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Assateague Island
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Assateague's sand-starved north end then migrated west at an unusually fast rate; 35 feet per year from 1935 until recently (normal rate is 3 feet per year). Movement has slowed, but action is needed to prevent the north end from merging with the mainland much sooner than it would under natural conditions.
Assateague Island is in constant motion. Influenced by wind, waves, tides, and currents, sand movement continually reshapes the island and its shores. These forces, combined with gradually rising sea level, cause Assateague to move a few feet westward every year. Thousands of years of migration have forced the island to continually "roll over" itself.
How can an island "roll over"? Many barrier islands retreat from the rising sea level through a natural process called overwash. During the most severe storms, powerful waves break over (overwash) and dissolve primary dunes. Successive waves flood the island, spreading sand over wide areas. Sand often washes directly into the bay.
Dune, Thicket, and marsh areas may be temporarily buried. After several overwashes, island movement is often visible; the marsh has grown into the bay on new sand deposits, and other island communities have shifted slightly west of their former locations.
Island Exploring
Do you think of Assateague Island as only a crowded beach on a warm summer day? Assateague has a wilder side. There are miles of beach where you can sometimes walk for hours without seeing another person. Behind the beach lie chains of shifting dunes, pine forest, freshwater ponds, and salt marsh-each with their own community of wild creatures.
Take time to explore the hidden places of Assateague in their many seasons, settings, and moods. For a short hike through pines into tidal marsh, try the Candleberry Nature Trail. Walk north from Assateague State Park for beach combing in a secluded setting. Or explore the bay side by canoe, starting at the old Ferry Landing.
Maryland's Indian - Trail of the Whispering Giants
This famous monument was carved from 100-year-old oak and completed in 1976. This monument, representing the Assateague Indian, was sculptured by Peter Toth and given to the people of Maryland as a gift.
The Assateague Indian was a sub-tribe of the Nanticokes; both poke a dialect of the Lenapes or Delaware Indian, which made them members of the Algonkian family. Indian groups living in the vicinity of Assateague Island included the Pocomoke, Annamessex, Manokin, Nassawattex, Acquintica, Assateague, Chincoteague and Kicotanks.
By the early 1700's the Assateague, along with all other Indian tribes in the area, were pressured by colonists to move northward out of the region. Their migration led them through Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Your, and finally into Canada where they were lost to history.
Bird Watching
Assateague has more than 200 species that are known to frequent the island. Here they find abundant food - fish, mollusks, crustaceans, insects, and small mammals. Binoculars and a field guide are recommended to enhance your ability to identify and enjoy Assateague's birds. Listed below are three of the more popular birds on the island.
----Herring Gull - Have you noticed broken calm shells on the beach road? They were probably dropped by the herring gull who has learned this ingenious method for cracking shellfish. When a first attempt fails to open the shell, a persistent gull will carry it higher until he succeeds.
Herring gulls are abundant at Assateague all year. Adults may be recognized by their black wing-tips and pink legs. Gulls under two years old are usually mottled gray.
----Dunlins - Dunlins are medium-sized sandpipers with bills curved slightly downward. Groups may be seen at the surf's edge feeding on tiny marine organisms in the sand. Dunlins rest by standing on one leg with heads tucked on their back. Like other shorebirds, dunlins change color with the seasons. They are commonly seen, except in summer.
----Common Tern - Look for terns flying over the bay or ocean where they dive for fish. In early summer they nest on the dunes and upper beach. Eggs are laid in a shallow cavity in the sand. Parents sit on the eggs to protect them from the cold, hot sun, and predators. Is is important to remember to not disturb these nesting birds. If parents are frightened away, eggs and young are endangered.