Sanibel’s leatherback nest hatched! 🐢
This nest was SCCF’s first documented sea turtle nest of 2024 on Sanibel and Captiva and the first nest from a leatherback on Sanibel in four years. Its hatching marked the beginning of a cascade of loggerhead nests that are currently hatching on the islands.
During an inventory of the leatherback nest, SCCF biologists and permitted volunteers documented 113 eggs, including 40 emerged hatchlings.
Sanibel’s sea turtle star ⭐ Meet Junonia, the first nesting loggerhead to be satellite tagged on Sanibel. Since 2016, SCCF nighttime staff have encountered her 17 times, including this season!
Junonia’s fan base grew worldwide between 2020-2022, when @OCEARCH picked up her satellite signal and started sharing it. The data her transmitter collected helped contribute to a study on the relationship between loggerheads’ foraging grounds, brevetoxin exposure, and reproductive success.