In environmental circles, there's a certain unspoken reluctance to talk too openly about how important our coast is as a sea turtle nesting area.
While everyone is justly proud of the role of Georgia's barrier islands as spawning grounds for these wonderful creatures, there's a sense that spreading the good news too far and wide might spell trouble for the reptiles, considering how extraordinarily fragile their nesting process is - and how extraordinarily destructive humans can often (usually?) be.
We discussed the sensitivity of the topic when planning this week's issue featuring Bill DeYoung's special report on the secret life of the loggerhead. While sharing a desire to keep the lives of these magnificent creatures as stress-free as possible, in the end we decided that the situation was better served by more education and information, not less.
While Bill's feature this week might seem out of character for those who know him better as our Arts & Entertainment Editor, anyone who knows Bill well also knows his fondness for turtles and his devotion to learning more about them.
A couple of corrections from my story last week on Preservation Week: Apparently the tuition of the American College of Building is closer to $19,000 a year, not $23,000. And "BDU" of course refers to a type of military uniform - the proper acronym in this case is obviously "BTU" for British Thermal Unit.
Next week: Our special annual "Best of Savannah" issue!
