- Named Best Florida Newspaper In Its Class -
VOL 18 No. 42
August 1, 2018
Help hatchlings; leave lights home The trending vacation activity of checking sea turtle nests with lights to get photos and videos may be killing hatchlings. BY CINDY LANE SUN STAFF WRITER | clane@amisun.com
JOE HENDRICKS | SUN
The historic Anna Maria City Pier built in 1911-1912 is gone and a new pier is slated to reopen in late 2019.
Pier construction bids rejected The city will issue a second request for proposals in hopes of getting a lower price to build the new pier. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
ANNA MARIA – The city pier has been demolished, and the search continues for a construction firm to build the new pier. Last week, city commissioners unanimously supported Mayor Dan Murphy’s recommendation to reject the two bids recently received for the construction of the new city pier platform. The SEE PIER, PAGE 29
INSIDE NEWS 4 OPINION 6 SUN SURVEY 7 OBITUARIES 24 RESTAURANTS 25 REAL ESTATE 28-33 SPORTS 34 CROSSWORD 36
JOE HENDRICKS | SUN
The pier demolition was completed on Thursday, July 26, and the area where the pier and the shoreline converged now looks like this.
It’s a trend that’s concerning state and local turtle officials – vacationers are increasingly taking the whole family out to the beach at night to check all the sea turtle nests with cell phone flashlights. A recent viral video by the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce depicting turtle hatchlings scurrying to the Gulf of Mexico has sparked a rash of souvenirseekers illuminating nests with cell phone flashlights, which can be deadly for turtles, Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Director Suzi Fox said. Lights from cell phones and other sources temporarily blind hatchlings trying to find the water, as well as mother turtles, which are still nesting for the next couple of weeks, and beachgoers, she said, adding that no one knows whether turtle vision is permanently impaired by artificial lights. No one would intentionally shine an LED flashlight in a newborn infant’s eyes, the equivalent of a turtle hatchling, Fox said. “Those few minutes going to the sea are precious to them,” Fox said, explaining that if they are disoriented by lights, they could crawl away from the water, where they can become dehydrated, be hit by cars or attacked by predators. At a nest that hatched one night last week, a large family surrounded it, shining cell phone lights at the hatchlings. While the hatchlings made it to the Gulf, their temporary blindness could have caused them to lose their bearings and come back ashore later, she said. “Did that nest get disoriented? We don’t know, it could have,” she said, adding that recent rains have obliterated hatchling tracks by the time Turtle Watch volunteers arrive at dawn to track them. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission paid a visit to the Island last week to check nests; sea turtles are protected by state and local laws. Loggerheads are threatened species, one step away from the endangered category. A turtle-friendly flashlight is available at www.turtlesafeonline.com, but it cannot be used continuously, Fox emphasized. “You have to click it on and click it off quickly,” she said. “It can’t be a constant light because hatchlings will follow it and it will disorient mothers.” Nests are expected to continue hatching through Oct. 31, the end of the turtle season, and possibly beyond.
HOT weather is a
HOLMES Beach keeps
challenge but there are ways for anglers to beat the heat. 22
maximum millage rate the same. 3
Anna Maria Island, Florida
RESIDENTIAL bike path back
up for discussion. 4
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