ANNA MARIA ISLAND, Fla. -- You've probably stepped in one or come close. You're walking on the beach and there's a hole dug by someone playing in the sand that wasn't filled in.
It turns out in some Florida beachside cities, that's illegal. And it may soon be illegal on Anna Maria Island too.
“I probably fill 25-50 a day,” said Mark Taylor with Manatee County’s Division of Natural Resource. “This last year's spring break has been the worst in many years.”
Holes range from a few feet wide and deep to really big ones.
"Four times I’ve had to be towed out of a hole deeper and wider than my tractor is tall,” said Taylor. He drives a Deere tractor.
The holes are a hazard for adult turtles coming on shore to nest and for hatchlings, says Suzi Fox with Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch
“One morning we found hatchlings in a hole knee deep they couldn’t get out. If they fell in a hole, it takes energy to get out of the hole. That’s extra energy that they’ll not have to swim out to the Gulf,” said Fox.
That makes the hatchlings closer to shore vulnerable to predators like birds.
“We have volunteers on the beach a lot … it's more of a people hazard than a turtle hazard,” Fox said. If someone steps in a hole unexpectedly, they can break a knee or leg.
Fox is pushing for Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach to consider the same ordinance the City of Anna Maria Island may adopt that would prohibit any metal shovel longer than 14 inches.
The ordinance would also require that anybody visiting the beach leave the sand the way they found it: smooth and flat.
Fox said the ordinance would give police the power over how deep the holes are and make sure they’re covered up.
“It’s a beautiful beach," Taylor said. "Enjoy it! But keep it clean. Pack your trash back to the cans. Fill holes you dig at the end of the day before you go home so people behind you not become injured.”
Two Florida cities -- Panama Beach City and Cocoa Beach -- have similar ordinances. In Panama Beach City the fine is $25.
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