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From the smallest star fish to magnificent manatees … from great white
egrets and
snowy
plovers to
soaring
eagles and
ospreys ..
from snook
&
sheephead
and
oysters
and tulips
in our
“inside”
waters to
350 pound
loggerhead
turtles
coming to
our
beaches
from the
Gulf of
Mexico—Florida’s
fish,
marine and
avian life
rely on
healthy,
clean
waterways
and
beaches in
order to
survive. |
HARBORS, BAYS & WATERWAYS. Speeding boats,
trash and
other
discards, and
fertilizer
run-off are
the biggest
detriments to
the
environment.
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Most (not all) of the intra-coastal waterways allow boats to
travel at
25 m.p.h.
But
our island
harbors
and bays
are
restricted
to slow
speed
and/or no
wake
travel,
to protect
resident
dolphins
and
manatees,
as well as
our
fragile
shorelines
and the
sea
grasses
that are
an
integral
part of
our marine
environment
and
eco-system.
Oh yes,
and to
protect
moored
boats from
being
bounced
about or
even torn
from their
moorings.
(In
case you
didn’t
know, you
are
responsible
for your
own wake!)
So…
No wake
please!
Aside from
the damage
from the
wake
itself,
with our
islands’
shallows
and low
tides,
propellers
can churn
up the
homes of
the
creatures
that live
in the mud
and
grasses.
And
do not
discard
anything
in the
water.
Mono-filament
line kills
dolphins,
manatee
and birds!
BEACHES, BIRDS, TURTLES & LIGHTBULBS.
Our
beaches
provide
nesting
for
hundreds
of species
of birds
and four
species of
sea
turtles
(Green,
Loggerhead,
Kemps
Ridley,
Hawksbill).
Many of
the birds
and all of
the
turtles
are
protected
species.
Snowy
Plovers
and Least
Terns, for
instance,
lay their
eggs on
the bare
sand and
camouflage
them.
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Please……do
not feed or
disturb
resident or
migrating
nesting and
resting birds.
May through October is turtle nesting season.
Forty-five to
sixty days
after a
Loggerhead
comes ashore
in the night
to dig her
nest in the
sand and lay
her ping-pong
ball size
eggs, an
average of 100
two-inch baby
turtles will
hatch … and
hopefully find
their way out
and back to
sea, to spend
the rest of
their lives.
Our volunteer Turtle Patrol, authorized & permitted by the
State of
Florida, is
out every day
marking and
monitoring
nests.
Please…
observe the
marked sea
turtle nests
and DO NOT
disturb them!
“Light” can
be deadly for
sea turtles.
Nesting sea
turtles will
turn away from
light and not
lay their
eggs.
Hatchlings
will be
disoriented by
light and
never make it
back to the
Gulf. So… if
you live near
enough to the
beach for
indoor or
outdoor lights
to be seen,
please…
keep your shades down at night and be sure to shield outdoor
lights on the
side facing
beaches.
And while we’re talking about “lights,” wherever you live on
these islands,
for our myriad
of nocturnal
critters and
your
two-legged
star-gazing
neighbors, as
well, please…
älights out or low (including dock lights).
HERE, THERE & EVERYWHERE. So many people search
far and wide
for that
special
sanctuary. The
wildlife
amongst us
found that
sanctuary a
long time ago.
We who live
here have
found it more
recently. Let
us never
forget to
preserve it!
