St. Pete Beach considers new rules to protect sea turtle nests

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — Loggerhead sea turtle nests on St. Pete Beach are down by 50% this season, which could be blamed on a number of contributing factors, according to Sea Turtle Trackers.

“It’s very concerning,” said Bruno Falkenstein, Sea Turtle Trackers founder. “It could be the sand, it could be people out here with lights. It could be any number of different things.”

So far, there have been 24 nests with 65 false crawls, compared to last year at the same time when there were 50 nests with 45 false crawls, according to Falkenstein.

“Which is very unusual. Usually, the ratio is one-for-one,” he said. “Usually, if you have a false crawl, you usually get a turtle nest the next day.”

Contributing factors to the low nest numbers could include beach renourishment, hotel guests partying by the water at sunset who leave chairs behind, bright lights from both night shark fishing and beach patrols by Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputies, according to Sea Turtle Trackers.

“There’s more people out on the beach than there normally would be at nighttime,” said Falkenstein. “We’ve been able to look at some of the hotel cameras and see a lot of people out here with flashlights.”

A screenshot from one of those surveillance cameras shows headlights illuminating the beach from a deputy’s overnight beach patrol. Sea Turtle Trackers Beach Operations Director Joseph Widlansky said he has seen seven sets of tire tracks going through turtle crawls.

“Less frequent patrols… that would be the ideal thing,” he said. “They could put turtle-safe lighting on their headlights.”

City Commissioner Jon Maldonado, who represents the Pass-a-Grille area where the turtles typically nest, said he wants to see a grant pursued to better equip the deputy’s vehicles.

“We need the sheriff out here patrolling for safety. Making sure that folks are not doing things that they shouldn’t be doing. And also, just to check on our wildlife,” he said. “But we need to make sure that the proper equipment’s there for safety reasons.”

Beach patrols for public safety vary, according to Corporal Jamie Miller.

“Can be in either a Polaris or a Tahoe,” she stated. “Deputies are aware and educated about turtle nesting season and know to take precautions during beach patrols.”

Widlansky said night shark fishing has greatly increased on the beach this season and their bright lights scare the turtles too.

“They’re out here a lot more often than they used to be,” he said. “They like to use white lights, bright lights, lanterns, anything so they can see what’s going on.”

Maldonado believes shark fishing from the beach not only harms the sea turtles, but endangers swimmers as well, and wants it banned.

“I’d like to follow the models that are being set by some of our neighboring cities when it comes to banning shore-based shark fishing,” he said. “I know that there’s an industry out there. I do believe that there’s compromises to be made. There’s the Bayway.”

The Shark Crossing Charters owner Yuseff Ali confirms he has been fishing in Pass-a-Grille a lot more this year than in the past. Ali said he used to show up about once a week, but as his business has grown, that number has gone up to five times per week. The charter owner said he never fishes during daylight hours, only uses small headlamps when necessary and disputes his activity has been affecting the sea turtles.

“We’ve had sea turtles come up right up next to us, 25 feet from us. Go up into the dunes, lay their eggs, and come out,” he said. “The lights only come on when we’re hooked up, or we’re on a fish, or we need to see what we’re doing so we can successfully land our fish and release them as well.”

Ali said if the city tries to ban shark fishing he’ll fight it.

“I’ve been fishing for years. This is my livelihood. This is my business,” he said. “I will fight for my right, and we will keep shark fishing going.”

Indian Shores was the first Pinellas County beach town to ban shark fishing in 2023. Town Administrator Christina Porter said the city council will look at revising the ordinance next month after being contacted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) that the law conflicts with the state agency’s jurisdiction.

FWC Communications Coordinator Pebbles Causseaux sent Spectrum News a statement about the Florida Constitution rules that govern shark fishing.

“Florida Statutes… reserve the power to regulate the taking or possession of saltwater fish to the State,” she stated. “While allowing a local government to prohibit saltwater fishing from real property owned by that local government for the purposes of protecting public health, safety, or welfare.” 

Causseaux also stated that it is unlawful to place chum in the water for the purposes of fishing from a beach or wade fishing in waters immediately adjacent to a beach. A baited hook must be used when fishing with line gear.

Sea Turtle Trackers said they’re raising the issue as the city commission considers a new wildlife lighting ordinance with more restrictions on lighting in conjunction with a beach ordinance which would prohibit leaving unattended fishing lines. The current lighting ordinance in St. Pete Beach prohibits lighting which purposely and flagrantly illuminates nesting sea turtles or hatchlings.

The loggerhead sea turtle is protected as a threatened species by the Federal Endangered Species Act. Widlansky said he supports any new rules that would help the sea turtles as long as they’re enforced.

“We can get by one year without a lot of nests,” he said. “And hope for next year to be a lot better.”

Clearwater Marine Aquarium said they’re having a normal sea turtle nesting season on Clearwater Beach. Sea turtle nesting season runs from May 1 through October 31.