MANATEE COUNTY – What goes up must come down, but in the release of celebratory helium-filled balloons, it’s the coming down that creates problems.
In addition to adding trash to the waters, deflated balloons can cause marine life to become entangled and die. The balloons also can be ingested by marine life.
In May, researchers from the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP) spent five days offshore conducting dolphin research, but they found more than dolphins.
“We collected 76 balloons and other marine debris up to dozens of miles offshore, including two ghost crab trap lines with floats and a beach ball. Most of the balloons had Mother’s Day or birthday messages,” according to the SDRP website.
Mylar balloons are made of synthetic nylon with a metallic coating, are non-biodegradable and can travel long distances.
“They heavily contribute to oceanic waste and animals can become entangled in them or ill from ingesting whole balloons or pieces,” according to the SDRP. “Wayward balloons are also extra dangerous for sea turtles because they resemble jellyfish – one of turtles’ common prey items.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) also warns against the release of balloons as being hazardous to marine life.
“Marine and coastal wildlife can become entangled or trapped in many items such as fishing line, crab traps, balloons with attached string, beach furniture and other types of marine debris. In addition, some of these items may be ingested, leading to further harm,” according to the FWC website. “Monofilament fishing line and other plastics (bags, deflated balloons, etc.) can drift into seagrass beds or snag onto floating vegetation – a sure path to a slow death if a manatee ingests any of these items and is not able to pass it through its digestive system.”
Florida Statute 379.23 prohibits the release of more than 10 balloons within 24 hours. Violation of the law can result in a $250 fine.
It’s that time of year again. You know, when the average high temperature is approximately 74.1 degrees Fahrenheit, the UV index is 6 and the dew point is a very comfortable 58. Oh… and the traffic to the beaches is bumper-to-bumper and stretches west of 75th Street along Manatee Avenue and Cortez Road, respectively. Thousands of those headed to Anna Maria Island are vacationing, staying in one of the roughly 3,500 vacation rental properties or the dozens of resort-style hotels. Spring breakers from the north are here to enjoy some much-deserved sun and fun. These vacationers are welcomed with open arms; however, there is a lot of information they need to know to fully enjoy their time here and return home safely. Our local beaches, pools and waterways pose a significant safety risk.
Studies show:
Drowning kills about 4,000 people each year in the United States;
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children 1-4 years old;
There are about 8,000 emergency department visits for nonfatal drowning each year;
Injuries and deaths from drowning cost the United States $53 billion in 2020;
DROWNING IS PREVENTABLE.
This March, in an ongoing effort to combat these risks, the West Manatee Fire Rescue District continues its annual Drowning Prevention Campaign. This campaign is designed to bring awareness to the drowning risks those living and playing in our community face, as well as to educate the public on how to safely enjoy water-related activities.
A volunteer waves a sign to raise awareness about water safety near Manatee Beach. – Submitted | WMFR
WMFR’s Fire & Life Safety Bureau, with the assistance of local elementary school teachers and other volunteers, kicked off this campaign with a sign-waving event on March 4 at Manatee Beach. Join WMFR in its effort to make sure everyone has a relaxing, fun and, most importantly, safe Spring Break in 2023.
HOLMES BEACH – While motorists were noticing a long, white horse trailer parked among the boat trailers at the Kingfish boat ramp Monday morning, beachgoers were even more surprised to see three horses on the beach near 45th Avenue.
A photo posted on the “Island Ratz Unite” Facebook page prompted a brief exchange between two members: “Wonder if we’re going to have to pass a “no horses in the bike lanes” ordinance now? LOL!”
The response: “They WERE in the bike lane this morning around 10:30 by the curve.”
Horses are not allowed on the beach on Anna Maria Island or at Kingfish boat ramp, Holmes Beach Police Sgt. Michael Pilato said, adding that someone called the police about the incident. A code enforcement officer was dispatched, but the horses were gone by the time the officer arrived on the scene, he said.
If you see horses on the beach or at Kingfish boat ramp, contact Holmes Beach Code Enforcement at 941-708-5833.
The Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Department staff that maintains the beaches and boat ramps has been notified, said Michael Elswick, division manager for the Natural Resources Division.
“We’ll keep an eye out for this type of thing within the parks,” he said, meaning Coquina Beach and Manatee Beach. “Outside of the county-run beach parks, this would be an issue for Island municipality code enforcement.”
One horse- and dog-friendly beach
The only beach where horses – and dogs – are allowed is the Palma Sola Causeway on Manatee Avenue West in Bradenton.
The riders may have been discouraged from going to the causeway Monday because the causeway was under a no-swimming advisory earlier this month, Manatee County Marine Rescue Chief Joe Westerman said.
The Florida Department of Health issued a no-swim advisory for the Palma Sola Bay South beach after tests on July 8 and July 10 confirmed that enterococcus bacteria from fecal matter in the water exceeded EPA guidelines.
The advisory was lifted on Monday, said Tom Larkin, director of the Manatee County Environmental Health department.
