The Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center is comprised of four islands; only three of them, North, South and Sand Islands, have an ocean-facing beach. This area was given to the state of South Carolina by Tom Yawkey of Boston. The area is managed by SCDNR and monitored by seasonal technicians. All islands are protected in perpetuity from beachfront development.

Sand Island began forming when the south jetty was constructed in the late 1890's. Sand began to accumulate around this structure, and by the 1950's, sand tolerant plant communities were established on the island. The beach extends from the ocean around to Winyah Bay. There is no maritime forest and wax myrtles are the tallest vegetation. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, the beach consisted, the beach consisted of well formed dunes and washover areas. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo completely flattened Sand Island and its recovery has been slow. Hurricane Hugo also shifted the inlet between Sand and South Island 1.6 km north, changing the length of the two islands.

A monitoring project was started in 2008 and an estimation of nests are believed to be around 100 per year.