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Education and Outreach

The Isle of Palms Public Dock Eco-education Project includes 14 interpretive signs along and around the dock. These displays celebrate local wildlife and ecosystems in the region’s tidal salt marsh wetlands and waterways. They include seven captivating “Salt Marsh Creature” signs that visitors can view as they walk between the dock and Islander 71 restaurant. 

Location and Hours

Located at the Isle of Palms Marina at 50 41st Ave., the Isle of Palms Public Dock sits along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and is open to the public from sunrise to sunset.

Sponsors

This eco-education project was paid for with City of Isle of Palms accommodations tax funds and support from these sponsors:

Sign Creation Team

Susan Hill Smith, a former Isle of Palms City Council member and communications professional, proposed and led the project as a volunteer in collaboration with City staff, the City’s Environmental Advisory Committee and Committee Chairwoman Laura Lovins. 

The City contracted local graphic designer Kaitlyn Hackathorn, who previously worked for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, to create the sign designs and illustrations. 

Hackathorn and the following local photographers provided images for the project: Cindy Branscome, Mic Smith, Matt Peacock and Erin Weeks/SCDNR. 

SCDNR provided the shorebirds graphic on the Sharing the Shore sign.

Expanding the Project's Reach

This web page provides downloads of the 14 sign designs. 

Owned by the City of Isle of Palms, these designs can be used unaltered for most non-profit information, school and general education purposes without securing permission from the City. However, the City must grant permission for the written content and/or designs to be reproduced in whole or in part in other interpretive sign installations.

Photos, illustrations and graphic designs should not be lifted from the provided images for any other uses without permission from the content creators. 

Our team frequently looked to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources for information about wildlife, ecosystems and conservation guidelines.

 

  • Barrier Island Eco Tours also provided their expertise in local coastal wildlife and helped select the featured species.
  • Island Turtle Team leader and conservationist Mary Pringle advised on content related to turtles, dolphins and manatees.

Books

  • Life Along the Inner Coast - A Naturalist’s Guide to the Sounds, Inlets, Rivers, and Intracoastal Waterway from Norfolk to Key West, Robert L. Lippson and Alice Jane Lippson, The University of North Carolina Press, 2009
  • National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of the United States and Canada East (Second Edition), Ted Floyd, Washington DC, 2025
  • Tideland Treasure - The Naturalist’s Guide to the Beach and Salt Marshes of Hilton Head Island the Southeastern Coast (Revised Edition) Todd Balantine (text and illustrations) University of South Carolina Press, 1991.

Online Sites