Project name: Robinson Island Restoration and Protection (#5002)
Project status: Complete
Grant Administrator: Gulf of Mexico Foundation (for NOAA)
Grantee: Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Project location: Orange Beach, Alabama
Grant period: spring 2006 to spring 2007
Grant amount: $56,651
Land Ownership: Public (State of Alabama)
Lat/Long: 30 degrees 17 minutes 132 sec North, 87 degrees 33 minutes 069 sec West
Types of Habitat: Seagrasses, coastal dunes
Project leader: Dr. Kenneth L. Heck and Dr. John Dindo
                        Dauphin Island Sea Lab
                        101 Bienville Blvd.
                        Dauphin Island, AL 36528
                        phone: (251) 861-2141
                        fax: (251) 861-7540

• shoal grass (Halodule wrightii)
• shrimp (Penaeus spp.)
• blue crab (Callinectes sapidus)
• speckled trout (Cynoscion nebulosus)
• red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)
• southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma)
• coastal dune habitat
• coastal wading bird habitat

Acres of Habitat To be Restored: 31.6 acres

Project Summary:
The goal of the Robinson Island Restoration and Protection project is to restore the dune habitat on Robinson Island and facilitate restoration of prop scars in shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) beds located east and southeast of Robinson Island. Additionally, signage warning against boaters from using motors within the seagrass beds will be regularly placed along grassbed margins, educational signage about seagrasses will be placed at marinas & boat ramps, and interpretive signage on coastal island habitats will placed at strategic locations on Robinson Island.

1. replant native vegetation on the island to restore dune habitat on the island
2. install “bird stakes” in prop scars and, as demonstrated in the Florida Keys, use nutrients from bird droppings to speed up seagrass re-growth into the scars, thereby restoring these areas
3. erect signage around the area warning against operation of outboard motors in the grassbeds
4. erect educational signage at local marinas & public boat ramps
5. erect interpretive signage on the importance of coastal islands at strategic locations on Robinson Island
6. monitor areas with bird stakes to gauge success in restoring seagass