Ocean City Today TEN STEPHEN DECATUR WRESTLERS PLACE 8TH OR BETTER IN WOTS … PAGE 41A
Boardwalk cameras out to bid again
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DECEMBER 13, 2013
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Security network to be monitored in real-time by OC police department By Zack Hoopes
MERRY CHRISTMAS
OCEAN CITY TODAY/LISA CAPITELLI
Mrs. Claus and some merry elves wave to the crowd watching the annual Ocean City Christmas parade last Saturday along Coastal Highway from 100th Street to the Gold Coast Mall on 115th Street.
Staff Writer (Dec. 13, 2013) Despite a slight hiccup in the bidding process this week, the city fully intends to go forward with a massive security upgrade to the Boardwalk that will feature real-time monitoring of security cameras along the resort’s main attraction. City Council was slated to accept bids for the installation of the cameras and associated wiring this week. But despite a strong interest from vendors at previous meetings, only one legitimate bid had been received. Another was submitted late. “I’d hate to go forward with this taking only one bid,” said City Engineer Terry McGean. Council voted to reject the bids and reSee MORE on Page 4A
Abandoned crab pots deadly for bay’s terrapins State’s reptile becomes trapped, left to drown in unattended gear By Clara Vaughn
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Staff Writer (Dec. 13, 2013) Fog rolls in as two men hoist a derelict crab pot, carpeted with sea grass and other debris,
onto a boat off the shores of Ocean Pines. “That’s been down here awhile,” says Capt. Skip Maisel. Volunteer Marc Heim runs down a checklist — whether the pot’s metal or vinyl, if it’s salvageable or destroyed, what animals are inside — and records the pot’s GPS coordinates before adding it to a stack. The most important item on the list, however, is a box marked “turtle excluder.”
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“There’s a reason why there’s legislation that makes turtle excluders a requirement on recreational pots (in Maryland),” said Sandi Smith, fundraising and marketing specialist for Maryland Coastal Bays. Each year, unknown numbers of abandoned crab pots trap and kill unknown numbers of the state’s reptile, the Diamondback Terrapin. To combat the problem caused by the “ghost” pots, Maryland Coastal Bays has been running a ghost crab pot recovery program. Each winter for the past five years, watermen have taken to the bays from Virginia to Delaware, col-
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lecting hundreds of the pots left by recreational crabbers and lost by commercial watermen. The bait in the pots attracts more than crabs, Smith said. Volunteers have pulled up to seven turtles from a single pot, often drowned before they’re reached, she said. But a small, rectangular opening in the cages’ sides, known as a turtle excluder device, or TED, can help. Recreational crabbers are required to have turtle excluders on their pots, but many simply aren’t aware of the law, Smith said. See SAVING on Page 3A
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