Mothballs Likely Scattered Along FL Beach To Deter Protected Birds, FWC Says

ST. PETE BEACH, FL — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating after hundreds of toxic mothballs were found scattered along key shorebird nesting sites on St. Pete Beach, according to multiple reports.

The mothballs were found scattered on Monday near a colony of protected black skimmers that gathered by the dunes near the Lido Residences condominiums on Gulf Boulevard, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

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They were found along 50 yards of sand to the north and 50 yards of sand to the south of the condo building, from the dunes to the water, reports said.

There was a new report of mothballs along the beach in this area on Tuesday, Bay News 9 reported.

FWC investigators believe that someone intentionally placed the mothballs there to ward off the skimmers, a threatening species, who are nesting along the beach.

"My feelings are that they were put out to try and deter the protected skimmers that were on the beach," FWC Officer Brian Ferguson, who responded to the beach on Monday afternoon, told WTSP. "It didn't work because the birds were literally sitting, a colony of a couple hundred of them, were sitting within inches of the mothballs, literally surrounding them."

FWC officers, local beachgoers and the Audubon Society removed the mothballs from the beach, reports said.

“They’re all over the beach, it’s crazy,” said local Sandy Denton, who helped remove them from the beach on Tuesday, told WFLA.

Another local, Dick Pieszchala, said, “I think they should be arrested for it. It’s terrible. That’s toxic to the animals.”

Black skimmers, which are designated as threatened by the state, live in coastal areas of Florida, such as estuaries, beaches and sandbars, according to the FWC site.

They can be found from the northeastern U.S. coast down to Mexico, and their breeding range is from Southern California down to Ecuador.

“The black skimmer faces many threats as the human population increases and spreads to previously undeveloped coasts. Habitat loss due to coastal development is the main threat to the species. People are relocating to the coasts at unprecedented levels causing increased development and traffic on the beaches, as well as increased predators; all of which are detrimental to skimmer habitat,” the FWC said.