While the sand along the Gulf of Mexico in Orange Beach has sat empty under Governor Kay Ivey’s coronavirus closure order, a handful of islands just off the coast near Perdido Pass have remained a magnet for boaters, raising questions about whether the state’s social distancing rules can reach water that never technically touches the beach.
Robinson Island and Walker Island, both owned by the city of Orange Beach, along with the state-owned Bird Island, sit in and around Perdido Pass and have drawn heavy boat traffic on recent weekends, with vessels anchoring close together despite the ongoing push to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Photos and video circulating from the past two weekends show crowds of boaters gathered shoulder to shoulder on the sandbars, a scene starkly different from the deserted public beaches nearby.
By Monday, city officials said conditions around the islands had eased considerably, describing boat traffic and the number of people on the sandbars as light compared to the weekend rush. Still, the pattern has repeated itself weekend after weekend since the governor’s order took effect, prompting residents to press both Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon and Ivey’s office to explicitly extend the beach closure to cover the islands and surrounding waterways.
The islands have so far fallen outside the scope of the state’s public health order because the order applies specifically to beaches that touch Gulf of Mexico waters, and the sandbars near Perdido Pass do not meet that definition. Alabama Marine Police officers have been monitoring the islands and say they remain in close contact with the governor’s office as the situation develops.
Mayor Kennon said the city is enforcing the governor’s directives to the extent its authority allows, but noted the islands and waterways were not included in the original closure. “With the manpower we have available we are enforcing the governor’s mandates and directives along with social distancing during this time,” Kennon said.
Asked directly about the loophole, Ivey acknowledged that the islands do not legally qualify as beaches touching the Gulf, but said that does not exempt the people on them from social distancing requirements. “You are correct that those islands do not ‘abut the Gulf of Mexico’ as the Public Health Order specifies. However, social distancing orders must be applied and adhered to in all cases,” Ivey said. She added that Orange Beach has the authority, through the existing order and the statewide state of emergency, to close the islands outright if it chooses. “If not closed, social distancing orders must be enforced,” she said.
For boaters like Tim Powell, the islands have become one of the few remaining outlets for recreation now that schools and many workplaces have shut down. Powell said he understands the concern but pushed back on the idea that the sandbars should be treated any differently than the closed beaches. “I still think it’s the beach,” Powell said, arguing that with no work and no school, getting out on the water is one of the few ways families can pass the time while still keeping their distance from others.
At the same time, Powell said he recognizes the tension between giving people an outlet and protecting public health, and that the responsibility ultimately falls on boaters themselves to keep their groups separated once they reach the sandbars. “It’s important that they keep their distance. It’s sort of a catch-22 between maintaining a certain level of sanity for the public and maintaining safety, and right now we kind of need to watch our safety,” Powell said.
For now, no formal closure of Robinson Island, Walker Island or Bird Island has been announced, leaving enforcement of social distancing on the water largely dependent on voluntary compliance and periodic checks by Alabama Marine Police. City and state officials are expected to continue monitoring boat traffic around Perdido Pass in the coming weekends as the coronavirus pandemic response in Baldwin County continues to evolve.