photo credit @alexishornphotography

Sea turtles thriving this season on Sanibel!

It’s been a banner year for sea turtle hatchlings on Sanibel Island, with 638 loggerhead nests observed. This is the fourth season in a row that nesting records have been broken.

The east end of Sanibel, where Sandalfoot Condominium is located, includes six miles of sea turtle nesting habitat from the bayside of the Sanibel Lighthouse to Tarpon Bay Road. The Sanibel East area is divided into six zones that are walked and monitored daily for nesting activity from May through October. As of early August 16th, 152 loggerhead and 2 green turtle nests were observed.

Sanibel Island West is even busier, with 486 loggerhead nests — a new record, according to the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation. Also, there are high numbers of green turtle nests on Sanibel West this year, with 33 noted. Greens can nest into September or even later, so these numbers likely will increase.

New this summer, SCCF and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida have established a new program to track the movements of green sea turtles using satellite transmitters. The transmitter, and epoxy and paint used on the shell don’t harm the turtle and eventually fall off or can be removed by researchers for further use.

The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) has been monitoring sea turtle nesting since 1992. Today, more than 100 SCCF volunteers contribute to nest protection efforts on Sanibel.

photo credit Nancy Riley

Located on the east end of Sanibel Island, just one mile from the historic Sanibel Lighthouse, our vacation rental condo community is nestled beachfront on the Gulf of Mexico.  Sandalfoot Beachfront Condominium has been consistently ranked #1 and #2 in our category by TripAdvisor, also receiving their  Certificate of Excellence three years in a row. Sandalfoot Beachfront Condominium. So much more than a room with a view!