SEE ALGAE

from Anna Maria Island Sun June 16, 2021

by Anna Maria Island Sun

SEE PARKING

Offshore bite filling coolers

CAPTAIN DAVE WHITE

The conditions for offshore fishing have been awesome the last week or so. With red snapper, gag grouper, and virtually every species aside from amberjack and triggerfish open, it’s been nice to fill the coolers for our clients. It seems to be a great year for going deep. We’re getting quite the variety of fish, including black grouper and even big Wahoo. Unfortunately, it looks like the winds are going to pick up a bit. It may keep us from getting out there for a few days.

We’re also still getting our share of tarpon. The new moon was helpful for anglers trying to land that bucket list fish of a lifetime. Crabs and herring are our primary baits.

The mangrove snapper, snook, trout, redfish and sharks are the targets for our inshore trips lately. The Mangrove snapper are getting bigger in the bay. So we’ve been able to get some nice meals on our inshore trips as well. Good luck out there. Let’s hope our water quality will remain good as the summer storms start rolling in.

CAPTAIN DAVE WHITE | SUBMITTED Longtime Island resident Dave Bouchard hoists a red snapper in the 12-14-lb. range. Caught with Captain David White of Anna Maria Charters.

ALGAE: Piney Point link explored

FROM PAGE 1

“I have never in 58 years seen it this sick,” she said. “There is no life.”

Fishing guides have long frequented Tampa Bay waters between the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and Port Manatee, where the discharge occurred, said Rusty Chinnis, The Sun’s outdoor columnist.

“There was never red tide there, and now there is,” he said. “I believe it’s a smoking gun.”

The blue-green algae, lyngbya, is not a new occurrence locally, but has been worsened by the Piney Point spill, he said.

“Did the Piney Point spills cause the lyngbya blooms or red tide problems we’re seeing? No. But are the nutrients from those discharges likely making it worse? Yes,” said Dr. David Tomasko, executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.

“Piney Point added about 200 tons of nitrogen and about 100 tons of phosphorus to our local waters,” he said. “We don’t know where it all went, but it appears that a substantial amount of that nitrogen could have ended up in the macroalgae we are now seeing throughout Anna Maria Sound.”

Algae blooms have been appearing and shifting in Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico since shortly after the Piney Point discharge, according to Ed Sherwood, executive director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.

“I suspect that these different blooms are capitalizing on the 200+ tons of nitrogen circulating in Tampa Bay, upper Sarasota Bay and the nearshore Gulf beaches stemming from the original discharge event,” he said. “That is, the nutrients are now cycling through the bay’s ecology and the latest red tide and lyngbya blooms are a manifestation of more nutrients being available in these waters in comparison to a ‘normal’ dry season.”

Dr. Kristen Buck, chemical oceanographer at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg, disagrees.

“At this point, we simply do not have data to support a direct cause-andeffect relationship between the Piney Point discharge and the occurrence of the red tide, which is, of course, being detected at several sites within Tampa Bay but also along parts of the Gulf coast,” she said. “Nutrient chemistry in seawater is a complex issue, and this is certainly true for Tampa Bay. Red tides are also a complex phenomenon.”

As water quality decreases, the spotlight is on responsibility for the damage.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has advised the owners of Piney Point, HRK Holdings LLC, that the state’s emergency order regarding the incident has expired and that “the company is expected to meet its legal responsibilities as site owner and operator to manage the site to ensure the integrity of the stack system and protect the health, safety and welfare of the public and the environment. DEP remains committed to its stringent regulatory oversight of the facility and to holding HRK accountable for the recent events at the site through all possible legal means.”

HRK filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2011 after an accidental spill of wastewater from Piney Point into Tampa Bay.

Beachfront, award-winning rooms

As long as you’re getting married on the beach, why not stay on the beach?

Bungalow Beach Resort, 2000 Gulf Drive N., Bradenton Beach, has won the Top Romance award in the US by tripadvisor.com, and it is located right on the beach – the perfect place to escape between the rehearsal dinner, the ceremony and the reception. With the Gulf of Mexico just steps from your lushly landscaped cedar bungalow, it’s a great place for an extended stay after the bride and groom leave for their honeymoon.

If the bride and groom want to continue their stay, Bungalow Beach Resort, which also won the 2013 Excellence Award from tripadvisor.com, is a very popular honeymoon destination.

Originally a group of beachfront army barracks, each of the Bungalow Beach Resort units retains the old Florida charm that is Anna Maria Island, with modern conveniences inside. And you will stay in luxury with personal touches like baskets of embroidered towels, flowers and candy. Whether you’re getting married or part of the wedding party, pick award-winning Bungalow Beach Resort as your home base where you will cherish those moments when you’re not involved with the ceremony. You’ll want to return when there is nothing to distract you from your stay.

