Category: Nature

The Great Southeast ShakeOut Earthquake Drill October 16

This year’s International ShakeOut Day is October 16, 2025, when millions of people worldwide will participate in earthquake drills at work, school, or home.

At 10:16 am (local time) on October 16, 2025, you can join more than a million people across the Southeast U.S. practicing earthquake safety.

It’s actually a good idea to practice earthquake safety in different situations each year, and ShakeOut organizers are here to support you. For more information, click here.

Many people are unaware of how common earthquakes are in South Carolina. Approximately 10 to 20 earthquakes are recorded annually in South Carolina. For the most recent earthquake locations, click here.

–Tidelines Editors

(Image and information credit: FEMA)

King Tides in the Charleston Area October 7 – 11

King Tide is a commonly used term describing high tides that are higher than normal. They usually occur during a full or new moon or during specific seasons throughout the year. Charleston’s average high tide range is about 5.5 ft., but during a King Tide event, it can reach 7 ft. or higher. 

King Tides can cause flooding in low-lying areas, resulting in road closures on Seabrook Island, as well as the Johns Island and Charleston areas. This is particularly true when a king tide coincides with significant rain and/or wind.

The 2025 predicted tides are:

  • October 7 – 11
  • November 4 – 9
  • December 3 – 6
Continue reading “King Tides in the Charleston Area October 7 – 11”

Full Moon Bonfire October 6

Full Moon Bonfire
Monday, October 6, 2025
Location: On the beach between BW 1 and 2
Sunset – 6:59 pm
Moonrise – 6:40 pm
High Tide – 8:24 pm
Harvest Moon

Mark your calendars! Join us on the beach for Seabrook Island’s Full Moon
bonfire on Monday, October 6, 2025.

The full Harvest Moon isn’t just any moon—it’s the first of three consecutive Supermoons in 2025, making October’s full moon the largest and brightest of the year. The moon will be at perigee, its closest point to Earth. It will rise low on the horizon and appear noticeably larger and brighter than a typical full moon.

The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox (September 22 or 23). Unlike other full moons, it will rise about the same time for several nights, providing extended evening light. Historically, this extra illumination helped farmers complete their harvests before fall frosts.

Hopefully, the weather remains accommodating. People ask if the bonfire will be held if it’s rainy. The bonfire will be canceled if it is raining or rain is threatening, as few would be comfortable attending.

According to the permit, the fire must be extinguished by 10:00 pm.


Put the next date for the Full Moon Bonfire on your calendar:

  • Wednesday, November 5 – Beaver Moon (Super Moon, closest to the Earth!)

-Submitted by Mollie Korski

St. Christopher Camp 2025 Deveaux Bank Birding and Kayak Tour

Attention all bird and kayak enthusiasts! The St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center’s Outdoor Encounters program invites you to join us on our annual Deveaux Bank Birding and Kayak Trip for 2025! The three hour tour will be held on Saturday, November 1, 2025, starting at 9:30 am and ending around 12:30 pm.

The trip includes paddling with tandem or single sit-on-top kayaks from St. Christopher’s beach on Seabrook Island to Deveaux Bank, with around one hour of exploring and birding along Deveaux’s intertidal zone. Deveaux Bank is one of the premier seabird sanctuaries north of Florida with thousands of birds nesting and migrating through every year. An assortment of species – including American white pelicans and piping plovers – frequent the bank’s shores. Because of Deveaux’s importance, we ask that all guests adhere to SCDNR regulations by staying below the high tide line not designated as a nesting area.

Continue reading “St. Christopher Camp 2025 Deveaux Bank Birding and Kayak Tour”

SIPC Photographer of the Quarter Gina Sanders

Please join the Seabrook Island Photo Club for a reception
to meet Gina and view her photography.

Monday, October 6, 2025
4:30-6:00 pm 
The Lake House Photo Club Wall

In the words of the photographer:

I’ve enjoyed taking photos all my life. My fascination began with my dad’s Polaroid camera and continued with my own Kodak 110 camera and later, a Kodak Disc camera. My first “real” camera was a Minolta X-700, which I used mostly in automatic mode. 

After college I moved to Sydney, Australia, where I lived for seven years, and it was there, with all its beauty, scenic views and amazing parrots flying wild, that I fell in love with photography all over again. I took a few classes, learned to develop my own film, and worked to improve my skills. As often happens in your 20s, however, growing my career took priority and photography got pushed to the backburner. 

Meanwhile, cell phones with built-in cameras became the norm, and I didn’t pick up another camera until we purchased our property on Seabrook Island in 2021. In fact, I went straight from film cameras to mirrorless cameras – I completely skipped over the DSLR era!

