Sea turtles are among the world’s oldest
creatures. These ancient reptiles have long fascinated people around
the world. On Sanibel and Captiva, where the beaches provide a
subtropical nesting area for threatened loggerhead and endangered green
turtles, more than 100 island residents volunteer each summer as part
of the Conservation Foundation’s Sea Turtle Research and Monitoring
Program. The program operates under a permit from the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Each day during nesting season, May to October,
the 18 miles of Gulf beaches from the Sanibel Lighthouse to the tip of
Captiva are checked beginning at dawn.In some areas, volunteers walk designated zones of beach. On other stretches, the patrol is done by beach vehicle. Nests are identified and marked for monitoring and protection. Later in the season new hatches are evaluated and recorded. The statewide collection of data helps promote programs that improve the chances for sea turtles to survive.
Among other components of SCCF’s sea turtle program are projects ensuring that beach habitat is suitable for nesting and the co-ordination of data collection on local sea turtle strandings.
You can contact the Sea Turtle office by e-mail: seaturtle@sccf.org
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