A story in The Sun on July 6 uncovered concerns about horse waste at the causeway causing poor water quality and destroying seagrass. Officials from the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Department, Keep Manatee Beautiful and Palma Sola Scenic Highway Corridor Management Entity expressed concerns about the issue.
ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Today’s Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) red tide report shows no red tide in Manatee County waters over the past week, and a clear red tide forecast for Anna Maria Island through Monday, March 4.
For the first time in months, the report also reflects no respiratory irritation or fish kills in the county over the past week.
Red tide has gradually disappeared in Manatee County waters over the past month, and remains only in background concentrations in Southwest Florida and Northwest Florida, according to the report. Background concentrations have no discernable effects on people or marine life.
The red tide bloom began in October 2017 in Southwest Florida and appeared locally in August 2018.
Florida red tide, or Karenia brevis, emits a neurotoxin when it blooms that is deadly to marine life. It can make shellfish unfit to eat and can cause respiratory irritation in people, especially those with asthma, COPD or emphysema.
Scientists say that salinity, currents, temperature and light play a part in the formation of blooms, as do nutrients from Florida’s natural phosphate deposits, Caribbean seawater brought to Florida’s west coast on the Loop Current, the Mississippi River, Saharan dust blown across the Atlantic Ocean to Florida’s waters, and fertilizer and animal waste runoff.
HOLMES BEACH – Student artists in Mary Miller’s fifth grade class at Anna Maria Elementary School will soon see their artwork on signs posted on Anna Maria Island beaches to educate people about why it’s important to stay off sand dunes.
The artists were treated to a reception on Thursday, Nov. 15 at the Waterline Marina Resort, where more than 50 of their masterpieces were on display.
Signs like this soon will be installed at Coquina Beach and Cortez Beach to alert people to keep off the sand dunes. – Cindy Lane | Sun
Walking over dunes crushes native plants that hold the dunes together and erodes the dunes, which provide a barrier against storm-driven high tides, according to the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, which provided funds for the project to Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring.
Gulf Drive alongside Coquina Beach and Cortez Beach, where the first signs will be posted, is particularly susceptible to flooding, and is the hurricane evacuation route for Longboat Key and Bradenton Beach. Ropes and bollards protect the dunes there, but have not deterred all beachgoers from walking across them instead of using beach walkovers, Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie said.
With the theme of “Choose the right path,” the signs will illustrate why using walkovers is preferred, both for erosion control and for wildlife, like sea turtles, shorebirds and even beach mice.
The artwork will be enlarged to make about 60 18- by 24-inch signs. Signs will be available for beachfront vacation rental owners who would like to purchase them for $50 each to help educate visitors about the importance of not disturbing dunes. For more information, call Turtle Watch at 941-778-5638.
BRADENTON – Longboat Key and Manatee County officials plan to talk more frequently about issues affecting the islands on both sides of Longboat Pass since their joint work session last week.
Shared challenges for Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key include beach erosion and renourishment, dredging, and what to do about Beer Can Island.
Anna Maria Island is connected to Longboat Key by a bridge over Longboat Pass.
Beer Can Island
Longboat Key wants Manatee County to pitch in to clean up Beer Can Island, officially called Greer Island, and offer emergency medical and police services at the Manatee County-owned park.
Beer Can Island, or Greer Island, is actually a peninsula at the north end of Longboat Key that extends under the bridge to Anna Maria Island. – Cindy Lane | Sun
Shifting sands in Longboat Pass have caused Greer Island – actually a peninsula on the north end of Longboat Key – to spread under the Longboat Pass bridge and out the other side, making a popular shady spot under the bridge for boaters.
But those boaters sometimes violate Manatee County ordinances prohibiting alcohol, littering and dogs on the beach, according to Longboat Key’s Assistant to the Town Manager, Susan Phillips.
Residents of north Longboat Key, who also are Manatee County residents, and Longboat Key town staff have been cleaning the park, she said, with the town’s marine patrol responding to emergencies, she said.
Manatee County’s marine patrol also has responded to emergencies, said Charlie Hunsicker, the county’s Parks and Natural Resources Department director.
The county is deed restricted from adding trails, bathrooms or picnic shelters to the park, but can step up to help clean the park, he said.
The erosion that is changing the shape of Beer Can Island also is threatening north Longboat Key homes, Phillips said. This is leading Longboat Key to call for Manatee County to help pay for groins to be built to protect the homes.
Longboat Key already has installed erosion control devices on town property to help protect residents on North Shore Road and those on the Gulf of Mexico, she said.
Hunsicker said he plans to meet with Longboat Key officials to address immediate erosion issues, which may or may not involve funding from Manatee County.
It’s terminal
Some blame north Longboat Key’s erosion on work done to protect Anna Maria Island, such as the terminal erosion control groin built more than 50 years ago at the south end of Coquina Beach.
The terminal groin at the southern tip of Anna Maria Island on Longboat Pass will be replaced next year. – Cindy Lane | Sun
“Any hardened feature like that has an impact on adjacent land in Longboat Key, but they need that groin,” just as Longboat Key needs similar groins to protect the north end of its island, Phillips said.
