Coastal Management: Sand Key Beach Renourishment Environmental Impacts

The Pinellas County Beach Renourishment projects have been permitted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The FDEP has completed a rigorous analysis of the environmental effects of this project. Adverse impacts to the surrounding islands, seagrasses, sea turtles, nearshore hardgrounds, or other environmental habitats, are always a concern during beach nourishment projects. Pinellas County is required to prevent and/or mitigate for these potential adverse impacts. Turbidity created by the operation is monitored daily during construction. If water quality degrades, the operation is shut down. Sea turtle and shorebird nesting areas are also monitored daily. The contractor must wait until getting the “All Clear!” from the monitors before beginning work each morning. Finally, nearshore mitigation reefs have been constructed during past projects to mitigate for adverse impacts to the nearshore hardbottoms. These activities are described below.
Sea Turtle Monitoring. Marine turtle nesting and hatching occurs each year from May 1st through October 31st. Female turtles come ashore in the dark, dig a hole using their flippers, and lay 100 to 150 eggs at a time. During the course of a season, a single female lays three to eight nests. After a 45 to 70 day gestation period, hatchlings emerge from the nest at night and follow the moonlight reflecting off the Gulf. Hatchlings headed for the water.	A nesting loggerhead.
Daily early morning surveys are performed during nesting season between May and November in search of nests. This season, daily morning surveys began 65 days prior to construction, on April 1. Pinellas County contracts with the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to monitor sea turtle nesting along all the nourished beaches. The projects will be constructed during turtle nesting season. Thus, preparations are being made by relocating turtle nests from within the construction zone to areas outside of the construction area.
Over the last couple decades, nourishment projects have had a positive impact on sea turtles in Pinellas County. Portions of Sand Key had no dry beach, and thus no nesting habitat, prior to the project in the early 1980’s. The number of nests in Pinellas County has steadily increased from 77 in 1993 to 195 in 2003. Belleair Shores, the municipality that was not nourished but benefits from longshore transport, had no dry beach and no turtle nesting in the early 1990’s. In 2003, turtles laid 28 nests along this one mile-long beach community. By creating a wide beach along Sand Key, we have created turtle nesting habitat. Help protect our sea turtles.
Nearshore mitigation reefs. When a beach nourishment project equilibrates, some sand is carried offshore. This sand has the potential to cover productive nearshore hardbottoms. Hardbottoms are areas of exposed limestone that provide substrate upon which corals and sponges grow. They also serve as nurseries for juvenile fish. To mitigate for potential nearshore hardbottom impacts from the Phase IV project, Pinellas County was required to construct eight acres of artificial nearshore reefs in 11 to 20 feet of water offshore of the project area. Sixteen reefs that vary in relief from 1 to 5 feet off the bottom are under construction to fulfill this permit requirement. Thus far, the program has been very successful with the reefs attracting small fish within weeks, soft corals within one year, and about 1 inch of hard coral growth per year thereafter. The reefs hold a variety of sport fish, creating valuable fishing and diving resources. Click here for the Pinellas County Artificial Reef Program.
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