MARCO ISLAND, Fla. — Marco Island Police (MIPD) are on the lookout for someone who stole a golf cart Friday night and ran over a sea turtle nest south of Resident’s Beach.
A maintenance golf cart was unlawfully taken from the J.W. Marriott Beach Resort and driven down Resident’s Beach before crashing into the nest. The golf cart was later ditched near the scene of the collision, according to reports provided to NBC2 News via MIPD.
Biologists from FWC have concluded that there was no damage to the eggs inside the nest.
“We take it very seriously because when you look into a lot of these they are indeed felonies if you are hurting the environment,” said Marco Island Police Chief Tracy Frazzano.
This is the second vehicle-related incident regarding a sea turtle nest on Marco Island in the last 30 days.
In May, a contractor working on site of the Tigertail Lagoon refurbishment project ran over a sea turtle nest in an ATV, according to the City of Marco Island. That employee was fired immediately.
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“We always say if you see something, say something. A lot of the condo buildings on the beach, if you’re seeing lights on the beach at night — give us a ring. If you see any activity that is suspicious, like a maintenance cart being driven on the beach at night, give us a ring,” added Chief Frazzano.
Collier County Code Enforcement reports show that Marco Island has seen a significant rise in “false crawls” (when baby sea turtles follow an artificial light instead of the moon) of sea turtles in 2023 compared to 2022.
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Oftentimes turtles involved in “false crawls” are eaten by birds or die of starvation, since they do not properly make it to the Gulf of Mexico.
“The big thing is we don’t want lights out in that area…because you don’t want to disorient the turtles as they are nesting,” said Chief Frazzano.
Data provided to NBC2 News shows that Marco Island has seen 194 false crawls as of June 5, compared to just 70 in all of 2022.
Three dead loggerhead turtles have also been discovered at Tigertail Lagoon, Hideaway Beach and Sand Dollar Island.
“We gotta make sure the vehicles aren’t allowed out there, especially during nesting season,” added Chief Frazzano.
Marco Island Police consider this most recent incident an active investigation and are actively reviewing security camera footage from nearby condo complexes and resorts.
If you have any information, you can contact the MIPD non-emergency number: 239-389-5050.
This is an ongoing story. Count on NBC2 for the most up-to-date information as this story develops.
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