NAPLES, Fla. - Southwest Florida beaches left battered by a tropical storm earlier this summer are set for another lashing from Tropical Storm Isaac. <\/p>\n
Isaac, on a track that could send it just west of Southwest Florida or right over it, could further erode beaches already in need of renourishment and could wash out what's left of a successful sea turtle nesting season. <\/p>\n
\"I have no clue what to expect from this,\" said Maura Kraus, manager of the sea turtle monitoring program for Collier County. \"We are just hoping for the best.\" <\/p>\n
In June, Tropical Storm Debby plowed through the Gulf of Mexico on its way to a landfall in the Florida Panhandle. Along the way, the storm hammered Southwest Florida beaches for three days. <\/p>\n
Almost 600 sea turtle nests, each with as many as 100 eggs, were flooded or washed away from Collier beaches in Debby. Fewer than 500 nests are left on the beach, Kraus said, and more are hatching every day. More than 1,200 sea turtle nests were laid on Collier beaches this year compared to 751 last summer, according to county figures. <\/p>\n
In south Lee County, monitors have counted 129 sea turtle nests, 43 of which already have hatched. Another 20 nests have been lost, according to the nonprofit Turtle Time. <\/p>\n
Because turtles that nest on Southwest Florida beaches, mostly loggerheads, are protected species, state and federal rules don't allow the nests to be moved out of harm's way, Kraus said. <\/p>\n
Since Debby, sea turtles have been mostly laying eggs high on the beach, but it remains to be seen whether that will be far enough from the Gulf of Mexico to be protected from Isaac. <\/p>\n
At the Vanderbilt Beach Resort, manager Mick Moore is worried that not enough beach is left between the hotel and Gulf to keep Isaac from overtopping the seawall. <\/p>\n
Moore was concerned enough to install a giant sandbag, called a TrapBag, about 2 feet tall and 100 feet long, on top of the seawall to try to buy some insurance, he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Experts: Several Naples, Florida...<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NAPLES, Fla. - Southwest Florida beaches left battered by a tropical storm earlier this summer are set for another lashing from Tropical Storm Isaac. Isaac, on a track that could send it just west of Southwest Florida or right over it, could further erode beaches already in need of renourishment and could wash out what's left of a successful sea turtle nesting season. Continue reading