"Turtle Talk With Tootie"

Turtle Walk #16

2011-08-18T23:36:00.000-04:00

It was a nice morning for a turtle walk. :)

Cool and breezy! The temperature last night got down to 75 degrees. :)

We had a nest about due to hatch, and two nests already hatched, that were going to be dug this morning.

A shark?

Seeing this on the beach, reminded me

of my little great grandson,

who was just here visiting,

and made me miss him even more.

No hatches this morning. :(

This nest is marked with shells around the opening made by the little turtles as they crawled out, after hatching 3 days ago. The shells are put there to help the Permittee find the opening so that he knows where to dig into the egg chamber. The empty eggs will be counted and also the eggs that didn't hatch, and any turtles that were not able to make it out, will be rescued and released.

(As you can see, the wind had blown sand over that opening and it could have been a little difficult to find it easily.)

We wanted to see this nest dug, but were there 30 minutes before the planned dig, and needed to get back home to take a friend to the airport this morning. Our Permittee was kind enough to send us an email to let us know what he found.

There were 73 eggs in this nest near Tarpon Beach Condos and 36 made it out. There were 5 live babies-all in good shape and released.

Right after that, he also dug another nest in our zone, near Ocean's Reach. There were 122 eggs with 92 that made it out. There were fire ants in the nest and they had killed one poor little turtle that had been left in the nest.

I doubt this bird could find

a better gulf view anywhere.

Shells and shell crumbs,

scattered by the waves.

This little bird was having a morning bath

in a tidal pool.

It was splashing water all over itself.

Then joined by a friend. :)

A crab left over from yesterday, perhaps?

The shore birds seemed to be having

a great time this morning.

In some places there were hardly any shells at all, only what had been left from days before at some really high tide lines.

A bright yellow balloon that would possibly have been food

for some sea creature.

A Golden Apple Murex??? :)

By the time we had finished our walk, the clouds had all turned white.

I believe that out of the 16 nests in our zone,

we have 7 left to hatch.

Turtle Walk #15

2011-08-11T23:50:00.002-04:00

It was the 16th time we hit the beach before sunrise, this sea turtle nesting season. (Yesterday we were subs for another walker, who couldn't make it.) I just love walking out the boardwalk to see a different view each time. Yesterday when we were subs for another turtle walker, there was a strong, cooling breeze. This morning there was a slight breeze, but the humidity was stifling.

It seems like the nesting could be nearing the end, now it's just waiting and watching for the hatches.

I guess there are still turtles nesting!

We found one!

Italian noodle?

Found this beside, what seemed to be,

a UFO landing site. :)

Beach excavation?

Crab trap.

The one that got away?

Nesting Stats:

As of August 12, 2011:

Sanibel East-35 nests, 84 false crawls, 11 hatches
Sanibel West- 239 nests, 359 false crawls, 87 hatches
Captiva- 76 nests, 54 false crawls, 39 hatches

As of August 12, 2010:

Sanibel East- 20 nests, 65 false crawls, 3 hatches
Sanibel West- 136 nests, 242 false crawls, 49 hatches
Captiva- 63 nests, 117 false crawls, 26 hatches

As of August 12, 2009:

Sanibel East- 27 nests, 57 false crawls, 8 hatches
Sanibel West- 155 nests, 177 false crawls, 83 hatches
Captiva- 80 nests, 67 false crawls, 37 hatches

Info from: Amanda Bryant, Biologist, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation

Turtle Walk #14

2011-08-04T22:07:00.000-04:00

Started our walk this morning, hopeful that we might see tiny little turtle tracks leading to the water.

The sky was beautiful as we walked onto the beach.

Nothing like finding left over, left behind fish bait. Now it's super stinky and has ants living in there with it. You have to wait to pick that up on the way back. Yuck!

There were a lot of holes on the beach this morning that could be a problem for little turtles to crawl though.

Plastic, plastic, plastic everywhere.

Someones hair is probably out of control

about now.

Common shells this morning was all I saw.

But, I didn't look closely, so there may be treasures just waiting for someone.

There were some big tracks that looked similar to dog tracks, in the sand near a couple of the turtle nests.

A coyote has been seen on the island and in the past week, it had been predating nests on the West End and it has worked it's way to the East End now.

I wonder if that could be what the kind of tracks we saw, because they were pretty big. There wasn't any sign that the nest had been dug into.

Just as a side note, we also have a black bear on the island. I'm sure if you keep up with island news, you have already heard about it. It's the talk of the island! This is the first documented bear sighting and no one knows, for sure, how it got here. There is speculation that it walked some areas during low tide and swam the rest. The bear's not talkin'. A motion activated, infrared camera along the Bailey Tract Trail caught an image of the bear around 4:30 one morning. The baby black bear is believed to be about 1 1/2 years old and weighs 40 to 60 lbs. He's been around for a little over a month and had caused no known problems. But, the little guy got into mischief

last week. He got into some bee hives and ate $20,000 worth of It ate bees, larva and honey, according to the bee farmer. Now that he got in trouble, so to speak, Florida Fish and Wildlife and the Ding Darling Refuge have set up a bear trap, in hopes of sending him to a more suitable environment.

The Lone Fisherman

There was some cute sand art this morning.

More tracks at another nest.

The Lone Sheller

Another noodle. We find, at least, one every week.

At least a little turtle could go through the tunnel in this one. :)

When we got to the end of our zone and turned to go back, I was surprised to see, what looked like, rain coming down from a part of it. Whatever it was, it was beautiful!

A crippled chair left for someone else

to carry away. :(

A big heart.

A couple of craters side by side. That made my imagination run rampant. :)

As we got to the end of our zone, which is at Tarpon Bay public access, there was a lot of trash to pick up. There's always more at the public accesses because there are more visitors. When we finished picking up and started walking away, we were talking and thinking that the City should have an employee to check the public beaches for trash each morning. I looked back, just as a city employee came walking out onto the beach with a long handled trash picker upper. :) Woo~Hoo! I hope that continues. But, he got lucky today.

Balloon remnants that could have been sea food.

A few steps away, there were several small balloons laying, that hadn't been blown up. I don't really know why you would have these on the beach, but they are a bad thing.

I thought this made a nice picture; a family out together on a morning beach walk. They were showing the little ones sea birds, and sea shells. It would be wonderful if that family could see some baby turtles.

Turtle Walk #13

2011-07-28T23:03:00.002-04:00

We started our walk earlier this morning because Amanda Bryant, Biologist and; Sea Turtle Coordinator for SCCF, had told us the second research nest in our zone was due to hatch. The first one did not hatch on our day. So, we were hopeful about this one. We started on the opposite end of our zone in order to get to the research nest sooner. If it had hatched, it would be important to get the little turtles out before the sun was up to high.

Up ahead, I could see the cage over the research turtle nest. I thought that the nest looked dark at the bottom of the cage. But, maybe it just wasn't light enough and my eyes were playing tricks. The closer we got, the more I was convinced that the dark areas could be baby turtles. I was getting excited, could we have been lucky enough to have that nest hatch on our watch....

