up in the Atlantic Ocean, and every summer a few pier fishermen are thrilled when one takes a live bait intended for king mackerel.

Tarpon also spread out into the larger estuaries from Winyah Bay and south, where they are targeted and caught by anglers. Ocean passes, including the jetties at Winyah Bay, are promising spots to have a tarpon encounter.

It is legal to harvest – or kill – a tarpon, as South Carolina saltwater anglers are allowed one tarpon per day. In 2013, South Carolina instituted a 77-inch minimum size limit on tarpon intended to help limit the number of tarpon killed.

Tarpon have no real food value and there is no logical reason to kill one. Anglers wanting a replica of their memorable catch should get a length and girth measurement of the fish and a taxidermist can make a mount from those measurements.

Then carefully release your tarpon, letting water run over its gills to revive it, enabling it to live to thrill another angler another day.

S.C. Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series

The boat Anticipation released six sailfish to accumulate 1,200 release points and win the Bohicket Marina Invitational Billfish Tournament last weekend.

Syked Out released three sailfish for 600 points to finish second. Voodoo Child was third with one white marlin and one sailfish released good for 500 points.

Home Run landed the largest dolphin, a 49.5-pounder, Sportin' Life weighed in the largest tuna, a 15.7-pounder and Caramba boated the largest wahoo, a 22.2-pounder.

The field of 19 boats released a total of 20 sailfish and two white marlin. No blue marlin were released or landed.

The fourth event in the five-event series is the MegaDock Billfishing Tournament, set for June 29-July 2 at Charleston City Marina.

Tagged Cobia

S.C. DNR and Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission biologists are surgically implanting up to 150 cobia with acoustic transmitters.

These fish will also be tagged with two traditional, plastic dart tags (one orange and one yellow) that anchor into the muscle next to the dorsal fin. The yellow dart tag bears the message “Internal Transmitter – Please Release,” and both tags are labeled with numbers that identify the fish and contact information for DNR’s game fish tagging hotline.

The project will provide information on the migratory patterns of cobia in the South Atlantic, which is important data to fisheries managers.

Anglers catching one of the tagged cobia are urged to not harvest the fish but use a net or lip-gripping tool to land the fish and record the numbers on each tag. Then call the S.C. DNR tagging hotline at (843) 953-9363. Anglers reporting tags will receive a T-shirt.

Gator Deadline

The deadline to apply for South Carolina’s 2016 public alligator hunting and special WMA season is June 15.

Applications are accepted online at www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/alligator/index.html. For more information, visit www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/alligator/index.html.

Jolly Mon King Classic

The tournament will be held out of Ocean Isle Fishing Center in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., June 17-19. Boats can fish one of two days, either June 18 or June 19.

Call (910) 575-3474 for more information.

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 10:50 PM with the headline "Summer offers a special delivery to local waters."