PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Volunteers who spent countless hours picking up mothballs on St. Pete Beach back in April are now speaking out after the people responsible for leaving the mothballs in the sand were caught.
Sandy Denton can now walk St. Pete Beach feeling at peace once again.
"Now that the mothballs are gone, they came back," said Denton.
The threatened Black Skimmers are now returning to St. Pete Beach after two men were arrested for placing mothballs in the sand.
"I'm so happy. I wasn’t sure it was ever going to happen, and it did. I'm so happy they got them and I hope they get everything they deserve," said Denton.
Denton is one of the volunteers who spent days picking up the mothballs out of the sand back in April.
"Little shiny white balls, everywhere you looked, you could see little shiny white balls, everywhere," said Denton.
She spent hours and hours searching the white sand.
"This is our public beach, you can’t do that!" said Denton.
Investigators tracked the purchase of the mothballs to the owner of the Plaza Beach Hotel. The FWC said the owner of the bar on the hotel property was also arrested for participating.
"He’s a local and this is what you’re doing to our beach? No, that’s not acceptable. You don't own the beach, you can’t kill the animals," said Denton.
Local environmentalists said these mothballs can be very dangerous to black skimmers…not only can they kill the birds if they are ingested, but they deter them from nesting in the sand.
"They’re endangered birds and they aren’t doing anything except living," said Denton.
"Why would anyone want to do that, it's insane," said Maria Marsden.
Marsden works at a local boutique called Sun Drunk. She hopes the arrests don’t reflect on the other businesses in the area.
"We all try and support the beach and support the area, so it's shocking to hear that someone who has businesses down here would do something like that," said Marsden.
Denton said beachgoers need to keep an eye out for mothballs in the future…and if you see any, contact the FWC.
"Keep your eyes open, be aware, be alert, see what’s going on, make sure you know what’s going on," said Denton.
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Hotel owner and beach bar owner accused of placing mothballs on St. Pete Beach
Florida Fish and Wildlife said it arrested a hotel owner and bar owner accused of placing over 1,000 mothballs on St. Pete Beach.
