BRADENTON BEACH – Residents voiced concerns to the city commission about turtle safety and asked the commission to do more to protect sea turtles from artificial lighting.
During the public comment session of the Aug. 20 commission meeting, Julie Foley said she walks the beach nearly every evening during turtle season and has repeatedly seen light shining on the beaches from residences and businesses. She noted that 55 loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings were found dead on a road in Bradenton Beach the previous week and it was later determined artificial lighting disoriented them.
“My question is what is the commission doing to enforce the beachfront lighting and are there plans to strengthen education, outreach or enforcement? I ask this not to criticize, but because I care deeply about this Island and want to be part of the solution,” Foley said.
Another resident described light pollution from a nearby vacation rental and said the property managers did not turn off the lights, even after she reported the problem.
In her weekly email update, Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Executive Director Kristen Mazzarella wrote, “Sea turtles nest and hatch at night. During that time, they use the relatively dark background of the dunes and the vegetation which blocks the night sky to locate the relatively brighter ocean that reflects the night sky. Any light directly or indirectly visible from the beach can disorient the sea turtles by disrupting the dark background.”
Commissioner Scott Bear serves as the commission liaison to Turtle Watch. He explained some of the challenges faced in regard to protecting sea turtles.
“The problem is two-fold this year,” he said. “First, we must balance the safety of people with the safety of the turtles and hatchlings. That’s a tough balance to make.”
He said the second issue is the relocation of turtle nests earlier this year in anticipation of a beach renourishment project that has been delayed.
“So, all of those nests that would have been in a place where they were safe were put in locations where there are some damaged dunes,” Bear said. “There are some nests that are less than three feet from the parking lot. It’s not an ideal situation.”
He said the dunes will not be reestablished for the city beaches until at least November.
“We’re in a tough position this year because of some of those issues,” Bear said. “It’s not that we’re not paying attention, and it’s not that we’re trying not to do anything, but it’s a tough balance.”
Bear said the city is also considering updating the lighting-compliance handout distributed by code enforcement after Turtle Watch shared a newer version provided by a sea turtle conservancy group.
Mayor John Chappie said public safety is the city’s number one priority.
“The nests shouldn’t have been moved to a location which is totally exposed to lights,” Chappie said, adding the city does not have streetlights on the south end near the relocated nests.
Chappie said the county had put hay bales along the beach to try to prevent turtles from wandering into the road.
“That didn’t really work that great,” he said. “Our code enforcement officer (Evan Harbus) suggested to them that they put up the screening you see around construction sites. Hopefully that’s going to help to some degree.”
Chappie said the city has been working with Florida Power and Light (FPL) to have shields put on streetlights to help prevent the turtles from being disoriented by artificial lighting.
“We’ve been trying to work with FPL for several years now to have the shielding taken care of. They have not completed that yet,” Chappie said.
He said the shielding issue was raised in a recent meeting with county staff, including County Administrator Charlie Bishop. He said the city is also discussing changes to its own streetlight fixtures to reduce impacts on turtles.
Chappie noted that in 1998 Bradenton Beach was among the first municipalities on the barrier islands to adopt a sea turtle protection ordinance.
“We’ve always had a heart for nature and the turtles,” he said.
Commissioner Ralph Cole said turtle protection has come a long way on the Island since the 1980s, largely due to the efforts of Suzi Fox, the late Turtle Watch executive director.
He recalled helping relocate turtles decades ago before beach renourishment widened the shoreline. He noted the past relocation practices were later abandoned after studies found they could disorient hatchlings.
“There are things that are really out of our control,” Commissioner Debbie Scaccianoce said. “Some of the issues are people having lights on inside their homes.”
She noted some coastal communities have a billboard or sign at the entrances to their city that reminds visitors to keep lights off the beaches at night.
Chappie thanked the residents for speaking out.
