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2016.12.13_BSAB_Minutes_Regulart . m TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH o . :- "o . 1.0 e: MINUTES OF THE r BEACHES & SHORES ADVISORY BOARD , Ills REGULAR MEETING Tuesday December 13 2016 9:30 AM Members Present: Chair Elizabeth Andrews; Member Lynn Rodis; Member Anne Gehman and Member Carol Stem. Members Absent: Vice Chair Jim Jiovanazzo, Member Myles Schlam. Also Attending: Mayor Bernard Featherman; Commissioner Carl Feldman; Commissioner Rhoda Zelniker; Administrative Support Specialist Rosalie DeMartino and members of the public. 1. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Andrews called the Regular Meeting to order at 9:30 AM. Roll call was taken by Rosalie DeMartino, Administrative Support Specialist, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and the Beaches & Shores Beach Pledge. 2. ADDITIONS DELETIONS OR ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA: Chair Andrews called for additions, deletions or acceptance of agenda. Hearing none, the agenda was accepted as presented. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REOUESTS: There were no public comments. 4. PRESENTATIONS: • Welcome New Member Carol Stern Chair Andrews welcomed new member Carol Stem. • Report on 2016 Turtle Season by Suzi Hiles, Sea Turtle Liaison Suzi Hiles — I am a Sea Turtle Volunteer and Captain of Zone 1. Highland Beach has 5 zones consisting of/4 miles per zone and there are 25 sea turtle volunteers in Highland Beach. The season runs from March I" to October 31'. She read her report on the 2016 turtle season into the record attached as Exhibit "A". Beaches & Shores Advisory Board Regular Meeting Minutes Tuesday December 13 2016 Page 2 of 3 Because of the progress the State of Florida has made to protect the turtles, the number of nests have increased substantially. The State reported the following numbers for the 2015 turtle season: 55,000 Loggerheads; 5,000 Green Turtles and 500 Leatherbacks. Barbara James, Sea Turtle Permit Holder reports the number of nests found here in Highland Beach. Member Braun — It is very important that people be aware of leaving chairs on the beach. Turtles can get caught in them. Suzi Hiles — They need to be stacked properly. We have had to rescue some turtles from being caught under the chairs. Member Stem — How long before the baby turtles become mature enough to nest? Suzi Hiles — It takes a turtle 15 to 25 years to mature. An interesting fact is that when a turtle is mature enough to come ashore to nest, they come back to the same area where they were born. Discussion ensued amongst the Board members regarding the Turtle Talk & Walk Day and what a great success it was. Everyone is looking forward to it again. Suzi Hiles — Gumbo Limbo has an excellent program for anyone who would like to see a turtle nesting during turtle season. They come to shore between dusk and dawn. On occasion they may come ashore to nest in the morning hours which is very unusual for this to happen. Member Rodis — Are there many neighboring towns have volunteers the turtle nesting. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: • May 10, 2016 — Regular Meeting volunteers in other cities? Suzi Hiles — The . Lifeguards in Delray Beach are in charge of MOTION: Member Gehman moved to approve the May 10, 2016 Regular Meeting Minutes; seconded by Member Stern, which passed unanimously. 6. OLD BUSINESS: None. 7. NEW BUSINESS: A) Election of Officers o Chair Member Braun nominated Ann Gehman for Chair. Member Gehman accepted the nomination. n Beaches & Shores Advisory Board Regular Meeting Minutes Tuesday December 13 2016 Page 3 of 3 o Vice Chair Member Gehman nominated Carol Stem for Vice Chair. Member Stern accepted the nomination. Chair Elizabeth Andrews — I want to thank everyone for their support while I served as a member and Chair of the Beaches & Shores Advisory Board. It has been a pleasure to serve this community and will continue to do so. Looking forward to our next Turtle Talk and Walk Day. 8. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, Chair Andrews adjourned the meeting at 10:06 AM. APPROVED: ATTEST: Rosalie DeMariino Administrative Support Specialist Elizabdh An •ews, Chair Jim Jiovanazi6. Vice Chair Braun, Member Carol Stern, Member Date: / �C-4 % I 12/13/16 — Susan Hiles report to Beaches and Shores Advisory Board meeting. I am pleased to report to you that our Sea Turtle Nesting Season for 2016 was a good one. We encountered some difficult weather conditions for our incubating sea turtle eggs which resulted in a higher than normal rate of unhatched eggs. For about 4 months the temperatures of the sand and the upper portion of the nests was quite hot, and caused many eggs to be unable to survive and become little turtle hatchlings. "They cooked". Once we had cooler temperatures and overcast or rainy weather, the results were significantly better. Our trained sea turtle volunteers record the exact number of adult female sea turtle exits from the ocean to the sand. Every morning from March 1" to October 31" there are at least 5 sea turtle rangers on the beach just prior to sunrise. The tracks that a nesting female leaves indicate her species and whether or not she nested. The ratio to nesting and not nesting is usually in the 50 / 50 range. This past season, we had a total of 2,605 exits from the sea by all species. Of those "crawls" from the sea, we had 1,311 that nested and 1,294 that did not nest ( called false crawls ). The final talley shows that we had 1,046 loggerhead nests and 1, 114 loggerhead false crawls. We had 252 green sea turtle nests and 177 green sea turtle false crawls. And, the leatherback turtles had 13 nests and 3 false crawls. Every year is different. It is difficult to use comparisons annually, as the turtles do not nest every year. Some nest every other year, and some nest every third year. We just look over the decades, and the data seems to show a safe nesting trend is in play. Our difficulty is most often human -caused! People on the beach at night with flashlights. Even those who build fires on the beach. Fires must at all times be Permitted by the town or the Fire Department and are NEVER allowed during nesting season. We have occasional reports or indications that people had surrounded a nesting turtle late at night and most likely harassed her enough to cause her to abort her nesting attempt. This is a Federal crime! These are endangered species of animals. Our season starts again on March 1" and the volunteers are anxious to see what is in store for the 2017 season.