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A Bluffton fish hatchery is at the forefront of an experimental statewide fish stocking plan to restore wild southern flounder, a popular sport fish with a peculiar look and life history whose numbers have seen marked declines over the past 30 years in South Carolina.

Last Friday, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Conservation released 10,000 juvenile flounder in Murrells Inlet south of Myrtle Beach. It was the first time hatchery-reared southern flounder were released in South Carolina.

The fish are the product of sperm and eggs of wild brood stock pulled from local waters. But they were raised indoors, at SCDNR’s 1,200-acre Waddell Mariculture Center on the Colleton River in Bluffton.

Five years of development came before the first hatchery-reared fish were released this spring.

“A part of it is taking the pressure off the wild population -- there’s just more fish to catch and to harvest,” SCDNR biologist Erin Levesque, the manager at Waddell Mariculture Center, said of the groundbreaking flounder stocking program. “But for really long-term sustainability, we have hope some fish make it to adulthood and start spawning with other wild members.”

Some of the 45-day-old translucent buggers, less than an inch long at the time of their freedom, may grow to be the size of door mats, as some flounder are known to do.

Waddell, one of the country’s largest and most sophisticated facilities for mariculture research, and the Marine Resource Research Institute in Charleston, both part of the SCDNR, are sharing the burden of raising flounder being stocked in wild waters for the first time to bolster the flagging wild population.

Flounder population and sizes decline

Regional and South Carolina assessments of the fish that swims sideways found that flounder numbers along the southeastern Atlantic coast were at record lows. Average sizes had declined by more than an inch in 10 years.

“It’s been stable -- at a low rate -- for a couple of decades,” said Tanya Darden, director of the SCDNR’s Marine Resources Research Institute.

Stocking estuaries with hatchery-raised fish isn’t the only approach being used to help restore the population.

In 2021, state lawmakers, at the urging of SCDNR fisheries biologists, cut the harvest to five per person and increased the minimum size of “keeper” to 16 inches (it had been 15). At the same time, a $5 saltwater fishing license fee increase was approved to fund the stocking program. SCDNR issues about 117,000 saltwater licenses a year.

A cautious approach

Time and more research will tell if the stocking is successful. In about 2 years, the tiny flounder released last week will be big enough to catch. Figuring out the best time to release the hatchery-raised fish, and at what life stage, are critical aspects of the first few years of the experimental program, Darden says.

“We want them to look, act and behave just like wild fish,” Darden said.

The fry fed on zooplankton, just like they do in the wild. The strategy was intentional and meant to cue them into live prey after they are released, said Levesque.

SCDNR is taking a cautious approach until researchers learn more about the adaptation of hatchery-raised fish, Darden said. The initial releases will be small, totaling about 60,000.

“We don’t want to swamp the wild population,” Darden said.

Friday marked the first public release of juvenile flounder, but SCDNR officials in boats tipped bucketfuls of the tiny critters into Murrells Inlet in February. A third Murrells inlet release is planned in April as well. Levesque says she’s heard criticism that fish should be released in varying locations, but the “repeatability” of using a single spot provides advantages that are critical in the research.

Results will be of high interest to anglers as flounder are the third most popular South Carolina saltwater sport fish, behind red drum and spotted sea bass, according to SCDNR. The minimum size of a keeper is 16 inches but those that grow longer than 24 are sometimes called door mats because they are so big and flat.

“They are ambush predators,” Levesque says of flounder, which eat shrimp and small fish.

Before striking, they lurk on the bottom, with their two left-side eyes fixed upward. To camouflage themselves, they use their fins to flip sediment on themselves.

A favorite way of anglers to ambush the fish is night gigging, which involves illuminating shallow waters with light and sticking them with a spear.

Radical eye migration

The species’ life history is as fascinating as its popularity.

Extremely sensitive to environmental changes, flounder are susceptible to high mortality. The reason is a complex metamorphosis that begins when they are just days old. When flounder hatch out, their eyes are located on both sides and they swim upright. But after 20 days, the right eye migrates, and they begin swimming on sideways so both left eyes look toward the surface.

Minimizing the changes that can threaten the fish as they are developing is one of the challenges for the SCDNR biologists charged with raising the flounder. Each time, juveniles are released in different life stages. For example, some are 20 days old or “pre-metamorphis,” or before their right eye migrates to the left side. Others will be 45 days old, such as those released last week.

They will be recaptured in 18 months to two years and identified by their genetics.

“If we can show we’re making a contribution, I think the program will continue,” Levesque said. “It will take years to answer these questions because we need these fish to reach adulthood.”

BLUFFTON, S.C. — The Bluffton community is rallying around one of its own after a crash late last week left Kiernan Hughes seriously injured.

Hughes, a Bluffton native known for epoxy floor coating work across the Lowcountry, was hurt in a crash Thursday while traveling home from a job in the Charleston area, according to his family.

He was taken from the scene to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, where he remains hospitalized.

A brother’s search for answers

Hughes’ brother, Evan Ventrice, said he realized something was wrong when Kiernan didn’t appear to be moving on his route home.

After about an hour of checking the location, Ventrice said he then began driving toward the area and contacted Colleton County non-emergency dispatch, then received a call confirming Hughes was being rushed to MUSC.

Serious injuries and a long road ahead

Doctors have been most concerned about Hughes’ brain, Ventrice said.

Hughes suffered significant injuries across his body and, in an effort to protect his brain, Ventrice said doctors amputated Hughes’ left arm.

“If that’s the price to pay for him to recover to a full person — as far as normal function, cognitive, memories, loving, laughing, and ‘normal life’ — that’s what it’ll be,” Ventrice said.

Ventrice said Hughes has been in a coma, but doctors have indicated he may be able to wake up in the coming days.

