5. Identify fish species utilizing the jetty as a habitat, and 
characterize the food habits of selected species through 
analysis of their stomach contents. 
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA 
Murrells Inlet, located on the northeastern coast of South Carolina 
(Fig. 1), is a comparatively small coastal system characterized by ocean 
beaches, sand and mud flats, intertidal shellfish beds, and expanses of 
saltmarshes intersected by shallow tidal creeks. Salinities are generally 
high and stable because of the lack of either a river system flowing into 
the inlet or contact with the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Water 
temperatures are more variable, being dependent on the season, and tides 
are semidiurnal with a mean tidal range of 1.4 m (National Ocean Survey, 
1981). 
At its entrance, Murrells Inlet is flanked by Garden City Beach to 
the northeast and Huntington Beach to the southwest (Fig. 1). The 
sediments of these beaches and adjacent nearshore areas consist pri- 
marily of medium to fine quartz sand with varying amounts of sand-size 
shell fragments (see Volume II). Although exposed to the open ocean, 
wave energy is moderate on these beaches because waters are shallow 
for a considerable distance offshore. 
Because Murrells Inlet is intensively utilized as the home port 
for a growing number of commercial and recreational fishing boats, 
there was a need to stabilize the entrance channel to the inlet. In 
October 1977, construction began on two quarrystone jetties located 
on the north and south sides of the inlet entrance (Fig. 1). The 
north jetty, which extends 1020 m into the ocean, was completed by 
February 1979. The landward portion of this jetty includes a 411-m 
weir section (Fig. 1) designed to allow sand to bypass the jetty and 
settle into a dredged deposition basin, instead of moving around the 
jetty and creating shoals at the entrance channel. Construction on the 
south jetty, which extends 1011 m seaward, began in February 1979 and 
was completed by May 1980. This jetty has no weir section and is topped 
with an asphalt walkway. Approximate heights of the north and south 
jetties range from 2.5 to 3.5 m above mean low water (MLW) except at 
the weir, where the height is approximately 0.7 m above MLW. Crest 
width on both jetties is approximately 6 m, and the sides slope at an 
angle of 45° (1V:1H). Granite armor stones of the jetties vary between 
5.4 x 103 kg and 9.1 x 103 kg, and individual stone faces vary from 
horizontal to vertical. Much smaller stones of various sizes are present 
at the base of each jetty to prevent erosion around the armor stones. 