YES, we were!

This is the first nest we found this year that hatched just before our turtle patrol. The neat thing about this one was that all the baby turtles were captured in a wire basket and we were the first to see them :) Most of the time the babies head to the Gulf and all we see are baby turtle footprints.

As soon as we saw the turtles, we called our Permittee, who would come to get the turtles.

In the meantime, there was the rest of our zone to walk. One of us stayed with the nest and the other finished walking our zone, then returning in time to to help.

These looked like some healthy and energetic babies. :)

The sky was absolutely beautiful this morning!

The Permittee arrived, took the hatchlings from the cage, counted them as he placed them in a bucket of damp sand. That sand was like the sand in the nest chamber that the little guys had just left.

There were 77 tiny turtles. :)
He picked 10, making sure they were healthy, then placed them in a seperate bucket.

The 10 lucky turtles will be sent to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton to be studied. When they are about the size of your hand they will determine the sex of the turtles and compare it with the temperature data collected from a probe that had been placed in the nest as soon as it was found. Then the turtles will be taken out into the Atlantic on a Coast Guard vessel and released where other sea turtles of the same size are found.

The other 67 turtles would be held in a dark place, where they could snooze until tonight after dark, when it would be safer for them to be released.

Usually after a hatch, the nest is dug 3 days later to count the empty eggs, eggs that did not hatch, dead turtles and check for any live ones that may not have been able to get out. All of these things have to be documented. Since this was a research nest, it was dug immediately. Below is a picture of the egg chamber with the empty eggs and four eggs that were not good and did not hatch. All live turtles had been able to climb out. :)

The eggs look like ping pong balls before they hatch.

You can see that the shelling in this area wasn't great this morning. But, I don't think anyone cared, because they were able to watch some baby Loggerheads instead. :) A large number of people stopped by to watch and take pictures, but the best part of all was that several children had a unique experience. Hopefully it will spark an interest in them to want to help save the sea turtles.

This has to have been my best turtle walk ever! :)

As of July 29, 2011:
Sanibel East-35 nests, 83 false crawls, 8 hatches
Sanibel West- 235 nests, 349 false crawls, 40 hatches
Captiva- 75 nests, 52 false crawls, 36 hatches
As of July 29, 2010:
Sanibel East- 16 nests, 62 false crawls, 1 hatch
Sanibel West- 136 nests, 232 false crawls, 24 hatches
Captiva- 57 nests, 112 false crawls, 16 hatches

As of July 29, 2009:
Sanibel East- 25 nests, 57 false crawls, 3 hatches
Sanibel West- 147 nests, 174 false crawls, 44 hatches
Captiva- 77 nests, 64 false crawls, 27 hatches

Stats provided by:

Amanda Bryant
Biologist, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation

Turtle Walk #12

2011-07-21T23:32:00.000-04:00

We were thinking we might get lucky again this morning and find more turtle activity. What we did find, was a lot of no-see-um activity because there was hardly any breeze when we started.

You never know if you will see a turtle; sometimes we get lucky!

Footprints in a sea turtle nest! :(

Footprints on another nest. :(

Clouds got brighter and brighter pink as the sun came up.

Yes that's me, a mere shadow of myself. :)

We had no turtle activity, not even a false crawl.

Sea Turtle Activity as of July 22, 2011:

Sanibel East- 35 nests, 81 false crawls, 3 hatches
Sanibel West- 230 nests, 334 false crawls, 32 hatches
Captiva- 73 nests, 50 false crawls, 31 hatches

Sea Turtle Activity as of July 22, 2010:

Sanibel East- 15 nests, 61 false crawls, 0 hatches
Sanibel West- 118 nests, 223 false crawls, 12 hatches
Captiva- 52 nests, 106 false crawls, 11 hatches

Sea Turtle Activity as of July 22, 2009:

Sanibel East- 24 nests, 57 false crawls, 1 hatch
Sanibel West- 142 nests, 167 false crawls, 33 hatches
Captiva- 77 nests, 62 false crawls, 24 hatches

Amanda Bryant
Biologist
Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation
3333 Sanibel-Captiva Rd.
Sanibel, FL 33957

http://www.sccf.org/
www.facebook.com/SanibelCaptivaConservationFoundation
http://www.sccfseaturtleprogram.blogspot.com/

Turtle Walk #11

2011-07-14T22:29:00.001-04:00

We headed out a little early again this morning. We were anxious to see if there had been any turtle activity.

As soon as we started, we saw a Missouri friend, who is staying at Ocean's Reach, coming out to see us. That was a pleasant surprise, but we only had time for a quick hug and hello. We had a couple of special nests to check on and also wanted to get our walk over before it got too hot out. We planned to talk more with her on our way back.

In front of Pointe Santo we found turtle tracks. But after looking them over, I think it was a false crawl.

The end of our zone and time to

turn around to go back.

When we got back to our starting spot at Gulfside City Park, the turtle walker from zone 5 was just getting back too. She said their walk had been pretty entertaining because there was a group of manatees swimming around, just a little way from where we were. But, we were too hot by that time and didn't go on to see them. We also didn't see our friend, but after seeing a picture of the manatees on her Facebook wall, I know where she was. :)

Turtle Walk #10

2011-07-07T23:47:00.000-04:00

It was lightly raining as we arrived at Gulfside City Park to start our turtle walk. As I was getting out of the car, I noticed a vulture sitting on the railing next to the restrooms. It just sat there watching as I put bug spray on and kept staring at me as I walked past.

We started a little earlier this morning, hoping to avoid a heavier rain that was on the way.

I walked straight out from the boardwalk and this was right in my path. I'm glad it was light enough that I could see it in time.

We check all of the nests on each walk. This morning there was a ghost crab hole dug next to this one. You can see it in the bottom left hand corner. We reported it to our Permittee. But I doubt it will be a problem since it isn't near hatching time.

This hole in front of Casa Ybel Resort was really deep.

This hole was also over a foot deep.

A false crawl. It looked like the turtle came up, just started to dig a nest, perhaps decided there were too many roots in the way or the sand was packed to hard, and then left.

The tracks going off to the right side are cooler or beach cart tracks.

Another nest with a ghost crab hole.

A second crawl!

Also a false one.

A closer look at the tracks.

This fisherman came up to us when we were looking at the tracks. He said that he had just come out onto the beach at 6:00 and he saw the turtle come out of the water, crawl up to the dunes. It stayed there for a few minutes and seemed to him that it was checking out the little white flowers on the nearest bush. Then it turned and returned to the water. The whole thing took about 20 minutes total. He said he stayed far back, not moving, so that he wouldn't disturb it. But, for whatever reason, it didn't make a nest. The man was thrilled to have seen it. He has been coming here for over 30 years and this was the first time he has seen a sea turtle.

