Chateaux Sur Mer

9-5-18

Hello everyone at Chateaux Sur Mer!

It is hard to believe it is September already! This summer has just flown by! But with the unofficial beginning of fall comes a little relief from the Red Tide conditions. This Labor Day weekend, Tropical Storm Gordon pushed a large concentration of the Karenia brevis algae (the type of algae producing the brevetoxin that causes respiratory issues to those on the beach) farther off shore. As a result, the conditions on the beach have improved for now and it has been a very welcome relief. In addition to this positive news, new hatches are occurring every night and your beach is no exception! So let’s get right to it!

Since my last report, 7 nests have hatched and been inventoried on your beach. Nest 170 had the largest clutch size with 126 eggs and it was a very successful hatch! After only 49 days of incubation, 116 hatchlings emerged and made their way to the water. Nest 149 had the highest hatch success rate with 103 of the 108 eggs hatching after incubating for 51 days. Nest 313 was also a very successful hatch with 100 hatchlings emerging from the 111 eggs. So far this season, your beach has produced a total of 597 hatchlings with 1 more nest left to hatch!

In addition to the nests in Chateaux Sur Mer, I wanted to update you on the hatch success of one of the females encountered nesting on your beach twice. Tagged with the identifying flipper tags MMP858 and MMP859, this female was encountered a total of 5 times this season by our tagging crew and produced 4 nests that we know of, including nests 134 and 296 on your beach. She laid all of her nests on the West end of Sanibel with 1 on West Gulf Drive, 1 in Gulf Ridge and the 2 in your neighborhood. Three of her nests have hatched thus far and in total, she has produced 171 hatchlings with 1 more nest yet to hatch. However, she may have laid additional nests without being encountered so she may have produced even more hatchlings!

This is all of the sea turtle news I have from your beach at this time but thank you for your continued support of the SCCF Adopt-A-Beach Program! I look forward to sharing more turtle news soon.

(See a great video in the "pictures" section of this tab.)

8-16-18

Hello everyone at Chateaux Sur Mer!

With this devastating and prolonged Red Tide event continuing to poison marine species and cause them to wash up on the beach, it is important to take the time to celebrate the positive events that are also taking place right in your backyards. Although nesting season has essentially come to an end, hatching season is in full swing and new hatchlings are emerging on our beaches every night. I hope that a little bit of encouraging news helps to bring a little light during this crisis.

Since my last update, 2 nests have hatched and been inventoried on your beach and both were very successful. Nest 149 was laid by a female originally tagged in 2016 on a false crawl and returned but was only encountered at this nest this year. She laid 108 eggs and after 51 days of incubation, 103 hatchlings emerged and made their way to the ocean. This produced a hatch success rate of 95.3%. Nest 170 was laid by a female new to Sanibel but she was encountered later in the summer laying another nest on the western-most part of Bowman’s Beach. The nest on your beach contained 126 eggs and after on 47 days of incubation, 92% or 116 hatchlings emerged. Nest 134 was also inventoried after 70 days with no evidence of hatching. While this nest was most likely inundated during Alberto, this female was encountered at 3 additional nests this season and all of them are still safely incubating underground. In total, your beach has produced 308 hatchlings so far with 5 nests yet to hatch!

This is all of the sea turtle news from your beach thus far in the season but it is still early in the hatching season. Once again, thank you for your support of our Adopt-A-Beach program and I look forward to sharing more sea turtle news soon! In the meantime, please enjoy these few pictures of sea turtle hatchlings to help lift your spirits.  (See the photos in the "pictures" section.)

Katie

8-12-18

Dear Adopt A Beach Participants:

As I started to write an update to all of you about the impacts of the red tide and cyanobacteria blooms on our sea turtles, I realized that solely reporting on this event from a scientific standpoint would be a disservice. The mass mortality we are experiencing is taking an emotional toll on each of us, and there is no easy way to deliver the sad news. You are kindred-spirited friends and supporters and I hope through this message you will see how your dedication to the Sea Turtle Program has allowed us to push forward when our resources were stretched thin.

Nest & Hatchling Counts

To ease the following statistics, I’ll start with some good news - 705 nests have been laid on our islands this year, 243 of which have hatched to date, producing 16,830 hatchlings already this season!

Unprecedented Mass Mortality Numbers

Since June 1, when we started experiencing a huge spike in sea turtle strandings, we have documented 97 dead or sick turtles on Sanibel/Captiva. For perspective, in the previous five years we averaged less than 10 strandings in the same time period. This represents almost a 10-fold increase in sea turtle strandings. The total number of strandings since the red tide started last October now stands at 136.

With Threatened & Endangered Species Every Individual Matters

Because threatened and endangered species already have stressed populations, every single individual makes a difference.

Approximately fifty-six of the dead turtles have been mature adults. In a recovering population of animals in which only one in 1,000 hatchlings survives to reach reproductive maturity (which occurs at 25-30 years of age for loggerheads), losing so many adults will have significant and irreversible long-term implications.   

This above count includes a loss of 45 Kemps ridleys, the most endangered sea turtle in the world, with only 7,000-9,000 nesting females remaining.

Responding to Strandings is Time-Intensive and Costly: Financially and Emotionally

There have been anywhere from 2-9 strandings per day during an already busy nesting season. Although documenting strandings is time-consuming and further strains SCCF’s resources, documentation provides critical information that contributes directly to conservation efforts. The staff and volunteers have been working tirelessly to respond to all sea turtles that are found washed ashore on our beaches. 