Call Bungalow Beach Resort at 1-800-779-3601 or log onto www.bungalowbeach.com.

DARA CAUDILL | WWW.ISLANDPHOTOGRAPHY.ORG Jenna Gutowski and Landon Pahle were married at the Sandbar restaurant on April 28, 2021. Chuck Caudill provided the music for the ceremony and reception. Molly Powers of the Sandbar coordinated the wedding and reception. Jenna and Landon honeymooned on Anna Maria Island, before returning home to Green Bay, Wisconsin.

22 THE SUN REAL ESTATE

The explosion of the millions

As we all know, the real estate market has gone from fundamentally shut down to an unparalleled explosion of demand for housing all over the country, and particularly in Florida. Buyers and real estate professionals are trying to maneuver their way through the maze of historic low inventory and pent-up buyer activity. The result of all this is outsized prices pushing buyers and creating bidding wars.

Recently, buyers have added different strategies to set themselves apart. For instance, cash is king, and if you have it or can borrow it, your offer will put you in the top tier of buyers.

Buyers love non-contingency offers; that means no mortgage as we discussed, but also no home inspection. It’s a good strategy if you’re comfortable with the property, especially if you know something about home construction.

One of the newest strategies out there in this market is an escalation clause in your offer. To be competitive, buyers are stipulating that they will top any offer from another buyer up to a certain level. This at least keeps you in the game and allows you to improve your offer.

In addition, it’s always important to be flexible, but in this market, it’s essential. Get yourself in a position to change your desired closing date to fit the schedule of the seller as well as accepting any little quirky changes that may come up.

Finally, don’t wait if a new property comes on the market – be prepared to act quickly.

Now let’s look at the million-dollar-andover market in the three cities on Anna Maria Island and in Cortez. This analysis will cover February, March and April closed sales as reported on the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s website and properties that are currently on the market or pending from realtor.com.

Cortez closed three properties over $1 million; one for $2,250,000, one for $1,215,000 and one for $1,075,000. The last three-month analysis showed two properties over $1 million.

The city of Anna Maria closed 31 properties; one for $4 million, three for $3 million or over, five over $2 million and 22 at $1 million or over. The last analysis showed that Anna Maria closed 41 properties.

The combined cities of Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach closed 58 properties; two over $4 million, two over $3 million, 10 over $2 million and 44 at $1 million or over. Last time, 39 properties were closed.

Available and pending properties as of this writing are, of course, a blowout again, so here we go: Cortez has a property listed at $4,750,000, the highest I have ever seen for a single-family home, and there is land listed for $1,300,000. The new development, Hunters Point, has seven properties listed from $1,300,000 to $785,000, three of them over $1 million. Last time, Cortez had three.

The city of Anna Maria has 46 properties over $1 million; one over $6 million, two over $5 million, two over $4 million, three over $3 million, 14 over $2 million and 24 over $1 million. The lowest-priced available property in the city is $995,000. Last time Anna Maria had 31 properties available.

Finally, the combined cities of Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach had 67 properties listed or pending over $1 million; one over $6 million, two over $5 million, two over $4 million, six over $3 million, 20 over $2 million and 36 over $1 million.

I’ve decided that after 15 months of ending my column with “stay safe,” it’s time to put this phrase to bed. Not that we still shouldn’t protect ourselves and our family from COVID-19, I just feel it’s time to be more positive. Besides, we now have a new “stay safe” to contend with - hurricanes. Here’s hoping we have a safe season.

Castles in the Sand

LOUISE BOLGER

OBITUARIES

Courtney Ann Call

Holmes Beach resident Courtney Ann Call, 43, passed away on June 5, 2021. She was preceded by her mother, Kathleen, her father, Edward Call, and her beloved stepfather, Kevin Sheen. She leaves behind her son, Matthew Curry (16), her forever love, as well as her boyfriend, Dave Smith (Fla.), her brother, Scott Call (Mass.) and her stepsister, Jean Irish (Maine).

Courtney was born in Boston, Mass., On Sept. 14, 1977. She shared her time between Billerica, Mass., with her father, and Quincy, Mass., with her mother and beloved stepfather. This is where she gave birth to the love of her life, Matthew.

Courtney and Matthew moved from Massachusetts to Florida in 2007. This changed their lives. Courtney came alive when she landed on Anna Maria Island. She wanted Matthew to live the “Island life” and grow up near the beach in a small, tight-knit community of friends and neighbors. That is exactly what they found.