This is an exciting sea turtle nesting season for us, this is the first year that we have found turtle activity on our watch. :) These are the stats for Sanibel and Captiva thus far:

(Our zone is a part of the East end)

Sanibel East- 30 nests and 59 false crawls

Sanibel West- 194 nests, 287 false crawls, and 10 hatches

Captiva- 60 nests, 40 false crawls, and 8 hatches

And by the way, if you heard a rumor that there was a sea turtle traveling on the Sanibel Causeway and needed to be re-routed, it is a true story. :) Someone driving back onto the island during the late night, was surprised to see it crossing the road and called to notify authorities. Evidently it was a false crawl and the turtle may have lost it's sense of direction for a while. A disaster was averted and it was quickly off on it's merry way.

By the time we reached Pointe Santo there was a rainbow.

The two little kids in the photo below were so cute. They each had a little shell bag hanging over their shoulder and were carefully searching and putting shells in them. :)

A sea monster, of some sort, was lurking on the beach at Pointe Santo.

Two feet away from the water?

YES!!! A turtle nesting!!!

A Yellow-crowned Night-heron, maybe looking for a ghost crab breakfast. :)

We have our Ibis in a row. :)

Balloons

A new kind of bird that we haven't seen on the shore before.

Hmm, could there be a better place to spend a birthday than on Sanibel?

It had misted, sprinkled, and finally rained lightly as we did our walk. Due to finding new turtle crawls, the excitement made it worthwhile.

Turtle Walk #9

2011-06-30T23:58:00.001-04:00

It was just light enough to see, as we walked out to the beach. There was a nice, strong, cool breeze. Very pleasant.

It's a very exciting nesting season so far. We now have nests from three different species of sea turtle on the Islands, which is very rare!

I started the morning out wondering what we might find. Hopefully another nest. :)

That's yours truly dragging along.

Beach golf?

There weren't many shells on the beach, but I did pick up this rare red plastic one.

What is left of a dead sea turtle. :(

Most areas on the beach, this morning, had shell crumbs instead of shells.

Funny how there always seems to be a mermaid lurking around.

Must have been some pretty hard work going on here.

Already a piece of a firework.

Me picking up trash. That's not the Sanibel Stoop.

Did they intend to put de lime in de coconut .....

Was this meant to stir it all up?

This osprey has a bird's eye view of the sunrise.

It wasn't screeching at anyone today.

There were several small plastic beads, like this red one. We find them all the time, from broken fishing lures.

Part of a soft, white, silicone fishing lure.

The hole at the bottom of this pyramid is where the Pharaoh crab lives.

Amazing, another turtle crawl!!!

And a nest that is located right behind what's left of a sandcastle that the turtle must have knocked down with it's flippers while digging.

There is another sandcastle right in front too, which is where we stuck the flag marker.

When we looked into the top of that castle, we saw a ghost crab run back underground. Pretty smart crab, he made a hole in the bottom of the castle.

He even has a road that goes into the lower level. He actually uses that, because we saw his tracks. :)

How many crabs do you know that live in a castle?

We left a little good morning note for our Permittee, who was on his way to mark this nest. :)

There is a pretty large hole in this area and that made me think about the news SCCF's Amanda Bryant sent out this week.

The turtle program has partnered with the Sanibel Recreation Department’s Afterschool and Summer programs to help tackle the problem of holes on the beach. The energetic kids will be assisting through the summer with filling in the larger holes on the beach.

What a great idea!

I have heard of crop circles before, but never sand circles. :)

More plastic....

Hmmm, I think some birds are looking for mischief to get into.

This little boy caught a small fish and after holding it up, long enough for his Mom to take a picture, he was taking it back to the water when it started wiggling and it jumped out of his hands. He was so cute, as he tried to be careful not to hurt the fish.

Stairway to the Gulf.

Another abandoned shell net.

The nests are getting a little close together in places. :)

BIG bug!

We picked up 2 bags packed full of trash, including lots of plastic and paper, but this is the worst, even worse than pampers. Ugh....now you know why I wear a rubber glove on one hand. :(

If you've ever watched shorebirds, you've noticed how they stand around on one leg much of the time. This one appeared to be doing that, but when we got closer we could actually see where the other leg should be and it just wasn't there.

Poor thing only has one leg. We saw it fly over our heads and make a perfect landing near a fisherman. I have to confess, even knowing we are not supposed to feed the birds....and I'm one who gets angry at people for doing it....If I were a fisherman, I might have to let a fish drop, so this poor bird could get it.

I had to look back again and saw the bird trying to get down a slight drop off in the sand, it slid and almost fell down. :( But, it made it.

Straws, straws, straws!

Sometimes you feel like a nut.....

sometimes you don't!

We have friends who might want to use floaters when playing The Dunes golf course. :)

Turtle Walk #8

2011-06-23T23:20:00.000-04:00

When we started out this morning, I wasn't too optimistic about finding a new nest, because two more had been found since we last walked. I thought since there are already more nests in this zone than last year, we had just missed out again. But, it's always fun being out on the beach before the sun comes up, so off we went!

Some pretty clouds to look at.

A beach noodle....

A turtle crawl!!!! You can see from the tracks that it came onto the beach, must have seen or heard something, then turned and went back out. A false crawl again. :(

But, it came back later, as you can see from it's tracks that crossed over the top of the previous ones. YAY :)

This time she made a nest; the first one we've actually found. :) The nest is just beyond the flag that we left for our Permittee, who came out to measure and mark the nest.

Shortly after we found it, a couple walked by with their daughter. After we left, I saw the father taking her up to look at the nest and I could tell he was explaining to her about the tracks etc. I think it's great that she had the opportunity to see it. Getting young people interested and educated, is our wildlife's best hope of survival.

A piece of balloon, often mistaken for food, is a common item found in sea turtle's intestines. Along with other garbage, this can cause blockage and kill wildlife.

Gotta LOVE this island. :)

This osprey was screeching as other birds flew past and also as someone walked below it.

One of two new nests that are in our zone since our last walk.

A broken canopy (turtle trap) frame left behind.

The other new nest. The turtle had to climb a pretty steep incline to that location. I imagine it was like climbing a mountain to a sea turtle. It is very difficult for them to move when they're out of the water. If you are curious as to what it would be like, lay down in the sand, put your hands on your shoulders and not using any other parts of your body, drag yourself with your bent arms, through the sand. The sea turtles can soar through the water, but it can take hours to pull their bodies across the sand, dig their nest and lay eggs.

This ghost crab looks scary to me, but I wonder how big and scary I must look to the poor crab.

Another umbrella left out over night. I guess some people just don't read rules when on vacation.

I think all cigarettes should be collected at the Sanibel Causeway entrance. :)

John from Philadelphia with his catch of the day.

He was happy that we came along at just the right time to take his picture with the Snook. He quickly released it, then we made arrangements to send him the photos in an email.
A super nice catch!

