DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — Volunteers scouting Dauphin Island’s beaches for sea turtle nests over the weekend found themselves looking at something considerably larger: an alligator on the island’s far west end.
The gator was seen Saturday and Sunday. As volunteers Kathryn Twilley and her husband Michael approached, it slipped straight into the water.
‘Not a threat,’ experts say
Stephanie Serra with Share the Beach Dauphin Island said the alligator is not a threat to residents or tourists on the island. In a message, she explained that the animal is simply passing through the area.
Alligators typically move when they have lost their territory to another male or are searching for females, according to Serra. The section of the island where the gator was spotted is accessible only by boat or ATV.
Share the Beach volunteers patrol Alabama’s coastline each summer monitoring sea turtle nests, and their weekend surveys occasionally turn up other wildlife along the barrier island’s undeveloped west end.