The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating after hundreds of mothballs were found on St. Pete Beach this week.
Officials say they were first discovered on Monday near a colony of protected shorebirds south of the 4700 Gulf Blvd. parking lot, and dozens more were found in plastic bags in a trash can nearby.
Mothballs are commonly used as pesticides indoors in airtight storage.
In Florida, it’s illegal to use them outdoors because of their toxicity. They can be harmful to humans, pets and wildlife.
“Mothballs are intended for indoor use and should not be used to repel wildlife. They are regulated on the state and federal level, and violations can result in citations and fines,” a statement from the FWC said. “Mothballs contain chemicals that can be toxic to birds and other wildlife and placement of them on the beach is harmful, as wildlife can ingest them whether on the sand or if blown into the water.”
Lisa Reich is the founder and CEO of the Coastal Wildlife Advocacy Group.
She said mothballs are especially dangerous to nesting shorebirds.
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“It can harm them, it can kill them, it can kill the adults, it can kill the chicks if they ingest it,” she said. “So it can cause the whole colony to completely abandon their nesting effort.”
FWC officers said more mothballs were discovered in the same area Tuesday. It’s not clear if they were left over from Monday or were new mothballs.
They are investigating the incident, and they believe the mothballs were placed intentionally to disrupt shorebird nesting.
It follows the relocation of the Country Thunder music festival from St. Pete Beach to Clearwater’s Coachman Park May 8-10. The festival was originally planned for the TradeWinds Resort, but St. Pete Beach officials said organizers had not gotten the proper permits.
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Environmental groups were also concerned about the effect the festival might have on nesting birds and sea turtles.
Reich did not want to speculate about a connection between the festival and the mothball incident, but added, “I think that anything is possible. I would hope that it is not retaliation.”
“We are grateful that our volunteers could help the FWC pick up as many mothballs as possible, as this is important habitat,” Audubon Florida officials said in a statement. “We don’t want to speculate on (a) motive given the active FWC investigation, but attempting to interfere with nesting of a protected species is against the law.”
Reich believes the scale of the situation may be even worse than it looked originally.
“There’s not just hundreds, there may be thousands of mothballs out there,” she said. “And this is a health concern for beachgoers, not only the wildlife.”
FWC officials are encouraging people to report any wildlife violations to the Wildlife Alert program at 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922) or at MyFWC.com/WildlifeAlert.