As we were leaving on the boardwalk, I noticed this plastic bag that was caught in the trees with the sea breeze filling it. It reminded me of the song that asks if you have ever felt like a plastic bag floating in the wind.

It has been estimated that over a million sea-birds and one hundred thousand marine mammals and sea turtles are killed each year by ingestion of plastics or entanglement.

We picked up 2 bags full of trash in just our 1 mile zone, in one day, so you can imagine the amount of trash that accumulates.

What we picked up seems minimal in the whole scheme of things, but if each of us would carry a bag when we are on the beach, picking up what we see, it could make a difference.

We also need to look around, before leaving the beach, making sure the only thing we are leaving behind is footprints.
A friend just did an interesting presentation on this topic for a class in the Florida Master Naturalist program. Have a look. :)

Amanda Bryant, Biologist and SCCF Sea Turtle Program Coordinator sent out this report:

This week our first hatches occurred on Sanibel & Captiva. Both were from the first loggerhead nests laid on the islands. This is about two weeks earlier than 2010 and 2009.

As of June 24, 2011:

Sanibel East- 19 loggerhead nests, 36 loggerhead false crawls
Sanibel West- 142 loggerhead nests, 1 Kemp’s Ridley nest, 2 green nests, 210 loggerhead false crawls, 1 hatch
Captiva- 50 loggerhead nests, 30 loggerhead false crawls, 1 hatch

Previous years for comparison:
As of June 24, 2010:

Sanibel East- 7 loggerhead nests, 25 loggerhead false crawls
Sanibel West- 160 loggerhead nests, 1 green nest, 139 loggerhead false crawls
Captiva- 27 loggerhead nests, 63 loggerhead false crawls

As of June 24, 2009:

Sanibel East- 8 loggerhead nests, 1 leatherback nest, 26 loggerhead false crawls
Sanibel West- 95 loggerhead nests, 122 loggerhead false crawls
Captiva- 43 loggerhead nests, 40 loggerhead false crawls

http://www.sccf.org/
www.facebook.com/SanibelCaptivaConservationFoundation
http://www.sccfseaturtleprogram.blogspot.com/

Turtle Walk #7

2011-06-16T23:47:00.001-04:00

Today's turtle walk post.

Turtle Walk #6

2011-06-10T19:01:00.000-04:00

Today's Turtle Walk Post

Turtle Walk #5

2011-06-03T01:32:00.000-04:00

Turtle Walk #5 Post

Turtle Walk #4

2011-05-26T15:45:00.001-04:00

Turtle Walk Post

Turtle Walk #3

2011-05-20T23:36:00.002-04:00

We arrived at the beach this morning around 6:15. The temperature seemed perfect, until we stepped out onto the beach and felt the breeze, which was a little chilly. It had been down to 65 during the night. We kicked our shoes off, leaving them near the boardwalk. As soon as my feet touched the wet sand, which felt cold, I wished I had left shoes on. After walking a few minutes I warmed up. :)

Crabs drinking soda and throwing empties out???

I picked up 5 of these in the same area.

A plastic bag, just waiting to become turtle food. :(

I only had to bend over one time, reach all around me to pick up this trash. There were lots of small pieces of plastic on the beach this morning and 3 caps that boaters had lost in the water and washed in. Picked up two plastic bags full of trash today.

Turtle trap?

Beach erosion in front of Pointe Santo during the past several days.

Snowy Egret casting a long shadow.

Me and my shadow.

The end of a nice walk, but no turtle tracks. :(

As of today there are.....

Sanibel East- 2 nests, 7 false crawls

Sanibel West- 19 nests, 28 false crawls

Captiva- 10 nests, 0 false crawls

Turtle Walk #2

2011-05-12T23:15:00.000-04:00

Today was our second turtle walk of the season. The temperature was perfect, but not quite as much breeze as I would have liked. Because of that, the no-see-ums bothered us a little if we stopped walking. After there was more light they disappeared.

There was a lot of sea pork on the

beach this morning.

I tried to get a photo of the manatee that was swimming around. As we got near the area, there were around 5 people standing on the shore taking photos. By the time we got to that point, there were 4 more people and another 3 coming out a path. Word traveled fast! :) With the photo enlarged you can only see a dark line. On our way back, people were still there watching the manatee who had been joined by a pod of dolphins.

I think this is where that deep hole was last week. Pretty sad when they have to bring in heavy equipment to fill them in. There was also a big and very deep hole in front of Pointe Santo a couple of days ago. It has been filled in too. We saw the big tracks in several places. If we see anyone digging such a hole, we are supposed to call the police department and give them the location. Hopefully that will put an end to some of it.

Fishing line left behind.

Shell net marking a militant sheller's grave?

King of the mountain???

Plastic straw

Another hole in the making.

Horseshoe crab and sea pork.

Sunrise

You can see from the photos how

calm the water was.

A dead baby shark.

Do you think this thing floated over from Cuba?

Ocean's Reach Resort

which is a great place to stay,

has an informative website with a picture gallery and also a blog.

We saw no turtle activity this morning, but there has been some.

To date:

East End- 0 nests, 4 false crawls

West End- 11 nests, 15 false crawls

Captiva- 4 nests, 0 false crawls

First Turtle Walk of 2011 Sea Turtle Nesting Season

2011-05-05T23:54:00.037-04:00

This morning was our first 'Turtle Walk' of the 2011 nesting season. We were looking forward to it, hoping to see a turtle crawl and a new nest. There have been 5 nests and 4 false crawls found on the west end already.

We are walking a new zone this year, which is a mile long. We begin at Gulfside City Park and walk west to the Tarpon Bay Public Access.

As we walked out onto the beach, just before daylight, the first thing we saw was someone walking down the beach with a flashlight. It's disheartening when you find someone breaking the rules before you even begin. :(

It was windy and cool this morning, perfect weather for a walk on the beach.

We quickly started passing by one sand hole after another.

A boogie board left behind.

There were a few small shells on the beach, but mostly crumbs.

This looked to be one busy crab hole, by the looks of the tracks. :( I only wanted to see turtle tracks!

Casa Ybel

When I noticed the pink sky, I realized that we were not going to get a direct view of the sunrise this morning. Sanibel Island is shaped like a boomerang and we are walking at the southernmost point of the island, therefore no sunrise view this time of year.

Island Beach Club, some of you may know that because of the landmark palm tree leaning toward the gulf. You can be quite a distance down the beach and be able to get your bearings when you see this tree. Sadly the tree has died, but it still serves a purpose with an osprey nest on top.

Something strange was ahead, and in front of Sanibel Cottages.

Yes, another hole. This one is going to have to filled in. It's like a waiting trap for a sea turtle coming ashore to nest.

See the landmark tree?

Pointe Santo de Sanibel

Very quiet there this morning.

The end of our zone.

Tarpon Bay Public Beach Access

Sting Ray had one fin missing.

Pile of Pen shells

Only shell we picked up this morning was a black flat scallop shell.

About 35 cents???

