Port Tampa Bay has already finished its dredging project with the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the US Fish and Wildlife Commission. The project presented a nesting area that accommodates critically endangered shoreline birds.
According to the statement of Florida Ports Council, the partners are to construct a new 100-acre habitat as part of the Big Bend Channel expansion project.
The construction also includes a new sandy beach that will look to provide attractive nesting and roosting areas and supplement the two already existing 500-acre ‘spoil islands’ that house many shoreline birds displaced from coastal areas due to human activity.
Moreover, the ‘spoil islands’ are port-owned bird sanctuaries and were created by dredge materials from harbour management operations and welcomes thousands of migrating birds every year during the nesting season, which lasts from April 1 – August 31.
The Big Bend Channel expansion construction began in October 2018 and was finished this month.
The depositing dredge material makes the shipping channels safe for the sail of large ships, and in the meantime creates a nesting habitat for terns, skimmers, oystercatchers and gulls.
Concluding, Port Tampa Bay President/CEO Paul Anderson commented
In our long-standing commitment to the environment, we have strived to be a leader in best practices and policy. We will do everything we can to engage our key partners to protect our local wildlife.
