13

Highway 17 Bridge Over The Satilla River (Camden County, GA)

Boaters on the Satilla River, Camden County, Georgia – photograph by Mike McCall (of Mike McCall Photography). Image posted with permission of the photographer.

Please check out more of Mike McCall’s photographs at Lightmotif, on Facebook and on Flickr – as well as his Q&A with US 17 Coastal Highway.

From the Satilla Riverkeeper:

The Satilla River basin lies in southeastern Georgia, draining nearly 4,000 square miles of upper and lower coastal plain habitat. It is a “blackwater” system, heavily laden with tannins and other natural leachates, lending a clear, “iced tea” color to the waters, contrasting beautifully and markedly to the numerous “sugar-sand” bars along its reaches. Numerous plants, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, many common, but among them rare, threatened, and endangered species, inhabit its waters, floodplain, tributary systems, and isolated upland wetlands. Historically, the river was part of a huge transportation and subsistence network for the expansive Creek Indian Nation, and its mosaic of habitats remains an important ecological link between the systems whose headwaters are the Okefenokee Swamp, to the south and west, the mighty Altamaha system to the north, and the estuaries of Georgia’s Golden Isles to the east. Also in the past, important industries centered on timber, naval stores, and commercial fisheries flourished in the Satilla basin. Today, (primarily pulp) timber, extensive row-crop agriculture, and light manufacturing are important economic engines. The landscape and river itself are enjoyed year-round for fishing, hunting, canoeing/kayaking, and other forms of nature-based recreation. The river produces exciting largemouth bass fishing, a world-class redbreast sunfish fishery, and, in its estuary, phenomenal speckled sea trout, red drum, tarpon, shark, and flounder fishing. The Satilla/St. Andrews Sound estuary is furthermore an important pillar of penaeid shrimp (brown and white) and blue crab production, harvested commercially and recreationally.