Prettiest view of the walk. :)

Back at our access; one full bag of trash, no turtle nests.

A nice walk, nonetheless.

2010 Season Statistics

2010-11-04T23:30:00.000-04:00

Sea turtle season is over on the islands. Below is how our season ended. The previous two years are for comparison. This is the third worst year for the islands in terms of number of nests laid. From what I've read, amount of nests and hatches were up, in many other areas. So, I guess we can be thankful for that.Sanibel & Captiva 2010:

Sanibel East- 20 nests, 64 false crawls, 7 hatches

Sanibel West- 140 nests*, 247 false crawls, 105 hatches

Captiva- 64 nests, 117 false crawls, 50 hatches

2009:

Sanibel East- 27 nests, 57 false crawls, 23 hatches

Sanibel West- 155 nests, 177 false crawls, 129 hatches

Captiva- 80 nests, 66 false crawls, 68 hatches

2008:

Sanibel East- 34 nests, 50 false crawls, 19 hatches

Sanibel West- 248 nests, 243 false crawls, 152 hatches

Captiva- 137 nests, 103 false crawls, 101 hatches

Our Last Turtle Nest Visit For This Year

2010-09-09T23:04:00.000-04:00

For the past two weeks, we have only gone over to the Sanibel Inn on East Gulf Drive to check the one sea turtle nest in our zone. If you would like to read the posts and see photos from those two weeks, you can read them on my main blog.

Last week and today's post.

I'll be posting this years statistics as soon as they are available. Thanks for caring about the sea turtles. We will hope they fare better next year. We all need to continue to do all we can to make the conditions of our oceans and beaches better for all wildlife.

Kemp's Ridley Turtles Released

2010-08-31T21:33:00.000-04:00

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others, participated today, in the release of 42 endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. The rescued, rehabbed turtles were returned to the Gulf today, in Collier County, FL.

Seventeenth Turtle Walk

2010-08-26T23:30:00.000-04:00

This was the day for our usual turtle walk, but since the season is over now except for those nests that still have not hatched. We just went over to our zone before sunrise, parked near the area of our nest, which is by the Sanibel Inn on East Gulf Drive.

As we walked around the Sanibel Inn pool area, their flag was flying in a strong, cool breeze. It was a perfect morning for a beach walk.

There had been a very high tide, so between that and all the recent rain, their regular access path to the beach was standing full of water. We found another small path that ran through the dune area.

The warm light of the approaching sun, is the best start to any day!

Now I have my own suspicions as to how this visor made an appearance on the beach.

Since I know that the Sanibel Thriller passes by here each afternoon, and I also know from personal experience that someone always looses a cap or visor on nearly every trip, I'm guessing this flew right off some lady's head and was washed in to the shore. Mystery solved! By the way, if you haven't been on this cruise, be sure to go. It is awesome! I think it's, by far the best dolphin cruise I've ever been on and also an interesting narration by a really cool lady that is a personal friend. If you go, say Hi to Leena for me. :)

Just after we started walking, I saw a helicopter coming toward us.

It flew very low, right over our heads.

I watched the helicopter go up to the end of the island and then turn to come back again. This time I could see spray coming out. They were spraying for mosquitoes. You think this could mean I'm well protected now? Hmmmm? They made several passes before disappearing.

We see this nice lady on each of our turtle walks. You'll notice she carries a bag and picks up trash as she goes along. This morning she was on her way back with a full bag.

I only picked up one shell to carry home today, and you'll find it below.

There was quite a bit of Manatee grass left on a high tide line, in several places.

Manatee grass is one of seven different sea grasses that grow in our Gulf waters, providing a habitat and food for marine animals. In the winter, much of the grass dies and floats to the surface, and Manatee grass breaks off easily in storms. It is very buoyant and floats to the surface, drifts around, gets bleached by the sun, and, eventually, washes up on beaches. It sometimes leaves a bad smell on the beach, as it decomposes.

Our turtle nest has been washed over once before by a high tide, last night the high tide got up as far as the first stake. We're still hoping it will hatch.

As we walked back from the beach, I noticed how green and fresh all the vegetation is. I suppose from the recent rain and perhaps the high tides.

There were a lot of bikes at the Sanibel Inn, just waiting for someone to take them for a ride.

Here's my treasure, from a perfect morning on the beach.

These are the shells I carried home last evening.

Just before sunset we drove out to a Sanibel Causeway island to watch the sunset. There were lots of thunderstorm clouds around and I thought that would make the sunset spectacular. But, no such luck. There was just too much cloud clover, so we didn't even get a peak at the sun. Since you know how I love clouds, you know I wasn't disappointed. :)

No Lights on the Beach!

2010-08-23T22:19:00.003-04:00

Hundreds of freshly hatched loggerheads marched toward the wrong light and perished needlessly on Bonita Beach in recent weeks. I was reading an article today that was about more turtles following the wrong light, with most of them getting killed or dying. It is so important to not shine light toward or on the beach during sea turtle nesting season.

Sixteenth Turtle Walk of 2010 Nesting Season

2010-08-19T23:07:00.003-04:00

This morning was our 16th turtle walk of the 2010 nesting season. We did our duty and walked our 2 miles, picking up trash and checking on the one nest in our zone. Our nest has been washed over by a high tide, so it is doubtful that it will hatch. There have been no new nests reported for quite a while now, which means that nesting time has probably ended. A number of nests were washed out and some washed over, but they will be monitored until after the due date. Next week, we will just be going over to check on our nest. The nesting numbers so far, don't look all that good. We had more false crawls than last year and a few less nests. Things have certainly not been favorable for the poor sea turtles this year.

I was surprised to see a lot of Moonflowers blooming again.

I will miss this sight on Thursday mornings. I think I may have to get up early, once in a while, to get my sunrise fix. :)

Walked past a deep hole, just after leaving the boardwalk.

A hat, shoes and water bottle. No one in sight. ??? I guess they made it back alright, because it was all gone when we came back.

The birds were patiently waiting for the sunrise.

There were lots of scattered shells this morning.

Super Pail??? A food storage bucket???

If our nest does hatch, this is just what the baby turtles will have to get through. A maize of trenches etc. all the way across, between them and the water. Ugh!

We hurried on the way back, trying to beat the heat. But I did notice this Button shell and a small Lace murex, and a few other tiny shells. There were plenty to pick through, if you took the time.

Early this evening we made a run off-island to McDonalds. On the way over the Sanibel Causeway, we noticed how calm the water was. I saw a Pelican gliding within a few inches of the water and you could see the air current was making the water spray, as it went. You don't see that when there are waves. I think I see something new every time, it's amazing.

The sky was very dark in the direction of Ft Myers Beach and appeared to be nearing the island. But, we got no rain.

The grounded sailboat was still on the sandbar. I tried to get a closeup photo, but that didn't work too well as we were driving.

On the way back, the clouds were awesome.

Notice how calm the water was.

Just before sunset, on our back deck, it was just another 'Rainbow Day'.

