Beach News for May

Thanks to May’s beach cleanup sponsor – the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors, representing over 500 local real estate professionals that know and love Marco Island.

Another big thanks to the students from Marco Island Academy’s Key Club, families, friends and visitors who just love to come and clean up the beach. In total, over 60 pounds of trash was collected in a two-hour period to keep the beach trash free and safe for nesting sea turtles. 

According to Marco Island Police Department’s (MIPD) March Beach report to City Council, they issued 24 glass on the beach enforcements, filled in 17 holes, had 13 dog related activities and 12 events related to dogs and 5 injured/sick bird/animal incidents.

Sea Turtle nests number one and three are located between the Winterberry boardwalk and South Beach. Nest number one came ashore on May 2nd and seven days later, a third sea turtle came ashore and laid its nest next to nest number one!

According to Tyler Beck, Collier County Sea Turtle Monitor, this does not happen often.  Beachgoers asked Tyler if it might be the same female sea turtle that came ashore seven days earlier. I reached out to FWC experts and they replied - without seeing the turtle it is hard to say but based on the time from the previous nest, it’s probably a different female sea turtle.  But there is always an exception.

How often does a female sea turtle (loggerhead) come ashore to nest? According to the FWC website, they can nest four to give times in a season and loggerheads usually nest on approximately 12-14 days intervals. Sea Turtle eggs have an incubation period of about two months and deposit about 80-120 eggs.

Cruelty to Wildlife on the Beach: On November 5, 2021, the Marco Island Police Department initiated an investigation into an animal abuse which occurred on the South Beach area of Marco Island. It was reported that a male suspect was hitting seagulls with a shovel. One of the seagulls struck by the shovel received a broken wing and was no longer able to fly. It was later euthanized at the Conservancy’s Wildlife Hospital due to the severity of its injuries.

Through investigation, the male subject was identified as Paul John Flaucher, age 30, from Jesup, Iowa. With the assistance of our law enforcement partners from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Flaucher turned himself in at the Collier County Jail on May 4, 2022.  According to MIPD, Flaucher is charged with one count of Aggravated Animal Cruelty, a third-degree felony.

It's only a seagull – what’s the big deal? The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is the primary legislation protecting native birds in the United States and it prohibits the "taking" of any native birds; "taking" can mean killing or injuring a wild bird or possessing parts of a wild bird, including feathers, nests, or eggs. In this case, the act produced “irreparable damage” to the seagull, so it was a big deal!

The federal protection of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act extends to all native and migratory birds of the United States.