Beachcombers love SEA TURTLES just as much as sandy toes and seashells.
Beginning in the late 1950s, Charles LeBuff started monitoring the nesting habits of female SEA TURTLES on Sanibel to evaluate threats to the population. Since the 1990’s Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation’s Sea Turtle Program (along with 100s of volunteers) now surveys each nesting season which runs April through October. Through the years they’ve learned that to protect our nesting mothers and their babies, we need to keep our beaches clear of obstacles.
I normally enjoy seeing beautiful beach art but it can be disastrous for a female turtle in nesting season. On our island summer nights, female loggerhead turtles (and occasionally green turtles, leatherbacks and Kemps Ridley turtles) lay their eggs on the same beach where they were hatched decades earlier. If left over night, obstructions like sand castles, beach chairs, coolers or even deep sand pits can distract or injure the mother turtle or her babies after they hatch. Did you know that lights on the beach after dark can disorient adult and baby turtles? Yes, they go towards the light instead of heading to the water so they might end up in the street or parking lot. So we wont be doing any night shelling without red filters on our flashlights until fall. Not a bad price to pay for keeping baby turtles safe, huh?
As I was walking the beach yesterday at Gulfside City Park, I saw this deep trench that was dug out of the sand. Ut Oh! SEA TURTLES can get trapped in there.
As soon as I started filling the pit back in, Steve from the Sanibel Police beach patrol came to the rescue. He got out his shovel and smoothed the beach back to normal. You’re a good man, Steve.
I was a turtle tracker a few years ago with my friend Lisa and found a baby turtle in a big sand pit with lots of seashells on the beach. The baby turtle had been making his way to the water but got a little off track when he fell into this pit (photo below). He couldn’t get out since the sides were so steep but he moved his flippers just enough to catch my eye. We called our contact person at SCCF to make sure to follow protocol to rescue this little cutie and I was so happy to get the a-okay to pick him up and release him at the edge of the gulf. Yeah! We rescued him and watched him swim away with all his might.
As shellers, we are on the beach probably more than anybody else so we can help do our part in making our beaches as safe as possible for these little cuties.
My good friend Karen Blackford took a video of SEA TURTLES hatching a few years ago. I always love to watch it each year to remind myself what a journey they have and how we can make the beaches safe for the. Thanks Karen! CLICK HERE.
For more information on nesting SEA TURTLES or to volunteer visit http://whmp.sccf.org/sea-turtles/
Are tourists allowed to volunteer during their stay on Sanibel? I’ll be sure to get a red filter and keep an eye out for pits and sea turtles! Great post! Has the sea turtle population increased over the years with the help of volunteers?
I’ve also been looking at your vacation posts from Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas. I emailed Joe-T and Joe-L about a the possibility of a shelling adventure when our ship docks in Freeport. Is this the best way to find shells? I read your post about venturing to Mcleans town, is boating with Joe-T ans Joe-L the best way to find shells? I saw that you and Clark mostly ventured in the North Caicos and Middle Caicos. Did you have any luck finding shells in the Grand Caicos? I loved your photos and I’ve been taking notes and screenshots of the maps you provided from Turks and Caicos! (Super great idea, thank you for the maps that listed what you found! I was super excited to come across something so descriptive) Were the shells on Turks and Caicos “easier” and more abundant closer to shore than the shells you found in the Bahamas? I would really appreciate any information that you can provide me with! Your shelling posts are so helpful!
HI Samantha, check out the link to https://www.sccf.org to ask about volunteering and any more questions about the program. Im sure you can help in some way! As for shelling in Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, just like shelling on Sanibel and SW Florida, its a treasure hunt and the beaches change every day. I try to post all of the info with as many photos as possible on each of my vacations so anybody else will have an idea what to look for and where to go. Have a great time and enjoy the hunt!
Thanks for posting this, even as a reminder! Living in NC, my kids are well versed in what to do or not do at the beach, to support the turtles nesting. So when we’ve gone to other beaches and people don’t know, it’s shocking to us! (not every beach is communicating to visitors on what to do as much as others). So thanks for spreading the word to folks!
That’s great Pam to remind people to do everything they can to help make life easier for these beautiful creatures!
Thanks Pam, your info and input is always well noted and enjoyable. This one in particular because I just picked up a head lamp for my night time shelling the 1st week in May, and it does not have the red filter on it, so back to the store I go to find one. Thank You for your wonderful posts, time and dedication.
Thank you so much for sharing all the information about the little turtles. That’s something I will definitely think of the next time I sit down and start digging in the sand for hidden shells. As always, thank you for “All” the information, photos, videos and etc. you bring to us.
We were pleasantly surprised to run into you on the beach yesterday, Pam. You left out the fact that I first found you diligently trying to fill in that hole by scraping the sand in with your feet. It sure is a good thing Steve drove by just then. You’d still be scraping away I fear.
We discussed the difficulty of updating the tide charts, and I’d like to offer a suggestion that might help. Instead of posting the charts, just provide this link to the NOAA site for Point Ybel.
https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/noaatidepredictions/NOAATidesFacade.jsp?Stationid=TEC4207
Hope this helps.
Louie and Dee
Haha yea I was Louie but thank goodness Steve had the shovel. :) it’s funny- I started working on that tide chart tonight – you inspired me to finally get it done so that it can be printed out easily for everybody. I used to have this link on my old site but most folks liked the printable one better- thank you for all of your help!!!
Thanks for talking about the plight of sea turtles. Even shallow depressions can slow down baby turtles on their way to the water. That small delay could allow a gull time to snatch him up. If you see them hatching you should walk alongside of them as they go to the water to protect them from gulls. You shouldn’t put them directly into the water. They need to crawl over the sand to imprint them with the location of the beach so they can return to lay their eggs. The one you rescued had already imprinted before it got stuck so it was ok to put him on the waters edge.
Is there a red filter tape you can put over headlamps and such? If so, where can one find it? I am headed there in 6 days!!!!!!!! I really wanted to do some night shelling. Thanks!