Then our day ended with more of this. :)I'm sure someone was watching a beautiful sunset.

The sea turtle activity report for Sanibel and Captiva, with two previous years for comparison, as of August 16, by Amanda Bryant, Biologist, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation.

As of Aug. 16, 2010:

Sanibel East- 20 nests, 64 false crawls, 5 hatches

Sanibel West- 136 nests, 243 false crawls, 51 hatches

Captiva- 64 nests, 117 false crawls, 28 hatches

As of Aug. 16, 2009:

Sanibel East- 27 nests, 57 false crawls, 9 hatches

Sanibel West- 155 nests, 177 false crawls, 81 hatches

Captiva- 80 nests, 67 false crawls, 41 hatches

As of Aug. 16, 2008:

Sanibel East- 34 nests, 50 false crawls, 8 hatches

Sanibel West- 245 nests, 243 false crawls, 102 hatches

Captiva- 137 nests, 103 false crawls, 65 hatches

Fifteenth Turtle Walk of 2010

2010-08-12T23:57:00.002-04:00

This was our 15th turtle walk this nesting season. It was a little darker this morning than it usually is. I saw no one on the beach when we first started, but in a few minutes I saw bright flashlights shining, way up the beach. I guess they didn't get the memo about no flashlights during sea turtle nesting season.

It was interesting walking, because the tides have been pretty high during the last few days. There was a little sea wrack to look at, and some shells. Sadly, some of the sea turtle nests got washed out from those high tides. The nest in our zone has been washed over, so we'll just have to wait to find out if the eggs still hatch. It seems that things are just stacked against the poor turtles' survival.

someone's cast offs.

Sun shining through a Pen Shell.

A Brittle Starfish.

a very small starfish. We carried a lot of starfish back to the water.

There were larger and deeper areas of shells, in some places.

One perfect little treasure! I forgot to put it in the picture below.

A live Pear Whelk

Starfish Trail.

Coconut tracks!

I only picked up a few shells to take home. I had two more small Angel Wings, but they got broken in the shell bag on the way home.

Sea Turtle Nesting is Slowing

2010-08-09T16:23:00.004-04:00

The sea turtle nesting is beginning to slow down, on Sanibel and Captiva Islands, but hatching is still going strong. Below is the sea turtle activity to date and the previous two years for comparison, by Amanda Bryant, Biologist, Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation.

As of August 9, 2010:

Sanibel East- 20 nests, 64 false crawls, 3 hatches

Sanibel West- 135 nests, 241 hatches, 40 hatches

Captiva- 61 nests, 117 false crawls, 24 hatches

As of August 9, 2009:

Sanibel East- 26 nests, 57 false crawls, 8 hatches

Sanibel West- 155 nests, 177 false crawls, 67 hatches

Captiva-80 nests, 67 false crawls, 32 hatches

As of August 9, 2008:

Sanibel East- 34 nests, 50 false crawls, 4 hatches

Sanibel West-242 nests, 243 false crawls, 46 hatches

Captiva- 137 nests, 103 false crawls, 51 hatches

Fourteenth Turtle Walk of 2010

2010-08-04T23:07:00.011-04:00

Each Thursday morning, during sea turtle nesting season, we are up and on the way to the beach, well before sunrise. And, every Thursday morning, I have the same feeling of anticipation. I can't wait to see that soft pink glow of pre-dawn light! Why do I love the Sanibel sunrises so much?

I can remember being told, 'yesterday is gone', 'things will be better in the morning', and 'tomorrow's another day.' Sunrise is the beginning of a new day, but my yesterday seemed fine to me. I don't think I'm yearning for a fresh start to a new day, I'm just thankful that I've been given another. I think it's the pure beauty of that pink glow, just before my day begins, and wondering what adventures this day will bring.

The first faint pink glow.

It was, just barely, light enough to see one lady on the beach, walking toward the Sanibel Lighthouse.

I saw no one else in sight.

Looks like somebody had a ball last night.

Shells were pretty sparse.

The tide was pretty low.

Shells were a little a little more dense in places.

Seeing these five holes, made me start thinking! (Not good!)

If dogs start digging holes in the yard, the reason is usually that their owner is away or the dog is being neglected. Yelling or hitting the dog is a reward of sorts, because the dog then has your attention and considers that a reward. Trainers say that the best solution is owner involvement. Keep the dog mentally stimulated . Now….I’m wondering if that could be the answer for the little hole diggers on the beach. Maybe a little parent involvement? That is, unless the parent is helping dig holes.

A random sampling of seashells. :)

We were walking along the beach, saw a slight movement near the water, looked closer and then saw 7 little Snowy Plovers standing very still, in little cupped out places in the sand. They thought they were invisible and they nearly were.

A trap!

Another!

Had no idea what this was, other than interesting.

The beach was loaded with sand obstacles today.

Notice the pink glow has gone. The sun is up!

Birds all watching the sunrise.

Chair and belongings, including a steak knife, had been left out all night.

And .... again....

Time for breakfast!

Another chair left out, not sure which place it belonged to. But, obviously someone had dragged it there, from the pool area.

How many butts do you see? I counted 11, as I was picking them up. This sight is getting to be way too frequent. Cigarette butts are laying around on the sand, where people have been sitting etc, but mostly the incoming tide shoves them up into the high tide line. We see them all along the way, picking up the obvious ones, but if we looked the beach over, we would be out there all day picking them up and not be finished. :(

This was the heaviest amount of shells in our zone this morning. However, I didn't take time to dig through them.

This is where our zone ends, and the view as I was just returning from depositing two bags of trash, at the Sanibel Inn. Thank goodness they have trash receptacles on their path to the beach. I think it also reminds their guests to bring their trash from the beach. Thanks Sanibel Inn!

It was pretty hot by the time we started our walk back. But there was a pretty strong wind blowing which helped a lot. The temperature got up to 91 later today.

The one turtle nest in our zone looks to be in good shape, but there were no new ones.

This morning, on our fourteenth turtle walk, I was hoping to have a turtle adventure, but that didn't happen. Oh well, as they say, tomorrow is another day. :) It was just nice being out in nature.

Our sea turtle activity as of August 2, and the previous two years for comparison.

As of Aug. 2, 2010:

Sanibel East- 18 nests, 63 false crawls, 2 hatches
Sanibel West- 131 nests, 238 false crawls, 32 hatches
Captiva- 59 nests, 115 false crawls, 23 hatches

As of Aug. 2, 2009:

Sanibel East- 25 nests, 57 false crawls, 5 hatches
Sanibel West- 148 nests, 176 false crawls, 57 hatches
Captiva- 80 nests, 67 false crawls, 27 hatches

As of Aug. 2, 2008:

Sanibel East- 34 nests, 50 false crawls, 3 hatches
Sanibel West- 238 nests, 240 false crawls, 58 hatches
Captiva- 134 nests, 99 false crawls, 41 nests

The 3rd annual Tour De Turtle, kicked off, once again! Be sure to check out their cute tour De Turtle website to keep up with the race.

