Mike Shay heard the crunch as he stood on the boardwalk at Cypress Wetlands in Port Royal, where he had gone to photograph birds. Then he turned and saw nature in action: A yellow-bellied slider turtle in the jaws of an 8-foot-long alligator, about to become lunch. The crunching sound Shay heard was the turtle’s hard shell cracking as if it were an egg.
“It took me over 2 years to get this shot,” said Shay, who knew that gators sometimes feed on turtles, after he posted a photo on Facebook Monday. “Now that I have it, I’d prefer not to see this again.”
Each year, Cypress Wetlands draws thousands of herons and egrets and other bird species to Port Royal. About 20 alligators also patrol its waters. The gators even inspire art. In November, a 7 1/2-foot-long and 2 1/2-foot-wide alligator sculpture weighing 125 pounds was installed at the entrance.
But the apex predators of the big swamp and rookery in the heart of the town have been keeping a low profile for the past several weeks because they’ve been in brumation, the reptilian equivalent of hibernation, says the South Carolina Aquarium.