Boaters heading to the waters around Orange Beach this summer are being urged to slow down and avoid sensitive habitat areas as part of a new safe boating campaign tied to the restoration of the Lower Perdido Islands.

The campaign, called Don’t Rock the Roost, aims to educate visitors about no wake and no motor zones surrounding Robinson and Walker islands following a major restoration project completed last fall.

Katherine Baltzer, coastal projects manager for The Nature Conservancy, said the islands are both environmentally important and heavily used by the public.

“The Perdido Islands are kind of a unique habitat in an area that’s pretty heavily developed,” Baltzer said. “There’s a lot of seagrass beds in the area, there’s a lot of really great upland habitat that birds like to nest and roost and forage on, and also it’s just absolutely gorgeous.”

The restoration rebuilt about 27 acres of barrier island habitat using more than 216,000 cubic yards of sediment. More than 200,000 native plants were installed to stabilize the shoreline and improve habitat for migratory birds and wildlife.

“They actually had seen quite a bit of erosion from boat wakes and also some damage from tropical storms, hurricanes and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” Baltzer said.

Officials said the campaign is focused on raising awareness about existing protected zones around the islands, particularly as boating traffic increases during the summer.

“There are no official changes to the no wake and no motor zones,” Baltzer said. “We’re trying to raise awareness to the existing zones because there are a lot of people that are just unfamiliar with the area, and they blast through those no wake zones or the no motor zones.”

Baltzer said entering protected seagrass areas can cause long-term environmental damage.

“When you go into those no motor zones, in particular, you’re going to leave prop scars, you’re going to impact the seagrass beds, and it takes them a while to recover from that,” she said.

The City of Orange Beach and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency will enforce the protected areas, which also include locations where people and pets are prohibited.

Baltzer said the project is already showing positive environmental results.

“One of the really exciting things that we just found out about is there are quite a few least tern nests on the islands, on the new islands,” Baltzer said. “There’s also an osprey nesting on the ground.”

She also said new seagrass growth is expanding behind the restored islands because the project created calmer water conditions.

“We’ve created a sheltering effect, and with that sheltering effect, the seagrass can expand a little bit better,” Baltzer said.

Officials estimate more than 500 boats visit the islands daily during peak boating season. Project organizers said tourism connected to the Lower Perdido Islands and surrounding area generates about $6.7 billion annually and supports more than 55,000 jobs.

“I just really want people to understand that there’s a lot of partners on this that have invested time and money and energy, and we want to make sure that these areas stick around for the future,” Baltzer said. 

Gabriella Chavez is a Report for America corps member who writes about growth and development in Baldwin County and our natural spaces for Gulf Coast Media. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://tinyurl.com/yaf8yf5n.