I found this article a little disheartening. I can't understand how anyone could possibly think the sea turtle population is thriving, when all studies show the number of turtles nesting has been continually declining.

Injured Sea Turtles from the Gulf Arrive for Care at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Disney donates $100,000 to help with rescue and environmental efforts in the Gulf.

More relocated sea turtle eggs have hatched, and hatchlings were released.

Baby Turtles Here and There

2010-07-31T16:57:00.005-04:00

Baby Sea Turtles Here and There

Here on Sanibel Island, we have had a few nests hatch in the past couple of weeks. Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation's Amanda Bryant, Biologist and our head turtle lady, along with a large group of volunteers, do everything they can to help the new hatchlings survive. Nests are dug 3 days after they hatch by an SCCF permittee, who counts the shells and rescues any stragglers. Most of the time a few stragglers are found, still in the nest. Those babies are usually kept in a bucket,damp and dark, until they are released at their nesting site, later that night. The cover of darkness, when there are less preditors, provides them a better chance for survival.

Many volunteers are working to save the sea turtles all along our coastlines.

Volunteers helping save baby turtles on Bonita Beach.

Volunteers helping sea turtles on Anna Maria Island.

Thirteenth Turtle Walk of 2010

2010-07-30T03:20:00.001-04:00

This morning was our 13th turtle walk of the 2010 Sea Turtle Nesting Season. We were out and on the beach well before daylight. We started our walk at the Buttonwood Lane beach access. As we walked across the boardwalk, the eastern sky was a deep red color. There had been no air moving when we left the house and I was really hoping that there would be at least, a breeze near the water. But, there was none. After the rain we had last night, it was very humid and I knew that the noseeums would be a problem. I was right! We couldn't slow down, let alone stop, without them biting us. It was also hot out, but I made the first mile ok, on the way back, it bothered me more. I was thankful I had taken a bottle of water with me.

The lights on Ft Myers Beach were glowing in the red sky.

There were mostly ark shells where we first started walking. The tide was pretty low and the waves were very calm. It could have been a relaxing walk, if the noseeums hadn't been so pesky!

There were several chunks of Sea Pork on the beach today.

In a short time, we started seeing more shells, but I didn't slow down to look closely at them.

There was hardly anyone else on the beach, at first.

I had been walking along, looking down. When I looked up, I saw this tiny little hand waving at us. Now, that's about the best greeting I've had on the beach for a LONG time! This little girl had the most beautiful, big smile and she was still waving as we went on.

A cute little castle, could be where the pretty little princess came from.

A neat octopus! This is right up there among my favorite sand art pictures. It has the right amount of limbs, eyes and mouth. They have 3 hearts, but I couldn't tell if they were all there. :) Did you know that Octopi are probably the most intelligent of all invertebrates? (Note: Erin I know, Octopi must be one of your favorite words; at least it made me think of you.)

Tools left from the day before.

One Flip, one Flop!

Very pretty pink clouds, but we were getting close to the disaster area, of trash, holes and chairs.

Someone spent quite a bit of time on this, but sadly I couldn't make out what it was, I think because it had been rained on. In the background you can see six holes.

We had already been picking up trash in this area again, and then found these chairs. At least we know who they belong to now. The high tide had washed one of them up into the dune area. The chairs had been left out for at least two nights, because they had already been tagged by another turtle walker, that's the green sticker.

You would think someone from this establishment would come out to make sure things were all taken in, at the end of the day.

As the sun came up, you could see people walking out to the beach, from the condos.

A diver down?

This is the only turtle I saw this morning, but it was a cute one.

There were a lot of Morning Glories blooming today. The looked all perky and fresh, from last nights rain.

As I was looking at them and taking pictures, I found more trash! We already had 2 bags full and I had just put those in a trash can at the Sanibel Inn.

Getting the thrill of picking up someones cigarette butts, always makes my day! :)

The Ghost Crab hole is still at the only turtle nest in our zone.

I saw this cute, crabby guy, near the water. He just sat there long enough for me to take his picture.

Yes, it's a 'fish out of water.'

Birdie breakfast time!

Chestnut turban

Shark's eye

Sea Pork

A crumpled green sticker that someone pulled off a beach chair that must have been tagged yesterday. You can now understand what kind of person it belonged to, since they took the chair and threw the sticker on the sand and left it.

Can you see the two little Snowy Plovers? This was the only area I saw them today, and it seemed like they were all hanging out together. I tried counting all of them, as I stood there watching. Several times I counted 10 and a few times I counted 11. Those little guys just run sooo fast! I think it is near the end of their nesting season and there are only a couple more to fledge. I wonder if they will all fly away then? You can read the results of the 2010 nesting season here on Sanibel.

A reject or misfit pile?

We picked up a few small Apple murex, a couple Keyhole limpets, a Sunray venus, one Nutmeg, three tiny Chestnut turbans, a White nassa, and a small Florida cone that wasn't in the best condition. I know we could have found more, but it was just too hot and humid for us to stay longer.

Is that a Polar Bear on our beach?

I was surprised to see this animal shaped rubber band on the beach this morning. There was an article in a paper last night, about how kids are going crazy over these stretchy, colorful bands. They are called by many different names like, Silly Bandz, Crazy Bands, Zany Bandz, Groooovy Bandzzzz, Silly Bracelets, Goofy Bands, just to name a few. They come in sets of different catagories. There are several different types of uses for them, such as a hair styling item, bracelet, ankle bracelet, and any of the regular rubber band uses. Kids are trading them, collecting them and creating with them and it seems to be good, clean fun. But, there's a time and place for everything! Some teachers have had to ban them from classrooms because they have been a distraction. It is becoming such a craze, that some schools are banning them from their campus, while other schools are using them as fundraisers and teachers give them out as rewards. If you haven't seen them yet, this is just one place out of thousands that offer these for sale. Disney has also jumped in the mix! How many do you want? I hear the monkeys are considered the most popular and possibly, the highest ranking to trade. Now I'm thinking that SCCF should have some sea turtle bandz made and sell them to help save our turtles. :) What do you think?

There was no new turtle activity in our zone this week. But, there was a hatch today on the east end, near Gulfside City Park. It was a surprise, because it hatched around mid-day. I haven't heard the entire story, but there were 6 hatchlings from that nest, released tonight, after dark.

Late this afternoon, we were driving through our neighborhood, when something small and dark colored came out on the road in front of us. When we got close enough to see it better, we looked at each other and said, "BABY TURTLE!" It had really been going fast, until it saw us coming up the street, then it just stopped. We pulled over, got out and picked it up to move it out of the road. It was really small and cute! :) As soon as we put it down, it hurried away to hide among some trees and bushes. I hope it knows where it's going and doesn't try to cross the street again.

