Fifteenth Turtle Walk of 2010

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

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

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.