We've added a couple new live cams to our Pensacola multimedia section, courtesy of our friends at destinpasslive.com.

Check 'em out: Pensacola, Florida Live Web Cams

We are monitoring the Navarre Beach Restoration with our new Robo Beach Cam. This cam has the ability to move and show many different views of the beach. We are updating it daily to show the incredible progress that Weeks Marine is making with the Navarre Beach Restoration.

See the Navarre Beach Restoration Live!

See Destin Pass Live!

See The Destin Harbor Walk Charter Boats!

Also, don't miss our new "Beach Blog"

Thanks,

Destinpasslive.com

I hear the restoration was shut down due to another Loggerhead being killed. Same problem they had in Destin. Well, I sure hope they find a way to continue without harming the sea turtles... we need that extra sand in case of storms... especially in Navarre!

The Navarre Beach Restoration Project was put on hold on July the 5th due to the "Taking" of another Sea Turtle. The total number of Takes has not come close to the alloted amount for the Gulf of Mexico for this year. It is sad that some turtles have been killed but it is also necessary to restore the beach to protect our property and communities.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has put a stop to the project, but there are numerous appeals in process to get it back up and running.

You can read more about what is going on at our Destin and Navarre Beach Weblog. You can also see what is going on with our Live Florida Web Cams.

I have just heard through a trusted source that there is good news for the Navarre Beach Restoration Project. More to come...

DestinPassLive.com

The Importance of Sharing.

By Peter Ravella
Coastal Management Director
Coastal Technology Corporation
Austin, TX

July 10, 2006

One of the first and greatest lessons we teach our kids is the importance of sharing and, when you think about it, that's what our current predicament comes down to. In its Biological Opinion, the NMFS has specified how many turtles can be taken by hopper dredging each fiscal year without harming the population of endangered marine turtles in the Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully, the hopper dredging fleet is not near the total limit for allowed takes so far this year, and there are only 10 weeks to go. In the entire Gulf, the fleet has taken only 6 of the allowed 40 loggerhead takes and only 5 of the 20 allowed Kemps Ridley turtle takes. As a group, the hopper fleet has operated exceptionally well this year.

So, this is not a debate about whether the Navarre Project poses an unacceptable risk to the health of the Gulf population of endangered turtles. It does not. Instead, the issue is whether the Corps will hold for itself the turtle take allowance for its federal projects or whether they are willing to share the allowance with beach and storm protection projects such as Navarre.

The "incidental turtle take allowance" established by NMFS in the Biological Opinion is a regulatory device that, in the end, is akin to the right to operate a hopper dredge . . . think of it as a “market access” right. If you have a turtle take allowance in your pocket, you can operate a dredge, if you don't, you can't.

As the lead agency, the Corps controls the entire turtle take allowance, and thus they control the right to operate a hopper dredge like the R/N Weeks through the permits they issue. The problem we're having is simply that the Corps is not sharing the remaining turtle take allowances for the last 10 weeks of this Fiscal Year. I think we all agree sharing is better than hoarding.

Now, there are very good reasons for the Corps to be protective of the allowance (and the turtles). No one believes that the right to take endangered turtles ought to be passed out like so many chocolate chip cookies. This is serious business and with hurricane season upon us, the possibility looms that the Corps may have to undertake emergency dredging operations to keep open vital ports and channels. After Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, the Corps had to undertake emergency dredging of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet to keep this critical federal channel open. In about 60 days of dredging (from October 3 to December 6) this Corps operation alone took 13 Loggerheads and 1 Green turtle. That's a lot of turtle takes and the project never stopped. The Corps legitimately must maintain a fairly decent turtle take cushion in the Gulf because they never know when a storm will come, driving them to undertake emergency operations to reopen a critical federal channel. So, you can see that the right to take a turtle (essentially, the right to operate a hopper dredge) is a pretty precious thing.

Our position here -- with about 10 weeks left in the "turtle take year" (remember, the turtle take allowance is fully "re-stocked" on October 1) is that the Corps should exercise its discretion, share the turtle allowance, and allow us to get back to work. The Corps has suggested we use other dredge equipment – clamshell and cutter head dredges, for example -- and we’ve looked into those and they just won’t work given the water depths and location of our permitted borrow area. In fairness, can it really be said to the Navarre Community – which has been hammered by numerous hurricanes and storms – should be left high and dry and not allowed to restart the project? Must we really chase our tails by employing dredge technologies unsuited for our project? Does such a decision make sense when the Corps still possess a generous turtle take allowance for hopper operations this Fiscal Year? Are there really no other options that can be found to allow at least the "Navarre gap" to be closed? Are we really down to the last straw where the Corps must say, "King's x, there is nothing we can do to help you?”

I don't think that we are. There is room under the turtle take cap for the hopper fleet to operate at Navarre. There is reason to believe additional operations at Navarre – even assuming emergency Corps operations – will not pose an unreasonable risk to the Gulf turtle population. It is a calculated risk to continue our project, but nothing in life is risk free. On the other side of the coin, the risk of additional damage to battered NavarreBeach is real if the gap is not closed and this risk should not be disregarded. We’ve offered to run double turtle trawls if we’re re-started. And, boy the clock is ticking on the costs. So, we’re hoping for the best.

We learned this morning that the Corps has agreed to re-think their decision and discussions are active and on-going. Perhaps a simple truth will prevail: “When you hold something precious, it is noble to consider the needs of others and share.”

Thank you all for your patience and for making your voices heard. We’ll keep you posted.

-- Peter

See the Project Live through our Navarre Beach Web Cam.