The barrier islands themselves are made up of the same shifting sands that you see on the beaches. Sand-loving plants like the endangered sea oats hold the sand together and help the islands keep their shapes. All of Georgia's islands are slowly moving and shifting. When you walk on the beach , make sure you don't pick up any sea turtle or whale bones- you need a special collecting permit to do so. One of the stars of Georgia's coastline is the sea turtle .
Sea turtles are gentle animals that only come to shore to lay their soft-shelled eggs.
You should be very careful during the spring egg-laying season not to show any lights on the beach that might scare off the mother turtles or confuse the baby turtles. Another reptile common along the Georgia coast is the American Alligator . Alligators are primitive reptiles that usually live in fresh water, but are sometimes seen in the Intracoastal Waterway between the mainland and the barrier islands. If you're lucky, you might see Bald Eagles in trees on the coast. They eat fish as well as birds and mammals.