BLESS THIS FLEET

A longtime tradition will unfold along the banks of the Cooper River in the coastal South Carolina town of Mount Pleasant this Sunday. And, I plan to be there among the crowd of thousands enjoying an afternoon of shagging (South Carolina’s official state dance) to beach music, admiring local artisan work, and enjoying shrimp eating contests. But the highlight, the heart of this festival, is blessing the local shrimping fleet.

Together we will bow our heads as a local minister makes a public prayer for each freshly painted shrimp boat chugging by on the river. I’m sure that I won’t be the only one in the crowd whispering my own personal prayer for this year’s season to be a bountiful one for our local shrimping families, where every boat trip ends with a safe return to the docks and full nets dripping with plump, wild-caught shrimp.

While the Annual Blessing of the Fleet has swelled in popularity over the last 23 years, the coastal business it celebrates has experienced just the opposite. The Shem Creek boat docks in Mount Pleasant, once boomed with shrimp boats, busily unloading their day’s haul. But today, the number of people in the shrimping business has dwindled so low that this type of lifestyle is threatened. Competition from overseas farm-raised shrimp has been the biggest threat, but the price of diesel fuel to keep the vessels trawling has skyrocketed. So, many of them have left the business in search of land jobs that provide a steady paycheck for their families.

A shrimper’s life is far from a fairytale. However, they will be treated like kings of the waterway this Sunday! With more than 10,000 people attending the annual event, the Blessing of the Fleet has outgrown its usual backyard location of Alhambra Hall and will be held this year at the newly built Memorial Waterfront Park at the foot of the Ravenel Bridge.

On Sunday, when we stand together waving and smiling at our diminishing fleet of shrimp boats, my prayer for them will be that the tide changes in the shrimpers favor. May their nets not only overflow with succulent shrimp, but may they also receive a fair price for their catch. May the tens of thousands of seafood lovers in this coastal community and every city across the country ask for wild, American caught shrimp. May they make their demands known to their local grocers and restaurants.

See you at the Annual Blessing of the Fleet on Sunday, April 25th at Mt. Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park!

SEASON OF "ORPHANS"

Guest Blogger:  Mary Pringle, volunteer at the Center for Birds of Prey Medical Clinic

If you've read Mary Alice's novel Skyward, then you're familiar with what happens at our medical clinic and of all the interesting and beautiful birds of prey that we are privileged to treat and sometimes release. Mary Alice and I have released birds together, even Great Horned Owls as well as my personal favorite, the ospreys who are now beginning to nest in our neighborhood here on the Isle of Palms, SC.

This is the season for bird "orphans." Among the first to be seen are Great Horned Owls who nest during the last part of the winter. In early spring their young are starting to leave the nests and explore the tree branches around them. Very often they land on the ground but are not injured. What to do if you find one? If it is old enough to have its feathers, the best thing is to try to get the little owl back up into the tree where it belongs even if you can't get it into the nest. It's best to wear heavy work gloves because even at a young age their talons are very sharp. By taking it to a vet or bird rehabber, you may be ruining its chances of being raised by and trained to hunt by its own parents. Most often the parents will continue to feed and care for it in an alternate spot nearby. However, if it is injured, it should be taken to a medical facility for treatment. This applies to other kinds of birds as well. Sometimes they too can be put back into the nest or into the tree where the nest is. The myth about the parents abandoning it because someone has touched it is definitely not true.

Here in South Carolina we are fortunate to have The Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw where injured raptors can be taken to the first-rate medical clinic for treatment and release. If you live elsewhere, you can usually call a veterinary facility to find out if there is such a facility nearby. The Center for Birds of Prey begins to see these very young birds in March.

Recently two Great Horned Owl chick siblings were admitted to our center from the Lexington, SC area. One has a broken leg which has been set and is healing and the other a fractured pelvis - which has already healed. Great care is taken to avoid having them imprint on humans during their care so that they can be released into the wild.

Happy spring to all.