Every spring, endangered sea turtles crawl ashore on Marco Island's beaches to do something remarkable — lay their eggs. But something is going badly wrong. Officials have recorded an 86% increase in "false crawls," incidents in which exhausted mother turtles emerge from the ocean at night, encounter bright lights and noise, and turn back to the sea without nesting. Every failed attempt is a generation of hatchlings that never gets a chance.

A solution was within reach. Councilor Bonita Schwan proposed restricting nighttime beach activity during sea turtle nesting season — a focused, seasonal measure to give nesting females the quiet and darkness they need to successfully lay their eggs. Hatchlings depend on natural moonlight to find the ocean after they're born; artificial lighting and beach disturbances throw them fatally off course.

But the Marco Island City Council withdrew the proposal, citing fear of legal challenges after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission argued the restrictions could be "unenforceable and likely unconstitutional." Rather than find a workable path forward, city leaders walked away entirely.

Marco Island's beaches are some of the most important sea turtle nesting grounds in Florida. These animals are already fighting to survive against enormous odds — habitat loss, ocean pollution, fishing gear, and climate change. The last thing they need is for the one local government with the power to protect them during nesting season to give up without a fight.

We're calling on the Marco Island City Council to bring back a legally sound version of this proposal and pass it before nesting season peaks. Work with wildlife attorneys, conservation experts, and state officials to craft an ordinance that protects sea turtles and holds up in court.