It is a Florida Softshell turtle hatchling. Florida Softshell Turtles typically has a dark brown to olive green, leathery carapace with a white or cream colored underside. The young ones are olive-yellow with grey spots and a yellow lined carpace, and have yellow and orange markings on the head and a gray plastron. These marking disappear as it gets older.

So.....we had turtle activity afterall.

Driving across the Sanibel Causeway this evening, I saw a feeding frenzy going on. A lot of Pelicans were diving into the water in one small area, and the gulls were all around them, just waiting for them to drop a fish.

By the time we drove back across, the sun was getting low, making the sky look like an oil painting. Life is good.

Unusual Nestings

2010-07-25T23:00:00.001-04:00

Last week, Amanda Bryant,Biologist at Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, shared with all the volunteers for the Sea Turtle Program, that there have been a few unusual daytime Loggerhead Sea Turtle nestings this season.

Both of these photos were taken with zoom lenses and the photographers did not get closer than 100ft to either turtle.

This photo was taken by Karen Davis.

This photo taken by Julie Reed.

Thanks to both of you ladies for sharing these pictures with us, and what must have been an exciting experience.

Egg Relocation Video

2010-07-24T09:51:00.003-04:00

A National Geographic Video, showing sea turtle eggs being relocated and the release of some sea turtle hatchlings from eggs that had been moved.

Twelfth Turtle Walk of 2010

2010-07-22T23:52:00.002-04:00

Today was walk number twelve for this season. We arrived at Buttonwood Lane beach access before daylight, to start our walk.

It was really nice out this morning, there was a cool wind and it wasn't too hot, actually the coolest morning we've had for a walk since the season started.

For a little way, there didn't appear to be many shells. Gradually there were more and more. Most of them looked to be Ark shells, at a glance. I didn't look in that direction much, because I was looking for turtle tracks, of course! :) But, the only thing I was seeing was trash! There were also several things left out on the beach overnight, that we had to tag, like several different beach chairs, a beach ball, a canopy frame and pile of chairs under it. After they're tagged and reported, the turtle walker the next day will report they are still there and those things are supposed to be removed. Sometimes the resort is notified, if that doesn't work, then a city employee will pick them up or the next turtle walker.

There were several big holes left too. This one was a foot deep, glad it was light enough out to see it in time.

This fella looked to be totally relaxed with a coffee mug in his hand. But, he could have expired, because I said good morning, as I walked beside his chair. He didn't even look over or say anything, just stared straight ahead. Maybe I should have gone back to take his pulse???

Hi Anne, how are you?

somewhere there's a poor baby with no pacifier. :(

A feeble attempt at making an alligator, and leaving a deep hole in the sand.

This turtle didn't leave any tracks.

In the distance you can see the canopy frame and piles of chairs we had to tag, all left right in turtle nesting area of the beach.

In our zone, the worst problem area is in front of the Sanibel Arms complexes. I don't know what is the cause; lower rent, able to rent condos by the night, it's a mystery! But it is the worst trashy area on the beach, more holes, and almost always chairs left out overnight. The only area we've had that can compare, is Lighthouse Beach and it's large amount of trash left behind there, but that is a public beach area with many more people coming and going in a days time. Doubt it would do much good, but I think it would be a step in the right direction if the Sanibel Arms would put up signs and place information in condos about the beach rules, especially those that apply during sea turtle nesting season, if they haven't already. God only knows what these kinds of people do to the condos they are staying in. Most owners of condos in other places, that I know personally, actually tell their renters about the special rules during nesting season and it seems to help. Ok I'm done now.....moving on.......

A portion of the mine field in front of Sanibel Arms West.

This hole was hollowed out way under the edge of the sand and almost 2' deep. If you stepped anywhere near it, your feet would go through.

There was so much cloud cover down low, that the sun couldn't shine through.

Today we also looked at the shore birds to see if they had bands on their legs. If we see any that do, we are supposed to report them. The purpose is to track birds that were cleaned of oil in the spill area, and then released. We saw none.

This was a whole group of sand sculptures, without leaving any holes! Yay! They were all very cute and near the front of Sanibel Inn.

A really cool alligator covered with pieces of pen shells.

A beautiful mermaid.

A sea turtle. It was neat how they used mangrove seed pods in their art.

A sea horse? :) I love this!

Finally the sun found a small hole to peek through.

The water was pretty and clear today. These two were having a good breakfast.

We have a ghost crab living in our sea turtle nest. Look at the crabby little tracks it left. :( Also a whole string of ants were going in and out.

There was no new turtle activity in our zone. It's really a no brainer to me, why we only have one nest in this zone and it's at the end, where the beach is in better shape. If I were a turtle, I wouldn't think of going onto a beach that had all those obstacles in my path. :( Pretty sad. The most concerning thought, is that one person who was not taught to care about the consequences of their actions, has now multiplied and there are at least one to three more that will not be taught, and each of those will multiply..... Can you even imagine what our world will be like when they all grow up? Where and why did it begin, and how and where do we start to change it?

It was right about here, that I broke into a cold sweat and got so weak, I could hardly stand up, let alone walk.

We were at the end of our zone, and I made my way up the Sanibel Inn path.

After throwing away the bag of trash we picked up, my partner took me to the pool area to sit down, while he made the mile walk back to get the car.

By the way, the cool tree below, is a Madagascar Screwpine. I learned my lesson on this tree a while back. :)

So......this is where I ended my walk, and this......

and this.......

was my view for a while, until I was picked up for the ride home.

No, don't know what happened. I think I may have been dehydrated. I'm bad about not drinking enough water. But, I'll do better next time! :)

2010 has been a bad year for sea turtles.

Wonder if there's something you can do to help? Order your Florida Sea Turtle decals now. :)

FLORIDA DEEPWATER HORIZON RESPONSE JULY 21, 2010

Sanibel & Captiva Sea Turtle Nesting Update:

As of July 19, 2010:

Sanibel East- 15 nests, 61 false crawls, 0 hatches

Sanibel West- 112 nests, 218 false crawls, 9 hatches

Captiva- 49 nests, 105 false crawls, 9 hatches

For Comparison:

As of July 19, 2009

Sanibel East- 24 nests, 55 false crawls, 0 hatches

Sanibel West- 141 nests, 164 false crawls, 32 hatches

Captiva- 74 nests, 62 false crawls, 20 hatches

As of July 19, 2008:

Sanibel East- 31 nests, 46 false crawls, 1 hatch

Sanibel West- 216 nests, 221 false crawls, 23 hatches

Captiva- 116 nests, 188 false crawls, 16 hatches

Happy and Sad Turtle Stories

2010-07-20T15:57:00.006-04:00

A 'Happy Story' about eight sea turtles that were nursed back to health at the Georgia Aquarium and the Georgia Sea Turtle Centerand and released as hundreds of observers watched and cheered them on.

A 'Sad Story' and an end, for one of those turtles.

A story I've been hanging onto for a while, about the first sea turtle hatchlings that were relocated from northern Florida coast. Plus more very interesting information. Be sure to also view the video at the very end.