“He’s a warrior, he’s a fighter, and he’s someone that when he puts his mind to something, he doesn’t give up regardless of anyone that says anything otherwise,” Ventrice said.

Community support: donations and silent auction

As Hughes continues to recover, friends and family have organized fundraising efforts to help with medical bills and other expenses.

“When this happened, we just knew we had to step in, knowing that regardless of any insurance that may kick in, you’ve still got bills outside of anything else,” family friend Shannon Loper said.

Organizers say donations are being collected through GoFundMe and Venmo.

A silent auction is also planned for Friday night from 5:30 p.m.- 8 p.m., with more than $20,000 worth of items expected to be available.

“This family needs us, and we want to make sure this family knows that they are covered in love,” Loper said.

Loper, who is helping organize the silent auction, said the community response has been immediate.

“I knew all it was going to take was a few phone calls, a couple of flyers, a couple of shares on Facebook, and the Bluffton/Hilton Head community was going to come together, and that’s exactly what they have done,” Loper said.

Event details

Organizers say the silent auction for Hughes will take place at the Bluffton Oyster Factory during the monthly Sunset Party, which is hosted by a local group.

Whatever is not sold during the silent auction will be posted online for people to bid on.

At the event, there will also be a cash jar for donations and raffles that people can enter.

Beaufort County residents were surprised to see a giant, glowing orb hovering in this sky this morning.

A fish-shaped orb appeared to be moving through the sky above Bluffton and Hilton Head about an hour before sunrise.

Some assumed it was a plane taking off from the Hilton Head Island Airport. Others questioned whether it was extraterrestrial in origin.

In reality, the spectacular glow appears to have been the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flying overhead, carrying Starlink satellites into Earth’s orbit. Residents spotted the glow between 5:50 a.m. and 6 a.m., which aligns with the timeline of this morning’s SpaceX rocket launch.

What to know about the Falcon 9

The Falcon 9 rocket is the world’s first orbital class rocket capable of reflight, according to SpaceX’s website.

It has a reusable design, which drives down costs by allowing SpaceX to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket.

Orbital class rockets are powerful enough to transport people and objects into Earth’s orbit and beyond.

The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010. Since then, Falcon 9 has completed 608 missions, 562 total landings and 528 reflights, according to SpaceX.

At 5:52 a.m., the Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The station is nearly 300 miles south of Hilton Head as the crow flies. It’s located just beside the Kennedy Space Center, east of Orlando, Florida.

The rocket consists of three key components: a first stage booster, which launches it off the ground, a second stage booster, which delivers the payload into the Earth’s orbit and the payload, which holds the cargo — in this case, 29 Starlink satellites.

Starlink is the name of a satellite network developed by SpaceX to deliver high-speed internet from space.

About two and a half minutes after launching, the first stage booster separated from the second stage and began its descent back into Earth’s atmosphere.

The bright glow Beaufort County residents saw would have been the first-stage booster burning up because of extreme heat from atmospheric drag, based on when photos were taken and SpaceX’s timeline. The booster landed around 6 a.m. on an autonomous droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, according to SpaceX.

Coastal residents of Georgia and Florida also spotted the bright glow in the sky this morning. From Florida, the descending rocket created what some news reports described as a “space jellyfish.”

The Wednesday morning rocket launch is also not the first rocket to be spotted from Hilton Head recently.

Linda Smith shared photos of a rocket in the sky on Sunday at 10:01 p.m. from Port Royal Plantation. According to SpaceX, the Sunday launch also delivered 29 Starlink satellites into Earth’s orbit.

Bluffton basketball’s historic season ended one game shy of a state championship appearance.

North Augusta was too much for the Bobcats late in the second half of the 57-38 win Friday in the Class 4A Lower State championship at the Florence Center.

North Augusta moves on to the championship game for the second straight year and will face the Lancaster/South Pointe winner in the title game at 6 p.m. March 9 at Colonial Life Arena.

The loss snaps Bluffton’s 19-game winning streak and ends the year at 24-5. The Bobcats have won 47 games over the past two seasons and were making their first Lower State championship appearance.

Bluffton coach Bradley Gabriel emerged from the Bobcats’ locker room about 20 minutes after the game ended, reflecting on what an experience this run has been.

“We were right there, especially in the third, but just kind of fell apart,” Gabriel said. “I told the guys in the locker room, it wasn’t a bad year and nothing to hold your head about. We won 24 games, went 10-0 in the region and made it to this point. It has been a special year. The kids worked really hard, bought into everything I was selling. It just didn’t work out tonight.”

Gabriel had high praise for his team, especially guard Harry Skinner. The senior led Bluffton with 20 points and has been one of the centerpieces for the past two years. Skinner left the program briefly for a few months to attend Moravian Prep (NC) but returned in the fall.

Skinner did his best to keep the Bobcats close, scoring eight straight points at one point to get them within 28-24 with 4:05 left in the third.

“When Harry got us back in the game, I felt like we had a chance,” Gabriel said. “We were down nine to Wilson (third round) in the third quarter and willed ourselves back.”

Trailing 33-24 entering the fourth, Bluffton made one final run. Ethan Foster’s three-point play got Bluffton within 39-34 with 3:36 left. Foster finished with 14 points.

But the Yellow Jackets’ zone offense and ability to get out in transition helped them close on an 18-4 run and head back to the title game.

Quh’mareon Webb led North Augusta with 21 points and Tristan Anderson added 13. Toian Nabriat had 10 points. The Yellow Jackets knocked off top-ranked Gray Collegiate on the road to make it to the semifinals.

“We started working soon after last year’s championship loss and had this circled on our calendar. We wanted to get back,” North Augusta coach Tony Harrell said. “… We didn’t finish the drill last year, and we want to finish this year.”