Beaufort News

Port Royal Sound Maritime Center offically opens

By ERIN MOODY - emoody@beaufortgazette.com
Jan Spoerri, of Jan Spoerri & CO., left, and Roby Braun, of Alpha Verus Ltd, right, carry a fiberglass tiger shark to the end of the dock to dry in the sun after being painted by Braun for the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center on Oct. 30, 2014.
Jan Spoerri, of Jan Spoerri & CO., left, and Roby Braun, of Alpha Verus Ltd, right, carry a fiberglass tiger shark to the end of the dock to dry in the sun after being painted by Braun for the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center on Oct. 30, 2014. Staff photo

The Port Royal Sound Foundation's Maritime Center doesn't officially open until Saturday, but that hasn't stopped people -- or wildlife -- from stopping by for a peek.

On Thursday afternoon, that included an egret that wandered around the front door before checking out the back dock where a tiger shark model was getting final touch-up of paint.

"We want to be that kind of place where we are bringing everyone together and helping them build an appreciation for the water," foundation director Jody Hayward said.

The $2 million center has been about three years in the making. Funding has come mostly from contributions and in-kind donations, as well as local accommodation tax grants.

The center, which is in the former Lemon Island Marina, has been drastically remodeled to include a main exhibit room, as well as rooms for rotating exhibits, "touch tanks" with live animals and an oyster/ecology room.

Models of Carolina Snowball, the albino dolphin of Beaufort County, and Sonny Boy, her son, hang in the entryway.

Hayward, gesturing out the window toward the Chechessee River, said her favorite exhibit is Port Royal Sound itself.

"We want to protect it, but we want you to enjoy it. We want people to learn how to throw a cast net or the best time to catch cobia or what size red drum (fish) you can keep," she said.

The Maritime Center and its exhibits are intended to tie the history and ecology of the sound with the ever-present tides that have shaped both, said Jan Spoerri, president of Jan Spoerri & Co., which is working with the foundation to set up the exhibits.

"The tide is what ties everything together," he said.

The Maritime Center has exhibits ranging from nature and historical photos, to models of aquatic animals, to tanks with live animals.

During your visit:

  • Note the position of the manta ray hanging from the ceiling in the predator ceiling diorama. The ray rotates ever so slowly as the tide comes and in and out of Port Royal Sound.
  • Look for the pea crab tucked inside a 2 1/2-foot-tall model of an oyster that can be opened to show what the inside of an oyster looks like.
  • Observe the large, silver numbers on the wall and the Port Royal Sound map underneath, which has similar numbers. The numbers represent depths throughout the sound. Try to find that set of numbers on the map.
  • Listen to an audio recording of a red drum fish, then watch the live fish swim in the 3,000-gallon tank inside the center. (A clue: the fish is named for the drumming noise it makes.)
  • Read the alligator-themed poem written and designed by Katie Hanley, then a seventh-grader at Bluffton Middle School, as part of the "River of Words" program to teach students about nature. The words are twisted into the shape of an alligator.
  • Watch for dolphins swimming in the Chechessee River from the deck and dock on the back of the renovated former marina and fishing building.

    • The center is accessible by both car and boat.

    Follow reporter Erin Moody at twitter.com/IPBG_Erin.

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    This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 8:47 PM with the headline "Port Royal Sound Maritime Center offically opens ."

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