Tigertail Lagoon and Social Media

Following update to Council regarding the Tigertail Lagoon project, reported on the front page of last week’s Coastal Breeze, we have seen subsequently a flurry of social media activity from political luminaries propounding the virtues of the project, and, bordering on arrogance, they infer that one must be foolish not to agree with the stated virtues.

First, the County Commissioner appears on social media, supporting “27 others at Tigertail Beach Lagoon.” Which 27 is not disclosed. The post has since been modified, removing many of the original claims, such as the falsehood that “Hideaway Beach paid for 99% of the project,” and the fact that the permits were sought by the City of Marco, not the County. The County does NOT own the waterway. Yes, the lagoon has deteriorated, but largely the result of Hideaway Beach actually pumping sand into the lagoon several years ago in an attempt to ‘renourish’ their private beaches.

Then we have the City Manager extolling the project’s virtues while claiming ‘he saw lots of birds’ on his site visit. Some species are drawn to areas where construction work is underway, and have nothing to do with the ability of the remodeled environment to support nesting. No sir, it’s not “hard to hate the project if you understand it,” but it’s easy to look silly when you expound on subjects you don’t understand.

Finally, the website Dredgewire.com expounds on the “stunning final phase” of the beach dredging project. The hyperbolic text is supported by a video link that doesn’t work and a photograph taken of birds on the beach, but not this beach; this was taken when the dome houses were still standing! Using old photos has been widely used for the purposes of misdirection.

One has to wonder why this collective firepower is so animated. None are biologists, all are making stuff up and/or misdirecting. What they appear to defend is the misleading of the public as to the true scope and intent of the project. I challenge them all to lobby Florida Fish and Wildlife to remove the local “Critical Wildlife Area” designation, since the property no longer resembles that which was so designated.