Walk #2

I was excited to do the turtle walk today, because there had been a false crawl reported in this zone yesterday morning. (A false crawl is when a turtle comes on the beach, but does not lay her eggs. Usually because conditions are not favorable there or something may have scared her away. That is determined by seeing the tracks onto the beach and back into the water.) I thought maybe it would have come back last night to lay eggs.

This morning arriving at the beach before daylight; this is how it looked, pretty dark with just a little light beginning to show in the eastern sky.



After getting on the beach, I took a couple of photos. One toward the lighthouse and one toward the west. It didn't seem hot at first; I think the temperature was around 75, but quite humid.





There were two bicycles at the Buttonwood Lane Beach Access at the 1/2 mile marker, so there were people already on the beach. After walking a short distance, I saw two men fishing.

The beach in our zone looks a little like a mine field. There are holes everywhere. It sure wouldn't be wise to walk this part of the beach in the dark, because you would end up with some broken bones or a back out of place. Could that be why the turtle chose not to lay her eggs here? Last week I noticed that there were several lights left on at condos, by doors facing the beach. Maybe that was a problem for Ms Turtle??

Very soon the sky in the east began getting pink. As it began getting more light, there were a lot of people coming out to the beach. There were joggers passing by, people walking and shelling.







There were a lot of shore birds out getting breakfast.







There were also two ducks taking a bath in the edge of the water. I had never seen ducks at the beach before, but they seemed to be having a great time.



The Snowy Plover nesting areas are still marked. There are, I think, four areas marked off in the area between Buttonwood Lane and the Sanibel Inn. After walking a while, we noticed two tiny little baby snowy plovers running around on the beach. (First time I've seen a baby one!) Their mother was trying to keep them safe and as we approached, they ran to her and she put her wings out. They quickly wiggled themselves in under her wings. You couldn't even tell they were there. It was so cute. She did it twice while we watched. Even the full grown Snowy Plovers are so small that you hardly notice them on the beach, unless they happen to scurry across the sand, in front of you.

They are right at the bottom of this photo, in the center.


Go to YouTube by clicking the screen below to watch in HD. Almost as good as being there if you watch closely.

A little further on, I saw a man quite a way out in the water, almost up to his knees. He was busy using a cast net.



The sky was a brighter pink now and in just a couple minutes the sun was coming up. It was a very pretty sunrise. It was getting pretty warm by this time and there was no breeze, so I had slowed down considerably.





The water was so calm that the sunlight made a beautiful reflection.





After reaching the 1 1/2 mile marker and the Sanibel Inn, it was time to turn around and go back.

I started noticing schools of fish in the water and then saw a couple of dolphin swimming by. There were also two very large fish swimming near the shore. They were around 2 ft long.



There was also a fish on the beach. :-)



On the way back, I walked along the water looking at the shells. It was a very slow walk because the shells were all small, so I had to do the 'Sanibel Stoop' to look them over.

When we passed the place where we had seen the baby Snowy Plovers, there were two men with heavy duty :-) camera equipment. Both men were laying on their stomachs on the sand. I'm sure they were getting some great pictures. Poor little plovers, get no peace.



There were no signs of a turtle crawl, which was disappointing, but when I left the beach, I had a pocket bulging with miniature size shells, which made me happy. I'll put a photo of them on my Lazy Days Blog tomorrow.

Who Would Steal Sea Turtle Eggs?

It's hard to believe that anyone would intentionally disturb a sea turtle nest. But, it does happen. If you see anyone tampering with a nest, you should report it to officials.

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.

Sea Turtle Nesting Season

First Loggerhead nest of the season at Bonita Beach.

Mote Marine Laboratory reported that the first sea turtle nest in their area, was reported this morning by a volunteer turtle walker. It makes me anticipate my first walk tomorrow, even more.

Sanibel and Captiva's Sea Turtle Season Begins

Today, May 1 is the first day of the 2009 sea turtle nesting season, here in Florida. Sanibel and Captiva beaches are among the primary nesting grounds for Loggerhead sea turtles. Hundreds of turtles will return here, to the beach where they were born,to lay eggs.

A turtle weighing several hundred pounds, typically crawls up onto the beach in the darkness of night, to dig a nest with her rear flippers. The nest digging is a difficult task and could take over an hour to complete.

She then deposits approximately 100 pliable eggs, resembling ping pong balls, into the nest, covers them with sand and returns to the sea.

After 55 to 60 days incubation period, a cluster of tiny hatchlings emerge from the sand and hurry to the water to begin their fight for survival in the sea.

If you come across either a potential nest that has not been marked or a turtle laying eggs, please don't disturb the turtle or the site and immediately notify Amanda Bryant at SCCF , 239-470-3360.