Blue Heron Bridge is one of my favorite dive sites in Florida.

I’ve been lucky enough to dive in some incredible places around the world, but there is something truly special about this place. You can walk into the water from a public park and, within minutes, be surrounded by tropical fish, seahorses, rays, sea turtles, manatees, and an incredible variety of marine life.

It’s one of those places that reminds me exactly why I fell in love with the ocean in the first place—and why places like this are worth protecting.

Now, this incredible ecosystem could be affected by the proposed Singer Island Gateway development directly adjacent to it.

Current plans call for a massive high-rise development with hundreds of residences, restaurant and retail space, and a marina near the eastern end of the Blue Heron Bridge.

A building of this scale so close to the water raises important questions about how additional shade could affect sunlight reaching the shallow marine environment and seagrass below. Construction itself also raises questions about sediment, runoff, noise, and other disturbances to an ecosystem that supports an incredible diversity of marine life.

Then there is the proposed marina.

Docks could extend into an area that divers, snorkelers, and swimmers have enjoyed for decades. Increased boat traffic in these same waters could create additional safety concerns for people in the water as well as manatees, sea turtles, and other wildlife.

Pilings, boats, propellers, and increased activity also have the potential to disturb bottom habitat, stir up sediment, and put additional pressure on the surrounding ecosystem.

The developer has commissioned environmental analysis concluding that the project would not negatively impact the adjacent marine environment. But given the scale of this proposed development and the ecological and recreational importance of the waters directly beside it, I believe those potential impacts deserve rigorous, independent evaluation before irreversible decisions are made.

This isn’t about saying nothing can ever be built on private property.

It’s about asking whether a development of this size and design—and a marina extending into these waters—belongs immediately beside one of Florida’s most unique and heavily used marine environments.

Once an ecosystem like this is damaged, we can’t assume we can simply restore it.

And Blue Heron Bridge doesn’t just matter to me.

Divers and snorkelers travel from around the world to experience it. It gives beginners an incredibly accessible way to discover the underwater world, supports local dive shops and tourism, and allows people to experience an extraordinary marine ecosystem without needing to own or charter a boat.

I want to come back years from now and experience the same incredible ecosystem. I want new divers to discover it for the first time. I want my future kids to experience it. And I want the wildlife that depends on these waters to continue having a healthy habitat here too.

Development and environmental protection should not have to be mutually exclusive. But protecting an internationally recognized marine ecosystem should come before approving a project if its potential impacts have not been fully and independently understood.

We are asking the Riviera Beach City Council and all relevant local and state authorities to require thorough, independent environmental review of the proposed Singer Island Gateway development—including potential impacts from the building’s scale and shadow, construction, runoff, marina, docks, and increased boat activity—before allowing the project to move forward in its current form.

We are also asking officials to reject any component of the project that could significantly damage marine habitat or compromise safe public swimming, snorkeling, and diving near the east side of the Blue Heron Bridge.

Finally, we are asking local and state leaders to pursue long-term protections for this area as an important marine habitat and public recreational corridor so its wildlife and public access can be preserved for generations to come.

Please sign this petition and help protect this incredible place—for the divers, snorkelers, local community, and, most importantly, the wildlife that depends on these waters.