Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/144898
Sarasota News Leader July 19, 2013 Page 45 and the FWC had stepped up patrols and sur- checked with the Audubon volunteers the next day, they learned that was not the case. veillance. Sgt. Scott Osborne, leader of the Sheriff's Office's Community Policing Station in Siesta Village, told the News Leader earlier this month that shortly after Sheriff's deputies and FWC officers began surveillance near Accesses 9 and 10, an FWC officer saw someone acting suspiciously about 11 one night on the beach. That person was wearing night vision equipment, Osborne added. The man apparently spotted the FWC officer "and got out of there," Osborne said, although not before the officer observed him appearing to follow a few groups of people for a short while. Osborne told the News Leader on July 17 that deputies and FWC officers would collaborate on more monitoring in the area of Accesses 3 and 4 through the remainder of the nesting season, which ends in early September. The FWC officer thought the man might have been one of the Sarasota Audubon volunteers, trying to keep a watch over the area as well, Osborne said. However, when officers What has made the nesting area near Access 4 particularly vulnerable to disruptions, Osborne pointed out, is that it is "right out there in the center of the beach." Most of the other He is hopeful they can catch the culprits, Osborne added. Additionally, Investigator Scott Kirsch with the FWC is planning to visit Siesta Key on Monday, July 22, to investigate the July 6 buffer violations, Bob Luckner told the News Leader. A sign that advised people the area was being used by beach-nesting birds has been knocked to the sand. Photo courtesy of Bob Luckner