Alligator carcass washes onto Hilton Head Island beach. How it got there is a ‘mystery’

The carcass of a 6-foot alligator was washed ashore by the Hilton Head Island surf Monday afternoon, drawing a crowd of curious visitors and raising questions about how the Lowcountry’s apex predator ended up in the saltwater.

Beachgoers noticed the alligator among the crashing waves around 4:00 p.m. Monday near mile marker 62, just north of Coligny Beach, according to Mike Wagner, director of Shore Beach Service. Lifeguards buried the animal in the nearby sand shortly after, as is typical for carcasses that wash ashore — although Wagner said this was the first dead alligator he could remember. Its body had no apparent injuries, he said.

Alligators can tolerate saltwater for short periods and sometimes end up in the ocean during their mating season in the spring, when the animals are most active. Shoreline sightings are rare, although most gators that wash ashore are alive . A number of freshwater channels on Hilton Head connect with the Intracoastal Waterway of the Atlantic.

Before lifeguards buried the animal, Wagner called Amber Kuehn, a marine mammal recovery volunteer who is one of the only local experts authorized to work on Hilton Head’s beaches. Kuehn clarified that alligators do not qualify as marine life but said the circumstances that brought the dead animal to the shore of Coligny Beach were a “mystery.”

Greg Lucas, a spokesperson for South Carolina’s Department of Natural Resources, said its officers did not respond to the incident Monday afternoon. A biologist from the agency could not be reached on Tuesday.

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