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Fort Myers Beach advisory committee urges operator to relocate helicopter landing barge from Estero Bay nursery
Summary
After more than a dozen residents raised wildlife, noise and property concerns about a floating helicopter-landing barge in Estero Bay, the Marine and Environmental Resource Task Force voted unanimously to ask the town to work with the operator to find a less intrusive site.
The Marine and Environmental Resource Task Force Advisory Committee for the Town of Fort Myers Beach voted unanimously Jan. 14 to recommend that the town work with a helicopter-tour operator to relocate a floating landing barge now anchored near Matanzas Pass Island and a dolphin/manatee nursery.
Residents and wildlife advocates packed the meeting to oppose the barge location, describing repeated takeoffs and landings, sustained noise over neighborhoods and potential harm to dolphins, manatees and nesting birds. Monica Lynn, founder of Pod Protectors of Fort Myers Beach, said she has spent roughly nine years documenting local dolphins and cited NOAA guidance and acoustic research in urging relocation: “I am thoroughly convinced by information provided by scientists and my own experience that both drones and helicopters taking off near dolphins do put them at risk.”
The operator, Steve Overy, told the committee he had…
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