It’s time for more “reel” talk from the Mayor and me. This time, the City of Destin’s Mayor, Bobby Wagner, and I sat down and discussed turtles, trash and other beach issues. Email me at tyoung@cityofdestin.com if you’d like to submit a question or have a topic you’d like discussed in an upcoming issue.
~Tamara Leigh Young, PhD, Public Information Manager for the World’s Luckiest Fishing Village
TY: On May 18, we had a meeting at City Hall with almost 30 other people who have various interests in the beaches – local beach vendors, Destin lifeguards, code enforcement, county workers and the trash/raking crew. While healthy debate occurred on many topics, the one thing we all agreed on was the importance of supporting the sea turtles. Nesting season is May 1st through October 31st, and our favorite “Turtle Girl” Jessica Valek shared that the turtle surveying takes place each day on the beaches 30 minutes before sunrise. The Gulf has four different species of sea turtles: Loggerhead sea turtle (most common), Green sea turtle, Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, and the Leatherback sea turtle. Jessica taught me that the incubation period (when the eggs are in the ground) determines if the turtles become male or female. Warmer temperatures produce more females and cooler temperatures produce more males, and sea turtles can lay over 100 eggs per nest and nest multiple times in the season! We definitely want to do our part to support that.
BW: Definitely. The biggest issue that locals and I come across that affects our turtles are HOLES on the beach. We must do everything we can to educate our guests and newer locals about the importance of filling in their holes and flattening their sand castles. Local sand sculpture artist “Dan in the Sand” spends hours every day building one-of-a-kind sand castles and at the end of the day he even flattens his creations. His recommendation is to take a photo and keep the beautiful memory, but don’t leave a trace! The other problem is light pollution on the beach at night. So please turn off all lights or use red lights. Turtles cannot see red so whether it be a red porch light or red flashlights while walking the beaches, this is critical to keep the baby sea turtles from becoming disoriented and not making it to the gulf. Do we have any red lights left for those wanting them?
TY: I have at least 100 sea turtle-friendly flashlights left to give out to residents or tourists who want to put them to good use, and I’ll order as many more as we need. Just this week, I fulfilled requests from visitors from Oklahoma and Indiana wanting the lights.
BW: We should also remind people that if they come across an injured or trapped sea turtle, to call the Gulfarium C.A.R.E. Center at 850-243-9046 or the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Wildlife Control at 1-888-404-3922. People should also know that beach raking immediately follows the turtle surveying and happens every other day so it’s helpful to give space to these workers.
TY: And all this happens early in the morning, with the status of our beach flag warning system determined and displayed around 8 a.m., so we need to make room for the turtle surveying, the raking, the trash collections and the emergency lanes.
BW: Yes, we have got keep the fire lanes OPEN. At the meeting, another idea that came up was having the lifeguards fly the flags on ATVs while they patrol the beach.
TY: Also, the City of Destin Code Compliance said they’d follow suit and do the same.
BW: That’s the biggest thing. We all want great, safe beaches, so finding ways to collaborate for safety and also finding this line in the sand of public and private is important. We also talked about having vendor beach chairs 25 feet from the high crest of the water line, with traverse areas to be open. But we know we need a lot more discussion on this. The new, blue trash cans are another good partnership with the County. There are more trash cans out on the public beaches to make it more convenient for people to dispose of their belongings. The cans also have the flag systems on there for another smart visual of that program.
TY: I also remember them saying to never put seaweed in the trash cans. I could imagine some people doing that in an attempt to be helpful. Maybe we’ll be helpful by passing along the message. Glad to support all the County and City workers, and our friends at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Coastal Resource Team who work hard to protect our local sea turtles through innovative conservation efforts.
BW: It’s all about collaboration.
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