MERTF names Marti Cefaratti Murphy Award winner

The Fort Myers Beach Marine and Environmental Resources Task Force (MERTF), an advisory board for the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council, awards “Murphy” awards to people who are seen demonstrating good environmental stewardship.

This month’s winner is

Cefaratti has been working tirelessly to set a lighting standard for our island that many aspire to. On the surface, his work in helping the resort reach an accreditation as a “Sea Turtle Friendlly” hotel may not seem like that big of a task. That could not be further from the truth.

The expenditure for this project alone was well over $200,000. This includes all new beach-facing lighting to be “turtle friendly” and outdoor lighting. The windows facing the beach were required to be tinted. Pink Shell did 5% darker tint than required by the Sea Turtle Conservancy. All the light fixtures needed retooling to accommodate the new bulbs. The new standards that Pink Shell and Marti have implemented are not just upheld during turtle season they are year around. When asked why he went above and beyond doing this Marti said “because it’s the right thing to do. We have to work with the environment and think about the fingerprint we are leaving.”

Hurricane Ian brought a huge hurdle to the program but it was also an opportunity to re-build better, and because much of the work to become turtle compliant started before Hurricane Ian most of the lighting and fixtures were already ordered and waiting to be installed, luckily in a warehouse off island.

Working with Frontier Lighting, The Sea Turtle Conservancy, Pink Shell and Turtle Time, Marti was able to make an impact on our island both for the turtles to have a safer nesting and hatching season and to improve their survival rates. Just as important Marti and the Pink Shell have now set the standard for excellence on the island for not only sea turtle conservation but wildlife awareness and compassion. If one of the biggest resorts on the island can set the bar this high for our local wildlife what is to stop us from creating a strong balanced ecosystem for residents, tourists and our wild friends. The Pink Shell is now fully compliant and certified as a Sea Turtle Friendly Certified hotel as determined by the Coastal Connections, Inc.

Sea turtles are threatened worldwide and are protected in the United States under the Endangered Species Act.

“This program is a true commitment to conservation; holding each hotel and their team accountable as leaders”, says Coastal Connections’ Executive Director, Kendra Bergman. “These hotels invest a lot of money, time, focus, and energy on making sure they stand out among Florida hotels; challenging their neighbors to step up for the environment. They deserve an insane amount of recognition.”

Thank you Marti and the Pink Shell Resort, you certainly deserve this award! Congratulations.