SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. – For the first time in nearly 70 years, Satellite Beach may allow dogs on the beach permanently during limited hours.
However, that’s being met with concern.
Brevard County is a global hotspot for sea turtles and is home to thousands of nests each year. If dogs are approved on the beach permanently, wildlife advocates worry they will disrupt the nests.
“We’re going to have dogs every day, trafficking up and down, urinating. Their urine is full of nitrogen and urea and ammonia,” that was Joel Cohen with the Sea Turtle Preservation Society.
Satellite Beach City Council has rolled out a pilot program allowing dogs on the beach during limited hours. The idea was to see how it fares before voting to approve it permanently.
Cohen and the Sea Turtle Preservation Society strongly oppose the change.
The rarest sea turtle in the world is the Kemp’s Ridley. It’s critically endangered. Satellite Beach is lucky enough to have one of their nests on it. There are about 100 eggs buried under the sand in the nesting site, and if disturbed the likelihood of those eggs surviving drastically decreases.
Despite concerns, others say they still want to see change.
“I think that there are areas that the turtles are not there that we can be more specific towards or same thing. Dogs are trainable,” said one beachgoer named Frances.
Others feel there may be a compromise.
“If we can at least restrict it during turtle season, that would help,” said Sadja Pals, a Satellite Beach resident.
The Satellite Beach City Council will be voting on this issue on Wednesday at 6 p.m.