The dunes on Singer Island have been a source of contention between the condo owners, the nesting sea turtles, the city and county government, and Andrea, the first named storm of the season. Andrea battered the coastline from Florida to North Carolina, stripping away what was left of the protective dunes along Singer Island. But Andrea wasnt the first. In this sequence you can see blurry photos taken of Frances and Wilma and then the storm waves from last year. See the photo album for a slide show of all of the pictures.

Andrea Damage

Andrea arrived in mid-May, well after the start of the turtle nesting season (March 1 through October 31), and many nests were destroyed along Singer Island.

This created a real crisis for both turtles and people. Here the condo parking lot has started to collapse onto the beach. One more storm and the sea is eating away at the foundations of the building.

Once the ocean gets behind the sea wall, the sea wall collapses. Pessimists believe that eventually all of Singer Island will be walled. This would be truly unfortunate for both the people and the turtles. Once you have a seawall, the beach is gone forever. And what is the value of an oceanfront condo without a beach? Not as much as an oceanfront condo with a beach. So saving the beach serves the interests of both condo owners and turtles.

John's Place

Even the little guys get hurt. John has lost his deck, his trees, and all of his dunes. Last year Debbie is standing in front of his place looking at storm damage. This year everything is gone.

Construction Follies

Last year I blogged about new construction so close to the water line. This year you can see the results. One can only wonder what went through the builder's mind, to put such a big high-rise at water's edge. Contrast this with the WWII bunkers that are finally disintegrating after 60 years.

Sacrificial Sand

The politicians, news media and condo residents gather to press for sacrificial sand, to the tune of 1,600 tons per day. Normally this wouldn't have happened during turtle season, but the damage was too extensive to head into hurricane season without doing anything.

Relocating Turtles

Because the turtle nesting season had already started, all of the existing nests needed to be relocated. Unfortunately, if a nest is older than 24 hours and the eggs are relocated, none of them will hatch. You need to relocate them right away. Last year we had good hatching numbers for nests relocated in the 24-hour timeframe. Either way, any older nests that survived Andrea would have been doomed, with tons of sand dumped on top of them.

Each morning before the bulldozers started work the nests from the night before were excavated and moved to another location. Unfortunately, the concentration of turtle nests proved an irresistible temptation for poachers. One miscreant was apprehended in a bar trying to sell turtle eggs. I wish someone would tell these guys about Viagra.

The new dunes look very solid. We all hope not to have another bad storm or hurricane any time soon. The long-term interests of people and turtles are the same. The various government agencies, city and county governments, and citizens need to work together to find environmentally sound solutions for preserving the beach for turtles and people.

Support the Volunteers

The volunteers have been making heroic efforts to monitor the beach and save the turtle nests. Surveys have been very difficult this year, what with all of the nest relocations and additional red tape. Nesting numbers are updated regularly on http://www.singerislandseaturtles.com. Visitors are welcome!

The bounary line between the dune restoration and John D. MacArthur State Park.