Open Jaw :: On The Town ::

with Martha Chapman
24FEB09

Our genial hosts Kimberly Hartley, Mary Haban and “Mrs. Beach” Dr. Nicole Elko

Oh! Take me there!

Nurturing Nature Along The Beaches Of St. Pete/Clearwater

Until yesterday, I thought a beach was just a beach: you know, a gift of mother nature intended for us to flop onto and tan. But thanks to the folks from St. Petersburg/Clearwater in Florida, I know now it’s much more.

That’s because yesterday a group of us were treated to a lunch at swank Canoe Restaurant on the 54th floor of T.O.’s TD centre, where we had the opportunity to meet Dr. Nicole Elko, the coastal coordinator for Pinellas County Environmental Management.

For 12 years, “Mrs. Beach” as she confessed some of her friends call her, has been studying and nurturing the 55 km of sandy beaches in her part of the world. “There’s a lot more that goes on behind the scenes than most people know,” she says. “We are undertaking five major beach restoration projects to ensure the beaches approximate the natural beach environment, not only for the tourists but also for shore birds, turtles, plants and vegetation.”

And they are surely doing the right thing. The St. Petersburg/Clearwater area is number two in the state for visits from us Canucks (after the Orlando area), racking up 345,000 maple leaf visitors last year – “We’re getting blockbuster numbers,” says Mary Haban, the senior manger of P.R. for St. Pete/Clearwater. And the area is also home to Caladesi Island, the uninhabited idyllic haven of white sand which Stephen Leatherman (“Dr. Beach”) has named the number one beach in the U.S.A.

And lucky Nicole Elko. Not only does she get to make a difference for visitors and local wildlife alike, she told me that the best part of her job is “Getting to go to the beach every day.”