It was the birds on Seabrook that caught my attention, and I signed up for one of our golf course birding events. Because I was brand new to birding, I had no idea how to identify any of the birds I was seeing. They don’t sit still for very long! My solution was to buy a camera with a telephoto lens so I could get close-ups of the birds in order to study and learn their field marks. As my husband would say, I jumped in the deep end and became obsessed with birds and photography simultaneously. 

But this time I did it differently. I enrolled in a full-scale photography course at New York Institute of Photography and studied all the basic skills – from the exposure triangle, lighting, various genres, to the business side of photography. 

Nowadays I can be found taking photos of birds for Seabrook Island Birders’ social media, blogs, and Seabrooker articles, as well as experimenting with new photography techniques. 

I’d like to thank the members of Seabrook Island Photo Club for sharing their skills and especially for their patience in answering all my questions in those early days. You know who you are!

With retirement on the near horizon, I hope to spend many days on the island, capturing as much of its beauty as I can. 


Gina’s photography will be shown beginning on September 19, 2025 at the Photo Club Gallery Wall (located in the lobby area at the Lake House). There will be an artist reception, which is open to all Seabrookers, on Monday, October 6 from 4:30-6:00 pm.

-Submitted by the Seabrook Island Photography Club

Reminder: Sustainability Workshop Series at St. Christopher

St. Christopher Sustainability Workshop Series
Session 1: Rain Barrels
October 7, 2025
6:00 pm

We are excited to announce new programming coming this fall! All are welcome to join us at St. Christopher Camp & Conference Center for our new Sustainability Workshop series, to be held on the first Tuesday of each month.

Our first session will be held in our Temple Conference Center on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 6:00 pm. We will be diving into the methodology and benefits of rain barrels. Sign up for this free workshop to learn how you can implement sustainable practices into your own life, to hear from our team of environmental educators, and potentially win our raffle to take home your very own rain barrel. 

This workshop series will continue throughout the fall on the first Tuesday of every month. We will explore additional topics in the future, including pollinator gardens, invasive species removal, wildlife monitoring, and more.

Sign up for October’s Rain Barrel Workshop by clicking here before October 3, 2025. Let’s partner together to take care of this beautiful island we share. We hope to see you in October!

-Submitted by Lauren Harris, Director of the Conference Center, St. Christopher Camp & Conference 

Sustainability Workshop Series at St. Christopher

St. Christopher Sustainability Workshop Series
Session 1: Rain Barrels
October 7, 2025
6:00 pm

We are excited to announce new programming coming this fall! All are welcome to join us at St. Christopher Camp & Conference Center for our new Sustainability Workshop series, to be held on the first Tuesday of each month.

Our first session will be held in our Temple Conference Center on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 6:00 pm. We will be diving into the methodology and benefits of rain barrels. Sign up for this free workshop to learn how you can implement sustainable practices into your own life, to hear from our team of environmental educators, and potentially win our raffle to take home your very own rain barrel. 

This workshop series will continue throughout the fall on the first Tuesday of every month. We will explore additional topics in the future, including pollinator gardens, invasive species removal, wildlife monitoring, and more.

Sign up for October’s Rain Barrel Workshop by clicking here. Let’s partner together to take care of this beautiful island we share. We hope to see you in October!

-Submitted by Lauren Harris, Director of the Conference Center, St. Christopher Camp & Conference 

Upcoming Events at Brookgreen Gardens

Brookgreen Gardens, a National Historic Landmark and 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is located on U.S. 17 between Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island, on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast, and is open to the public daily. 

Visitors to Brookgreen Gardens can soon embrace the first cool breezes of fall while exploring its 9,000+ acres of lush landscapes, nationally recognized sculpture collection, and unique cultural programming, all framed by centuries-old live oaks and year-round blooms. This September, guests are invited to celebrate West African, Caribbean, and Gullah Geechee traditions at the Junkanoo Festival, journey through rock history during the Fleetwood Mac tribute concert or take home their very own piece of Brookgreen’s botanical beauty from the annual Fall Plant Sale. For information about all of these events, click here. 

The holidays will be here before you know it! Tickets are now on sale for the 26th annual Nights of a Thousand Candles at Brookgreen Gardens, taking place on select evenings from November 28, 2025 to January 4, 2026. This renowned event, voted the best Christmas light display in the state by Travel + Leisure, draws visitors from across the country. It features over 2,700 candles and millions of twinkling lights adorning the ancient live oaks and illuminating the Gardens’ breathtaking array of American figurative sculpture, the largest and most comprehensive collection in the country. To purchase tickets, click here. Tickets must be purchased in advance, and space is limited.

–Tidelines Editors