Abstract:
Located in Columbus County, Lake Waccamaw covers an area of 9,000 square acres along with 14 miles of cypress-lined shoreline. It is the third-largest natural lake in the state, but its depth only averages 3 feet. It is a place of great diversity, both in and out of the water. In the forest and swamps surrounding Waccamaw are Prothonotary warblers, black bear, pine lily, river otters, Venus flytraps, spotted turtles and brown water snakes. Also in the lake's waters there are three endemics--three small species of fish--that are found nowhere else on the planet. They are a darter, a killfish, and a silverside. Adding to the diversity, the skull of an extinct right whale 2.5 million-year-old was found in 2007.