Olsen Associates, Inc., of Jacksonville, Florida is currently working on an assessment of the practicality of dredging beach nourishment sand from the south end of Cumberland Island, Georgia. To facilitate assessing the potential for impacting historically or archaeologically significant cultural resources in the project area, Olsen contracted with Tidewater Atlantic Research, Inc., of Washington, North Carolina to conduct a survey of historical, literature and cartographic references. That survey identified the proposed project area as a feature associated with both Pelican Shoal and the Cumberland Channel entrance to the St. Marys River. Although no shipwrecks have been located in the project area, historical research suggests that the potential for wrecks in association with both Pelican Shoal and Cumberland Channel is high. In light of the spectrum and extent of historically documented maritime activity associated with St. Marys and the hazard to navigation represented by Pelican Shoal and Cumberland Channel, a remote sensing survey of the proposed borrow area will likely be required by the Georgia Department of Historic Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District. That survey will insure that no National Register of Historic Places eligible submerged cultural resources will be disturbed by the proposed project.
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