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VOL 18 No. 40
July 18, 2018
Hatchling loss likely in the hundreds BY CINDY LANE SUN STAFF WRITER | clane@amisun.com
HOLMES BEACH – The happiness of discovering that the first sea turtle nests of the season have hatched has largely been spoiled by five of six nests being disoriented by lights, Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Director Suzi Fox said. Hatchling turtles that are disoriented can become confused and crawl away from the Gulf of Mexico, dying from dehydration, vehicle strikes and predators. Lights from tourist accommodations, businesses, condos and residences in Holmes Beach are the probable cause of the disorientation of the five loggerhead nests, Fox said, killing as many as 375 hatchlings, based on the average nest size of 75 in 2017. Since most of the hatchlings have not been found, there is no way to know the number for sure, but volunteers found no tracks leading from the five disoriented nests to the water, she said. Volunteers estimate that 88 hatchlings made it to the Gulf from the one other hatched nest, based on a posthatching excavation and count of eggshell fragments.
TURTLES IN THE POOL, TURTLES IN THE FOUNTAIN
JOE HENDRICKS | SUN
Clockwise top, the excavators that would tear down the restaurant and bait shop were in place Wednesday afternoon. By Thursday evening the restaurant and bait shop at the end of the Anna Maria City Pier were gone. Anna Maria Commissioner Brian Seymour toured the demolition site by boat last week.
Turtles on the Island have set a nesting record so far this season, laying 430 nests, nine more than the 421 laid by this time last year, according to Turtle Watch statistics. However, the average number of disorientations over the last 20 years for the entire nesting season, May 1 to Oct. 31, is 18, compared with five already this season. SEE TURTLES, PAGE 19
Pier demolition begins The pier demolition is to be completed by the end of September. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amsun.com
ANNA MARIA – The demolition of the city pier began last week, and the restaurant and bait shop were demolished on Thursday, July 12. Largo-based Speeler & Associates is doing the demolition work, and this week or next a crew from Agnelli Pools & Construction will remove the remaining engraved wooden pier planks to be stored and later used to build memorial walls.
INSIDE NEWS 4 OPINION 6 SUN SURVEY 7 OUTDOORS 22 RESTAURANTS 27 REAL ESTATE 28-33 POLICE REPORTS 35 CROSSWORD 36
On Wednesday, July 11, Speeler & Associates Vice President Mike Tibbett and company associate Harry Blenker took City Commissioner Brian Seymour, Public Works Manager Dean Jones and two media members on a boat tour of the demolition area that included two barge-mounted excavators docked next to the pier’s T-end. While Blenker piloted the boat, Tibbett discussed the demolition process that started Monday, July 9, with the removal of what remained of the metal roof and the contents inside the restaurant and bait shop. “There were still some things left in there after the hurricane
Pier banner vandalized The vandalized banner featured a rendering of the new Anna Maria City Pier.
that had to be taken out. Tomorrow morning, we’ll start pulling the building down, and then we’ll start taking the T-end deck off in sections. We want to keep what goes in the water to a minimum,” Tibbett said. The removed materials will be loaded into bags that can hold up to 1,000-pounds and be transported by barge to the shoreline dumpsters or to Blenker’s Boatworks & Marina on the Manatee River. “Most people don’t realize that when you do demolition the material stinks. Everything we can take
ANNA MARIA – The city pier restoration project banner was vandalized at some point over the weekend. Located near the foot of the pier that is currently being demolished, the banner featured a rendering that showed what the new pier will look like. On Sunday morning, July 15, Public Works Manager Dean Jones sent Mayor Dan Murphy an email that said, “Someone slashed the pier picture banners. I am going in to look at video and do a police
SEE PIER, PAGE 11
SEE VANDALISM, PAGE 10
BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
COYOTES: More citings
OFFSHORE oil drilling in the
of the wild canines reported around AMI. 5
Gulf looms for Florida. 4
Anna Maria Island, Florida
THINK matrimonial while
reading The Wedding Guide. 24 The Island’s award-winning weekly newspaper www.amisun.com