Up to $18,000 had been raised by July 6 to help find and prosecute the perpetrators of the June 27 attack on wildlife on the beach.
Law enforcement and environmental groups are offering rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for three black skimmer deaths and damage to five loggerhead nests at the Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach city lines.
According to police reports, a man and a woman in their early 20s on an all-terrain vehicle gained access to the Gulf beaches near the Cortez Bridge and drove north along the beach to about the 3400 block. Reports state that while driving the ATV in the 2900 block, they laughed as they smashed the turtle nest markers and crushed the birds.
The suspects on the ATV were last seen heading south on Gulf Drive in Bradenton Beach, according to Bradenton Beach Police Officer Eric Hill.
BBPD, Holmes Beach Police Department, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are combining resources and coordinating efforts to locate and arrest the perpetrators.
The FWC is the lead agency in the effort.
“We want people to know we take these things very seriously. The community takes this very seriously,” said FWC spokesman Gary Morse.
Under state law, the Marine Turtle Protection Act prohibits the destruction or harassment of any marine turtle species, their nests or eggs, as a third-degree felony — punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines.
Black skimmers are similarly protected by state law as a species of special concern.
Under federal law, the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973 prohibits taking or destroying sea turtles or their eggs, with fines up to $100,000 and one year in prison for each turtle or egg vandalized, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service public information officer Chuck Underwood.
A maximum $25,000 civil penalty, per egg or turtle, also may be levied under the federal law, he added.
The U.S. Migratory Treaty Act protects skimmers and killing them can be charged as a misdemeanor — punishable by up to six months in prison and a $15,000 fine — or as a felony carrying a maximum two-year prison sentence. Multiple killings increase fines and prison sentences.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals set a $2,500 reward.
PETA is the largest animal rights organization in the world with 3 million members and supporters, according to its website.
“Animals feel the pain, stress and fear just like we do. This is a coward and bully who had callous disregard for sea turtles and three baby birds,” said PETA spokeswoman Kristin DeJournett.
PETA, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is offering the reward in hopes of bringing justice to a community proud to live in harmony with the environment, DeJournett added.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an international organization established by Capt. Paul Watson, is offering up to $2,000.
And, Manatee County Crime Stoppers — where all tips may be anonymous — is offering up to $1,000, with an increased reward likely if the perpetrators remain at large.
Additional contributions to the Crime Stoppers reward are expected from donations to Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring, according to Crime Stoppers’ spokesman Frank Brunner.
PETA and Sea Shepherd rewards will be administered through their organizations, according to Hall.
Beach wildlife crime worsens, 3rd skimmer dies
A week-old black skimmer died shortly after being rescued.
The bird was found scraped and injured by Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring and Wildlife Inc. the morning after an all-terrain vehicle crashed through a marked shorebird nesting area and drove over nests and birds.
The injured chick along with two dead chicks were found June 28 amid the debris left by suspects who terrorized both sea turtle and shorebird nests in the 2900 block of Gulf Drive, Bradenton Beach.
“All three that we had didn’t make it,” said Ed Straight, president of Wildlife Inc.
He said the injured skimmer brought off the beach died about “a day or so” after the incident.
“At that age they are challenged if they’re without their mother even without being injured,” he added.
Wildlife Inc. is keeping the birds for evidence in the police investigation, he added.
“Hopefully, they all go to jail,” said Gail Straight, Wildlife Inc. curator, of the perpetrators.
Police track ATV path, optimistic for arrest
The path is narrowing.
As part of a multi-agency police investigation into a turtle and shorebird nest attack, the Bradenton Beach Police Department has tracked the pillagers allegedly joyriding in an all-terrain vehicle on the beach in the 2600 block of Gulf Drive North.
After the 10:30 p.m. June 27 incident near the Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach city lines, the ATV traveled southbound, but not so far as Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach, according to BBPD Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz.
In a report, BBPD Officer Eric Hill stated, “After leaving the scene, I followed the tracks made by the suspect ATV south on the beach. I followed the tracks to approximately the 600 block of Gulf Drive North. I observed the ATV tire tracks go from the beach southbound onto Gulf Drive South.”
Eyes were everywhere: Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring volunteers, residents, visitors, security guards in hotels and motels on Gulf Drive, a patrol on Bridge Street, the bridge tender on the Cortez Bridge and security cameras.
“They’re closer than you might think,” said Suzi Fox, director of AMITW.
Diaz said they’re still interviewing witnesses.
“Hopefully, with all the pressure, they’ll turn themselves in,” said Holmes Beach Detective Sgt. Brian Hall.
Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission anonymous hotline at 888-404-3922, the Holmes Beach Police Department at 941-708-5804 or Crime Stoppers at 866-639-8477.