INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) — Volunteers rushed to rescue some turtles in trouble, after they found the marine reptiles in a Florida storm drain.
CC Pond said she was heading to a home near Clearwater when she saw a sea turtle nesting team and a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Offce deputy looking into a storm drain, Monday morning.
Pond snapped a photo and later learned the team and the deputy were fishing out sea turtles that were likely disoriented by improper lighting at a nearby beachfront property.
The team believed the turtles crossed the road after they left their nest.
“I mean, the waters and getting into the Gulf and being safe, they’re traveling and they just die because they can’t keep going, they exhaust themselves,” said Pond. “It’s sad, so we need to turn off the lights and respect, you know, May through October for these sea turtles.”
Indian Rocks Beach Mayor-Commissioner Lan Vaughan said the nesting team has audited their shorelines this year and issued 82 code violations to properties without proper lighting.
Those property owners were given 30 days to comply in an effort to prevent incidents like this.
“We have started setting meetings with Duke Energy. Duke Energy has a program that they’re actually going to test our lights, that they are going to make sure that we’re turtle compliant. It’s a little more costly, but we need to do this for the generations to come,” said Vaughn.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium cannot confirm how many sea turtles were found due to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission protocol, but they said the turtles found were safely returned to the ocean.
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