NEWS BLIPS
$1.2 Million Project Underway To Relocate Portion of Marco Island Beach For Sea Turtle Nesting
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through Naples Daily News' website.
Naples Daily News reports that Marco Island beach will be getting a makeover of sorts. A $1.2 million project began earlier this month and is expected to be completed by mid-April. Construction workers will be moving more than 100,000 cubic yards of sand from the shoreline up to the dunes. According to Naples Daily News writer Karl Schneider, the project will “reduce public health concerns resulting from residual/unsightly algae growth due to ponding water,” said a release from Collier County.
The project extends about a mile between Sand Dollar Island south to the Madeira Beach public access point. The time frame of the project is scheduled around the nesting season of sea turtles. Once completed, the beach’s “positive drainage” will be improved, providing, as the release says, “a more suitable sea turtle nesting habitat.” Sea turtle nesting season begins May 1, according to Dave Addison, a senior biologist at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
Learn more about the Marco Island project and sea turtle nesting here.