Courtney was giving and loving and she welcomed all. She felt like she had found “her people,” and her family here. More than anything else, she was loved back by the same community she gave so much to.

As the Island mourns “their heart of the Island,” be comforted knowing that it is true that when we leave this world the measure of a person’s life and worth is that the love they gave is equaled or exceeded by the love they received.

A celebration of life will be held at TommyKnockers Saloon in Bradenton Beach at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 18 – with a sunset memorial on the beach across the street from the Wicked Cantina and TommyKnockers.

The Anchor Inn in Holmes Beach will host a small memorial ceremony and a large fundraising event for Matthew at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23.

BEACH BEAT

HOLMES BEACH

5/28, 1:16 p.m., alcohol ordinance violation, 51st Street beach access. Two males with alcohol on the beach were cited and the alcohol was removed. 5/28, 1:20 p.m., alcohol ordinance violation, 50th Street beach access. A lone male was drinking beer and the officer issued him an ordinance violation citation. 5/28, marijuana ordinance violation, 600 Manatee Ave. A driver in an accident produced marijuana when the officer told her he smelled it in her car. 5/29, 10:56 p.m., driving without a proper license, 2800 Gulf Drive. The officer stopped the golf cart because it was overloaded and found the driver had a learner’s permit and there was no licensed adult in the cart as required by law. The driver was ticketed and the cart was towed.

Zoning review continues

At 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 16, Building Official Steve Gilbert, City Planner Luis Serna and the Bradenton Beach Planning and Zoning Board will continue their discussions about amending the city’s future land use maps and/ or zoning maps to make them consistent with one another. Once the planning and zoning board completes its preliminary review and recommendation process, the recommended map revisions will be presented to the city commission for further discussion before any final public hearings are scheduled. The proposed map revisions could negatively impact some Bradenton Beach property owners and positively impact others, depending on which revisions the city commission ultimately adopts. Wednesday’s meeting will also include discussion about the intent of the city’s land development code as it pertains to lot coverage, open space requirements and permeable pavement systems.

Celebrate World Sea Turtle Day

BY CINDY LANE

SUN STAFF WRITER | clane@amisun.com

HOLMES BEACH – There is something special to celebrate on World Sea Turtle Day, Wednesday, June 16.

Loggerhead sea turtle Bortie may have nested near 35th Street on June 6, according to the Sea Turtle Conservancy, which is tracking her using a satellite tag.

Bortie laid a nest three years ago, in June 2018, on Coquina Beach, where the organization satellite-tagged her in partnership with Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring and Bortell’s Lounge, for which she was named.

She “competed” in the Sea Turtle Conservancy’s 11th Annual Tour de Turtles in 2018, placing 10th out of 13 contestants with 351 logged miles.

While there’s no way to know for sure if Bortie laid a nest last week or just came ashore and decided against it, possibly because of too many lights, it’s another piece of evidence that sea turtles often return to the same beach to nest, which is thought to be the beach where they hatched.

WORLD SEA TURTLE DAY

World Sea Turtle Day highlights the importance of sea turtles, according to the Conservancy, which was founded by Dr. Archie Carr, the “father of sea turtle biology.” Carr, whose June 16 birthday was chosen for the special day, did research and advocacy work that brought attention to the threatening conditions that continue to impact sea turtles, and helped create the community that continues to strive for a better future for sea turtles.

Dr. Carr realized early on what many know today about the importance of sea turtles, according to the Conservancy: Sea turtles, which have been nesting on beaches since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, contribute to the well-being of sea life and the environment. For example, leatherbacks and hawksbills help keep the populations of jellyfish and sponges in check. Green sea turtles eat seagrass, which needs to be kept short to ensure it is healthy and continues to grow, providing a habitat for the breeding and development of many species of fish.

“It is important that we continue to do what is necessary to preserve these magnificent animals that have been around for 110 million years to guarantee that they stick around for another 110 million years,” according to the Conservancy.

TURTLE TIPS

During sea turtle season, May 1 – Oct. 31, please follow these tips: • Turn off lights visible from the beach and close blinds from sundown to sunrise; lights confuse nesting sea turtles and may cause them to go back to sea and drop their eggs in the water, where they won’t hatch. Light can also attract hatchlings away from the water. • Don’t use flashlights, lanterns or camera flashes on the beach at night.

• Remove all objects from the sand from sundown to sunrise; they can deter sea turtles from nesting and can disorient hatchlings. • Don’t use wish lanterns or fireworks; they litter the beach and Gulf. • Never touch a sea turtle; it’s the law. If you see people disturbing turtles, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Wildlife Alert hotline at 888404-FWCC (3922).