The groin “keeps Anna Maria Island from going into the dredged channel,” Hunsicker said.
However, the groin is crumbling, and next year, “We’re going to remove the rock of ages and re-rock it,” keeping it the same size, he said.
Twin Piers
Three similarly-dilapidated structures to the north on Cortez Beach on Anna Maria Island were replaced in 2016 and are functioning well, as expected, he said.
One of the erosion control groins in Cortez Beach known as Twin Piers attracts fishermen.
The three permeable, adjustable erosion control groins at Twin Piers (a third pier was added after the name stuck) protect Gulf Drive – a hurricane evacuation route – from stormwater erosion, he said. They are popular surfing and fishing spots.
The $7.8 million structures did not affect erosion on north Longboat Key, he said, noting that dredging done by Longboat Key in 1992-94 could have caused some of the town’s erosion problems.
Coquina Beach rocks
In between the terminal groin and Twin Piers are several rows of rock on Coquina Beach running perpendicular to the shoreline that were installed to curb erosion, but now are obstacles for lifeguards to get to beachgoers, Hunsicker said.
“In the next year, we are looking at the feasibility of addressing the 50-year-old rock groins at Coquina Beach,” he said.
Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker looks over the erosion control groins on Coquina Beach that he wants to remove and replace with different devices. – Cindy Lane | Sun
Made of concrete walls containing rusting rebar and covered with rock buttresses, the structures are “a maintenance problem for us,” Hunsicker said.
They could be replaced with shorter versions of the three groins on Cortez Beach that would “substantially improve the visuals of Coquina Beach,” or a series of short, rock breakwaters 50-75 yards offshore, parallel to the beach and a foot above high tide.
“Beaches sometimes grow out to them,” he said.
Renourishment alternative
Trying to find new ways to hold the beaches together, the county also has considered a system of undercurrent stabilizers, called geotubes, he said.
The system, developed by Dick Holmberg, is an alternative to beach renourishment, which is criticized for causing damage to fisheries at sand mining and dredge sites, disrupting nearshore marine life when the sand is dumped on the beach and bulldozed into the water to create a larger beach, and changing sea bottom contours, affecting currents and waves.
The smooth tubes, which are mostly buried in the sand perpendicular to the beach, extending into the water – similar to the placement of the rock groins on Cortez Beach – slow down the current like speed bumps, causing the current to drop the sand it is carrying, and building the beach.
It is designed as a one-time repair, as opposed to beach renourishment, which is a continual process.
“We’ve looked at variations of that for more than 10 years,” Hunsicker said. “The system addresses small areas of erosion, called ‘hot spots,’ on short distances of beach that are getting more erosion than adjacent areas due to underwater natural formations.”
While the system is effective in those cases, it would not be as effective as beach renourishment is on long stretches of beach like Anna Maria Island has, which erodes at roughly the same rate.
Manatee County does not have the resources to bring in large equipment to repair small areas of beach, he said.
“By the time we are fully mobilized for a large project, it wouldn’t contribute to the overall effectiveness of the project,” Hunsicker said.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney once wrote a song that started with the line, “I read the news today, oh boy.”
One might feel the same way when viewing the local headlines here on the Island, which are often dominated by rental regulations, property rights, Bert Harris claims, political disputes, traffic, parking, congestion, noise, red tide and a multitude of other problems and inconveniences that take some off the shine off this tropical jewel. Yet, Anna Maria Island remains a unique and wonderful place to live, work and play for those who still believe the rewards outweigh the challenges that are also part of the deal.
We have 17 residents (some retirees, some still working) who are willing to take on the challenges and headaches (some self-inflicted) of elected office, getting paid a pittance to try to solve complex problems that would constitute a much higher pay grade elsewhere. We also have dozens of volunteer board and committee members who get paid nothing to work on these same issues.
The Island is blessed with a politically engaged citizenry that doesn’t always agree and doesn’t always get it right, but is never shy about voicing an opinion, pushing for change or standing firm on a strong-held belief. Yes, the numbers are shrinking, but the full-time residents who remain form a close-knit, community that cannot be duplicated up the street in Bradenton or across the bay in Sarasota.
Although they undoubtedly contribute to our topical and tropical dilemmas, the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to the Island each year also provide a significant income stream for our local businesses, and tax revenues for our local governments. They also add color to the ever-changing palette of Island life, sharing insights and experiences with us and hopefully getting the same in return.
There’s public beaches every two miles and public access points in between. There’s public fishing piers at both ends of the Island and recreational opportunities everywhere you look. We have a free trolley system, low-cost shuttle services, and water taxis and a ferry service are looming on the horizon.
This over-saturated Island still offers a cornucopia of locally owned restaurants, bars, businesses, art galleries and shopping destinations that are as far-reaching and fascinating as the folks who run them.
Is the Island perfect? Nope. But we get to chase our personal versions of paradise with good people at our side, the sun on our face and tropical breezes at our back, while our compatriots up north slog through another winter watching the Weather Channel and saying, “Man, I wished I lived somewhere warm.”
