Record Sea Turtle Nesting On Sanibel In 2014!
Loggerhead Sea Turtle Hatchlings, Sanibel Island & Captiva Island.
Kelly Sloan, Sea Turtle Program Coordinator for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF), reports some very good news! Sea turtle nesting on Sanibel hit an all time high this season!
There were a total of 411 sea turtle nests this year on Sanibel, which surpasses the previous high of 358 nests in 2000.
Overall, it was very good year with an additional 124 sea turtle nests on Captiva for a total of 535 nests on both islands.
As previously reported, there likely were some issues with Coyotes feeding on the nests, but this appears to have been a fairly limited issue in 2014. SCCF will continue to keep a
Sanibel & Captiva, Total Sea Turtle Nests By Year, 1996-2013, Courtesy Of SCCF.
close eye on the Coyote predation factor in 2015 and the coming years.
Sea turtle nesting and the hatch likely benefitted by the absence of any major storms disturbing the beaches this season, which should mean a higher hatch and survival rate this year.
There was a good diversity and distribution of nesting location on the East and West ends of Sanibel and Captiva.
For more information, please see SCCF.
