Beaufort County has one of the highest tidal ranges on the east coast, with an average height of 8.5 feet between high and low tide. The tides touch almost every aspect of living in Beaufort County. Yet, until recently, there was no local data on tidal ranges and fluctuations. Historically, Beaufort County relied on data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at tide gauges located in Charleston, SC and Fort Pulaski, Georgia. As a result, officials have never had a complete picture of tides in Beaufort County or accurate predictions because they relied on estimates coming from two distant tide gauges.

Until now.

Through a program run by the SC Sea Grant Consortium, in partnership with the College of Charleston, American Shore and Beach Preservation Association, and the SC Beach Advocates, Beaufort County was able to purchase two Hohonu tide gauges. Because of the grant and partnership each gauge cost $500. These tide gauges collect and transmit data on water heights over the internet to provide real-time information on tides where they’re installed. The data collected helps improve the accuracy of tide predictions for those communities and the real-time reporting can be used to alert them to flooding thresholds.

The County donated one tide gauge each to the Port Royal Sound Foundation and the Fripp Island Nature Center with the intent of targeting local data collection within the Port Royal Sound.

“By partnering with these organizations, which teach locals and visitors alike about our local environment, we’re not only able to begin to better understand the tides in our County, but both organizations are able to teach the people they interact with about our local tides,” said Rob Merchant, Director of County Planning and Zoning.

“Last November, Beaufort County Council adopted the 2040 Beaufort County Comprehensive plan. That plan recommends the County continue and broaden efforts to monitor and study the impacts of sea level rise so we can plan appropriately. Installing tide gauges was a specific recommendation and we’re excited to begin using the data being collected.”

It's important to have data on local tide cycles so officials can best understand how to prepare for fluctuation with sea level rise. The City of Beaufort has taken action to improve local data collection by installing a Hohonu tide gauge of their own at the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park in downtown. Not only will the data improve local understanding of tides, but it will be used by NOAA to improve their database and future tide predictions.

Port Royal Sound Foundation has been collecting tide data since this past fall, and the Fripp Island Nature Center began this past spring. Anyone can access the data, including tide predictions, and can sign up for alerts for anticipated flood tides by visiting the Hohonu app at https://dashboard.hohonu.io/map-page.  

“The Hohonu tide gauge is a neat device that gives us real time, accurate to the millimeter, tide data. Currently most tidal information for Beaufort County is a predictive algorithm,” said Chris Kehrer, Port Royal Sound Foundation Naturalist and Operations Coordinator. “Simply viewing any of the Hohonu tide gauges in Beaufort County, you can see that the algorithm can be off by quite a bit in some cases, like during king tide events.”

Representatives from both organizations attend monthly meetings that bring together tide gauge owners from across the state to share information and offer ideas for improving online applications.

“We want to say thank you to the Beaufort County Planning and Zoning Office and the Port Royal Sound Foundation for helping set up our new gauge, and another big thanks to Nicole Elko with ASBPA for surveying and calibrating the device for us," said Kathryn Schulz, Fripp Island Head Naturalist. "Fripp Island Resort is constantly striving for excellence in environmental stewardship, and we are proud to partake in this ongoing study. We have incorporated the gauge into our educational tours to help bring more awareness to the differences in tidal data.”

Anyone can view Fripp Island’s data in real-time here: https://dashboard.hohonu.io/map-page?station=node-10046