Staff reports  |  U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., and conservationists on Sunday surrounded Crab Bank, an eroding spit at the mouth Shem Creek, to illustrate how it should be protected as a seabird sanctuary.

Renourishment of the rookery may be the only way to save it, according to this story. In March, Sanford and other congressmen sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requesting that the Crab Bank Seabird Sanctuary be included in as a pilot project for revitalization.

In a statement, he said, “At just 2 percent of its original size, the Crab Bank Seabird Sanctuary is in danger of disappearing altogether. Interestingly, however, restoring the Crab Bank may be as easy as looking to its formation. Indeed, in the 1950s, the Crab Bank was formed from sediment dredged from the Charleston harbor. With the Charleston Deepening Project well on its way, it seems like the perfect time to rebuild.