PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) said it arrested a hotel owner and bar owner accused of placing over 1,000 mothballs on St. Pete Beach.
Robert Czyszczon and Christopher Monroe were arrested on July 29 in connection with the incident.
On April 20, officers with the FWC found over 1,000 mothballs spread across the beach. The next day, on April 21, 500 more were found.
FWC said investigators used receipt records from a local Walmart and found Robert Czyszczon, the owner of the Plaza Beach Hotel, purchased the large quantity of mothballs the day before they were found on the beach.
Christopher Monroe, owner/manager of Chris's Beachside Bar, also was placed on the beach both nights of the incidents.
FWC said both men exchanged text messages expressing how the black skimmer shore birds were hurting business. One man said in the messages, "they are the worst birds. and then the bird people will put up a fence around the area and then the beach people will not be able to get to and from."
Volunteers with the Audubon Society and concerned beachgoers removed the mothballs from the beach before damage was done to any of the black skimmer shore birds nesting in the area.
FWC said there are only 1,600 black skimmers in the entire state of Florida and several hundred nest in Pinellas County (>10% of state population). Harassment delays nesting, pushes breeding season later, and reduces success rates.
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