Chiquita Lock kills manatees; city’s ‘mitigation plan’ questionable
To the editor:
Mr. Costello recently wrote that the City of Cape Coral and hundreds of residents would like the Chiquita Lock removed to save the manatees and are willing to make accommodations to “ensure” minimal environmental impact and maybe even benefit.
I would like to respond, point by point, as a trained soil scientist, part-time boater and lifelong skeptic.
1. Manatees are killed/crushed in the lock.
Ten manatees killed in the lock in 23 years doesn’t seem like a huge number. Manatees are also killed by boaters. I witnessed a boat speeding through the back bay of Matlacha last year and it suddenly became airborne after colliding with an underwater object on the edge of the channel. A manatee carcass was found a couple weeks later near the site.
I would be interested in reading the necropsy reports before blaming the lock for the deaths.
2.The answer is not a “Manatee Protection System.” This statement needs to be balanced against manatee density in the Glades County locks area. If the manatee population is 2-3 times higher than the Cape Coral area, the protection seems to be working at reducing mortality.
3. Those who oppose taking out the lock say they are for the environment, but apparently don’t care about the manatee.
The manatee is just one part of the marine environment. Sea grass is an important forage for the manatee. Anecdotal evidence suggests the sea grass quality and quantity has been degraded in the Matlacha Pass since the removal of the Ceitus Lock. Perhaps the manatees are using the locks to commit suicide because they are starving ??
Mr. Costello goes on to list the projects proposed by Cape Coral to ameliorate the predicted consequences of the lock removal.
1. The replacement of storm water catch basins which drain to the waterway.
How does replacing the catch basins change the course of the water leaving in pipes from the catch basin? The catch basins are 50 + years old, they are going to need replacing as a matter of course.
2. The replacement of the storm water management system associated with the dog park at Rotary Park. Really, What’s going on at the dog park? I’m told by friends, who use that park, that the owners pick up their dog’s poo. No poo, no nutrients going into the water. Besides, dog poo has organic matter that holds the nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) for a slower plant useable release, unlike the mineral fertilizer everyone likes to spread on their lawns along with the “bonus” weed or bug control.
3. Contributions to the study of the endangered smalltooth sawfish.
How much? Fifty dollars, maybe a C-note? How generous is Cape Coral with Ol Mother Nature and the people who want to protect her? Put it in writing!
4. Implementation of an aquatic vegetation removal program. Why? Maybe the manatees are eating that vegetation because they can’t get enough sea grass. There’s the outside chance it would go away if y’all would convert to native plants in your yards instead of wasting water, chemicals and mineral fertilizer on non-native species which contributes to canal water pollution and subsequently marine life degradation.
5. The planting of 3,000 mangrove seedlings and installing oyster reef balls. So the city is going to plant seedlings in the water along the seawall? Are they going to tend them and replace what may sicken and die? Hurricane Ian took out a couple of oyster reefs in Matlacha Pass, is Cape Coral going to continuously maintain or replace their oyster reefs to fixed parameters? What outside agency is going to supervise these projects?
6. The city has negotiated with the city of Fort Myers on an inter-local agreement for the city to purchase and dispose of reclaimed water generated by Fort Myers (the Connect Project). This Connect Project will result in a substantial reduction of nutrients to the Caloosahatchee River.
How’s Cape Coral going to use this water so it reduces the nutrient load in the Caloosahatchee and not raise it in Matlacha Pass? Just curious.
7. A detailed public education program concerning endangered species, boater safety and water quality protection.
How are you going to make people listen and learn? I love sitting on my dock on weekends and watching two or three DA’s run up on the barely submerged oyster bars because they don’t read charts! These are the same people who go blasting through the channel in Matlacha Pass well above the posted speeds because they have more horsepower than IQ!
The letter writer states the lock has been open for seven months with no degradation of the mangroves. Do you believe in acid rain? How about global warming? Neither of these phenomena began shortly after humans started burning high sulfur coal or aromatic hydrocarbons. The glaciers took thousands of years to form and subsequently recede. Nature doesn’t act, or react, quickly.
We have a 42-acre mangrove island behind our house which Ian tore to shreds. It is just beginning to look more green than brown at the end of seven months. Are you sure of the viability of the mangroves you’re referring to?
The Chiquita lock has been around a long time. Let’s make sure that good science has a say in what happens with it.
Dan Herfurth
Matlacha