The islands that make up Gulf Islands National Seashore are made of quartz sand eroded and washed down rivers from the Appalachian mountains. A sand dune today was perhaps once, thousands of years ago, a mountain top near the Georgia-South Carolina border.

Swept into the Gulf of Mexico, powerful currents pushed the quartz sand westward. Currents gradually built long, thin ridges of sediment on the shallow sea floor. Sand continued to deposit, the ridges grew higher and eventually islands created.

Birds, wind or even waves, dropped seeds on the sand. Despite storms, they sprouted and took root. Initially sea oats and other salt-tolerant vegetation, these plants capture more sand to help further stabilize the island.

In time, animals find food, water, and shelter. Inland ponds and salt marsh become nurseries as young fish, shrimp and crabs are swept through inlets by rising tides. Large fish chase these smaller creatures into shallow waters as prey. Insects find refuge from breezes behind young saplings. Birds swoop down and decide to stay for awhile.

Mammals, refugees from a mainland flood, washed ashore after grasping and crawling aboard floating debris. Despite hurricanes and other threats, a delicate balance of life survives on a coastal barrier island.

Amazing varieties of plants and animals exist here despite heat, cold, drought and deluge. Behind beaches are patchworks of dunes, lagoons, salt marsh and pine forest. Inches in elevation reveal entirely new plant communities.

Life is most abundant where land meets sea. Buried beneath sandy beaches, ghost crabs, sea worms, sand fleas, shrimp and minnows become food for larger marine animals, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Offshore waters teem with squid, shrimp, mullet, silversides, jellyfish, horseshoe crabs, and more.

Reptiles are common here. Alligators bask alongside ponds and lagoons. Lizards, snakes, turtles and frogs crawl or slither among dunes, grass and forest floor. Huge rare sea turtles crawl ashore to lay eggs in sandy depressions. Near exhaustion, they crawl seaward to return, maybe, next year.

The most easily seen species are birds. Over 250 types, including skimmers, plovers and terns, find the islands ideal for nesting or migratory rest-stops. Sanderlings stop to feed during an 8000-mile trip between the Arctic and South America.

Osprey, pelicans and bald eagles fly here again. Decades ago, fish-eating birds were devastated. Banning pesticides, plus preserving these islands for habitat, aided in their return.

Life is harsh. Hurricanes can destroy an island leaving behind waves, shoals and ruin. Despite natural disaster, life returns again in time and variety. Existence can continue, but it is tenuous and dependent on nature's whim and human precaution.