A Day in the Life of Leadership Marco

On a beautiful November beach morning, eight members of the Leadership Marco Class of 2024 gathered at Residents Beach to learn more about the beach and its shorebirds from Brittany Piersma, field biologist from the Audubon of the Western Everglades.

Leadership Marco is a Chamber of Commerce program that offers participants a series of full-day sessions that includes, among other topics, the history of the island, media with Coastal Breeze News, city government, and today, a full day learning about the environment and agriculture.

Piersma led the group south where a flock of shorebirds were resting along the water’s edge. Very typical on most mornings was a flock of resting Black Skimmers, terns, and gulls. Beach walkers and runners were enjoying their morning routine and this can be challenging for the resting shorebirds. “By following a few bird-friendly tips, we can all share the beach with wildlife,” said Piersma. “These birds are dependent on local beaches for their survival as our Marco  beach is one of many stopovers for them to rest and feed during their migratory journey.”

A takeaway by Lisa Consolo from the Leadership Marco Group: “Did you know that there is no such bird as a seagull? There are gulls that live by the sea and have many different names.” The most common on Marco is the Laughing Gull flying off with your bag of chips with their distinct laugh-like cry! They are usually mixed in with a flock of Black Skimmer and terns.

“Brittany set up her scope and zoomed in on one bird with a green and silver bracelet (band),” said Consolo. “Each state has a different color band, and green signifies that it was banded in Florida.”

Follow these Tips for a Bird-Friendly Visit: It is a matter of Survival. 

Do not flush birds - walk calmly around resting flocks.

Teach young children to respect resting birds and to play a safe distance away from them.

Don’t feed wildlife on the beach – human food is not part of their natural diet. 

Pick up your trash – birds can be killed by eating plastic or becoming entangled in it.

When birds are agitated, you are too close. 

The Next Stop was Lipman Family Farms in Naples, founded over 75 years ago as a farming company with a field-grown tomato operation in Southwest Florida. Today, Lipman Family Farms is the largest supplier of tomatoes and fresh vegetables in North America. According to CEO Elyse Lipman, a fourth-generation family member, Lipman is “vertically integrated, crossing all of North America.”

At the Farm, we were met by Chris Campbell, who manages Farm Number Seven in Naples. Campbell gathered us in a conference room and showed us a large aerial map of Farm Seven, where Cherry, Round, Roma, and Grape tomatoes and are grown. The Farm Seven covers 4,640 acres! They will plant 8,970,000 tomato plants, and it takes between 85 and 105 days from seedling to harvest. At peak production, they will send out roughly 2,000,000 pounds of produce daily – that is 45-50 semi-trailer loads a day!

“It was amazing to watch the workers string up the tomatoes so the plants can climb upwards and watch the workers plant the sprouts three rows at a time with the ‘planter machine,” said Consolo.

According to Campbell, giving farm tours is one of his favorite jobs, and usually at the end of the tour, guests will say, “I had no idea the work that is put into producing that tomato that I get from the grocery store.”

After a brief lunch at Pelican Bend at Isles of Capri, Leadership Marck boarded the Calusa Spirit, a comfortable 45 ft. powered catamaran operated by Marco Island Water Sports. They were welcomed by Captain Matt and Morgan Cooper. A pair of dolphins frolicked close by, and Morgan Cooper gave a brief overview of the shell collection on board the Calusa Spirit with a few shelling tips. “The best time to look for shells on the beach is after a storm. The Ten Thousand Islands always provides excellent shelling opportunities year-round, and we’re always keeping an eye out for the highly coveted Junonia.”