Page 73 - Panama City Living Magazine September-October 2019

for reducing the adverse effects of beachfront lighting. The turtles ba- sically rely on dark beaches. So, when they emerge at night, trying to find their way toward the water, lights from homes and condos can lead them in the wrong direction.”
The efforts started in the early 1990s and culminated in local ordi- nances that were passed beginning in 2002 and fully implemented in 2009, he summarizes. “We had an extensive grace period that allowed the older motels and homes to come into compliance. It's a work in progress. I think we need improvements to the ordinances, but at least we have something in place now that we can work with.”
Why are new nests that are on busy, bright beaches not relocated? Kennard Watson says that interfering with nests is a tough decision. “We don't want to be in a position where we have to move nests away from lighted areas into dark areas, because that essentially takes away important nesting habitat from these animals. And frankly, we've learned through our education program, especially with the public nest excavations, that people really enjoy the experience of seeing the Tur- tle Watch volunteers doing their job out on the beach and learning about sea turtles in their environment. So, there is an important educa- tional value having these nests on an urban beach and we're just trying to make sure that we can all get along together.”
The organization is funded by the Bay County Tourist Development Council, he explains. “They provide the funding to allow us to hire sur- veyors who then work under our permit. Most of our work takes place at nighttime, the monitoring of nests is done by volunteers. We receive donations and in the past, we've received grants from the sea turtle license plate committee. Florida residents can buy a sea turtle license plate and a portion of the funds from those plate purchases go to support groups like Panama City Beach Turtle Watch. We've received money to do things like improve our educational program, to print lit- erature that we distribute to visitors on the beach and similar things.”
To buy your sea turtle license plate, go to: helpingseaturtles.org/
PCB Turtle Watch advises: If you see a turtle or turtle hatchlings on the beach locally in Bay County, Florida, call the Panama City Beach Police at 850-233-5000 with the information and they will notify Tur- tle Watch. When visiting the beach, please follow “Clean, Dark, and Flat” principles by not littering and taking your personal gear off the beach at sunset (umbrellas, tents, chairs). Avoid the use of lights on the beach at night or use red light sparingly, and fill in holes and flatten sand castles when you leave.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Panama City Beach Turtle Watch announces the excavation of the 2019 nests on their Facebook page. Go to their Facebook page to see the latest updates and live footage of nest excavations and for the location of time of the next excavation that you can participate in.
To donate and find out more about our local Turtle Watch Organization, visit their website turtlewatch.org
Turtle enthusiasts can also follow several sea turtles that were tagged and equipped with satellite tracking devices by other organizations.
Go to the Turtle conservancy website to track the path of Loggerhead turtles Amie, Bortie and Eliza Ann at conserveturtles.org/sea-turtle- tracking-tracking-turtles-floridas-gulf-coast/ or follow Leatherbacks Jujube, Eve, Frankie, and Shelly and thirteen other Green and Loggerhead turtles at tourdeturtles.org/