Sanibel 2010 Nesting Season Guidelines

"Sanibel Protects Sea Turtles:
2010 Nesting Season Guidelines Issued"

Sea turtle nesting season has returned to Sanibel's beaches once again. Nesting and hatchling emergence will take place from May 1 through October 31. This natural process has happened on Sanibel Island for centuries and the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) and the City of Sanibel are committed to protecting these threatened and endangered species.

One of the most remarkable natural phenomena occurring on our Gulf beaches is the nesting ritual of the loggerhead sea turtle. Sanibel's eleven miles of Gulf-front have more nesting activity than any other beach in Lee County. The rare opportunity to witness this ritual on a dark summer night is both an honor and a great responsibility. Sought by predators and susceptible to dehydration, sea turtle hatchlings have only a one in a thousand chance of survival. Human activities can further reduce that chance.

By following the simple guidelines below, you can do your part to ensure the survival of these magnificent creatures:

· Turn off or shield lights near the beaches. Artificial beach lighting can inhibit female sea turtles from nesting and disorient hatchlings. Most beachfront lighting issues can be addressed by turning off all unnecessary lights, repositioning or modifying light fixtures, or closing blinds and drapes.
· Remove furniture and other items from the beach and dune area, when not in use, between the hours of 9:00 P.M. and 7:00 A.M. Items left on the beach including beach furniture, toys and trash may provide barriers to nesting or result in entanglement and predation of hatchlings.
· Level all sandcastles and fill any holes dug during play. These are fine during the day but may pose additional hazards at night. Please leave the beach as you found it, so that sea turtles and hatchlings are not hindered on their way to nest or to the water.
· Pick up all trash. Sea turtles mistakenly eat debris, especially plastic, which results in death.
· Honor the leash law. All dogs on the beach must be on a leash and not allowed to disturb nesting turtles or hatchlings.

Gulf-front property owners should make sure that their properties are in compliance with the City's marine turtle protection ordinances and ensure that artificial lighting from the property is not illuminating the beach (Sanibel Code Section 74-181-74-183, Section 126-996- 126-1002). An easy way to test if your property is in compliance is to stand on the beach on a moonless night and look seaward. If a shadow is cast towards the water, there is a potential to deter female turtles from nesting or disorient hatchlings as they emerge from the nest.

We look forward to another successful sea turtle nesting season and hope to uphold Sanibel's reputation as having one of the darkest and most "turtle friendly" beaches in the state. We ask for your continued compliance with City's marine turtle protection ordinances and remind all residents and visitors that violations of these ordinances may be subject to City, State, and/or Federal fines and penalties. Violations should be reported immediately to the Sanibel Police Department at (239) 472-3111, Sanibel Code Enforcement (239) 472-4136 or Natural Resources at (239) 472-3700.

For more information regarding sea turtles on Sanibel, please visit the City's website: http://mysanibel.com/Departments/Natural- Resources/Protecting-Our-Beaches/Sea- Turtles

Walk #1 of 2009 Sea Turtle Nesting Season

Sanibel and Captiva are nesting areas for the threatened Loggerhead sea turtles and the endangered Green turtles. More than a hundred volunteers help with the Conservation Foundation’s Sea Turtle Research and Monitoring Program, from the first of May until October.

Around 18 miles of beach on Sanibel and Captiva are divided into zones and a volunteer walks their assigned zone, usually one morning a week. They begin at dawn and report any turtle crawls or new nests to their assigned permittee at the end of their walk, around 7:30 AM. Permittees are volunteers who have had special training connected to the Sea Turtle Program. We also mark and report any thing left on the beach that could be harmful to sea turtles or interfere with their nesting. Volunteers also pick up any trash that has been left on the beach. Some stretches of the beach from the west end of Sanibel are monitored by SCCF beach vehicle.

Nests are marked in order monitor and protect them . Nests hatch in about 55 days, around 3 days after, a post hatch dig is done to check for stragglers and to count the empty egg sacks to record the number of hatchlings.

As volunteers, today was our first morning to do a turtle walk this season. That means a walk each Tuesday morning, for us, until October. We have zone 2, which is on the east end of Sanibel, beginning at Buttonwood Lane and ending, about a mile west, at The Sanibel Inn. We then turn around and stroll back to where we began.

Those of you who followed along on our walks last season, may recognize some photos taken at Buttonwood Lane beach access. We began at this same spot last season, when we had Zone 1, only we went east and around the tip of the island.

This is how the sky looked this morning walking on the boardwalk beach access. I am a night person, but I have to tell you that I LOVE early mornings here too. There isn't anything more beautiful than seeing that pink glow behind the silhouettes of the palm trees.



This scene was familiar, as I looked toward the lighthouse, with it's light glowing.



Just after starting out, we saw a make-shift beach hut, without any inhabitants. :-) It was constructed in a pretty large hole. The posts had already been tagged by previous turtle walkers. If it isn't removed in a couple of days, someone will take it down.



There are still several areas marked to protect Snowy Plover nests. They are endangered and also monitored by SCCF.



Just another ..... thing??



It's really hard to find a better word to describe this sunrise than beautiful!



This was a wonderful morning for a walk. The temperature was around 75 and there was a strong breeze from the south. It's nice walking along, bare foot in the 82 degree water. There were a lot of people out this morning.



This one's for you Kaki, my friend. I hope it doesn't make you too homesick. I'm just trying to encourage an Air Tran ticket purchase. :-)



I guess this poor beach bunny had been hopping along, got tired, kicked of it's crocks and layed down for a while. About the same time that I said hello to the rabbit, a lady jogged by, looking like she was hunting a place to fall over too.



I saw something way out in the water and I kept watching until I realized it was a man swimming toward shore. Hmmm, a Cuban maybe?

Just kidding; obviously someone with tons of energy and an urge to exercise. :-)



Turtle tracks? I saw a lot of these today. :-)



There were egg casings laying all over the beach.



There were two men using what I call 'heavy equipment', taking pictures. Both of their cameras had huge, long lenses. Sure made my little, picture taking, cell phone look pitiful.



As we reached the Sanibel Inn, I noticed a Madagascar Screw Pine, like the one I saw at West Wind Inn and have done a post about, on my 'Lazy Days' blog. I had to do a lot of searching to figure out what kind of tree it was. Since then I have seen several more of them on the island. I think they are kind of unique looking with the balls of seed pods, hanging on them like ornaments.



This will be the landmark to show the end of zone 2.