It has taken a physical and emotional toll on us all, and we know this feeling is shared among the community.  Watching dead turtles wash up day after day has been the hardest thing I've experienced in my twelve years of working with sea turtles.

You Kept Us Afloat.  Here is How Your Donations Tangibly Mattered.

Your generous Adopt A Beach contributions have made it possible for us to respond as efficiently as possible in this time of need. By sponsoring your respective shorelines you have provided not only encouragement though your passion for conservation but also critical financial support that has allowed us to increase our staff and purchase all necessary equipment to get the job done.

Courtney's internship position is funded 100% through Adopt A Beach donations and it's no exaggeration to say we wouldn't be able to stay afloat without her in this "all hands on deck" situation. We have also been able to create new stranding kits so we can divide and conquer when several strandings are called in simultaneously (the value of each kit is around $800 including a PIT tag scanner ($550), calipers for measurements ($240), measuring tapes, spray paint, etc). 

Over the past several months we have seen an outpouring of support to the Adopt A Beach Program from six neighborhoods (Chateaux Sur Mer, West Gulf Drive, Gulf Pines, Gulf Shores, Gulf Ridge, and Shell Harbor), several resorts (Island Inn, Sanibel Surfside, Tween Waters, Beachview Cottages, Castaways, West Wind Inn, Sanibel Moorings, and Sundial ), and  two local businesses (On Island & Ambu Yoga).

Thank you so much for being part of the solution.  Your actions have mattered greatly to us and to sea turtle conservation.

Kindest and warmest thanks for all that you do,

Kelly

7-23-18

Hello everyone at Chateaux Sur Mer! 

It has been a very busy 3 weeks in the SCCF Sea Turtle Department! June may be the busiest nesting month, but July brings continued nesting and the beginning of hatching season. Mama sea turtles, eggs, and hatchlings, oh my! And with all of this activity, I have A LOT of turtle news to share with you all about what’s happening on your beach under the cloak of night! 

To start, there has been 1 new nest laid on your beach in the past 3 weeks, and our night crew did encounter the female! She is a loggerhead new to Sanibel (as far as we know) and was tagged with both flipper tags and a PIT tag to enable us to identify her in the future. 

In addition to your new nest, there has also been 1 nest that has hatched on your beach! We usually inventory nests 3 days after they hatch to enable any remaining hatchlings to make their way to the ocean before we dig into the nests to collect data. We count the hatched egg shells, unhatched eggs, and any hatchlings found in the nest to determine the total of number of eggs laid as well as hatch and emergence success rates. Nest 103 incubated for 57 days and due to the presence of fire ants in the nest, was inventoried the next morning. We inventory nests with fire ants early to save any live hatchlings that may still be in the nest before the ants get to them. In total, this nest had 137 eggs and 89 eggs hatched successfully. This produced a hatching success rate of 64.9%, which was a pleasant surprise considering it was washed over during Alberto earlier this summer. So far this summer, your beach has produced 89 hatchlings that have made it out to sea with more to come soon! I have included a few photos of hatchlings just as a reminder of how cute these little creatures are!  (Please see photos on the picture gallery.) 

Thank you for your continued support of the Adopt A Beach Program with SCCF! I look forward to sharing more turtle news soon!

6-30-18

Hello everyone at Chateaux Sur Mer!

It has been a busy 2 weeks at SCCF! We are still in the peak of nesting and have officially begun our hatching season! So far, we have had 6 nests hatch; our Kemp’s Ridley nest, 2 on Sanibel, and 3 on Captiva! These 3 Captiva nests produced a total 309 hatchlings- and so hatchling season begins! I have attached a picture of one of these little cuties at the end of this email to start your weekend off on a very good note!

In addition to the beginning of hatching, Thursday June 28th, CROW released the big male Loggerhead (Walter) that we had rescued off shore of your beach on June 4th. He was successfully treated for brevetoxicosis, or Red Tide poisoning, and tagged with a satellite transmitter so that Mote Marine Lab and the Sea Turtle Conservancy can track his movements. And you can too! Just follow the link at the bottom of this email to see what Walter is up to! Very little is known about adult male sea turtles so we are using this rare opportunity to learn more about their behavior. It was a very exciting afternoon to see him healthy and return home once again.

In the past 2 weeks, there have been 4 new nests laid on your beach! The females were sneakier this time and the females from nests 271, 301, and 313 were not encountered by our tagging crew this time. However, they had better luck with the female from nest 296. Not only was this female a returner, but she is a returner to your beach! This is the same female who laid nest 134, the second nest of the season on your beach. She must really love Chateaux Sur Mer since she has returned to your neighborhood twice in one season!

This is all of the news I have from your beach this week but my next report will include an inventory from your first nest, nest 103! As always, thank you for participating in our Adopt-A-Beach program and I look forward to sharing more turtle news soon!

Katie

To track Walter, visit: https://conserveturtles.org/trackingmap/?id=195

6-15-18

Hello everyone at Chateaux Sur Mer!

It is once again time for your neighborhood sea turtle update! Just as expected, June has been quite busy with turtle activity. In addition to the increase in nesting, we have had a total of 14 strandings in the last week and a half. 7 of these have been adult male Loggerheads that have washed up on the beach, most likely due to Red Tide. Although it is not easy to see these amazing creatures like this, we are trying to make the best of the situation. Less is known about male sea turtles because once they hatch from the nests on the beach and make their way to the water, they never step on land again. This makes them much more difficult to tag and track. While we would much rather have these turtles healthy and swimming out in the ocean, we are learning as much as we can about these elusive males that have ended up on our beach.

However, we do have some positive news as we have a success story in the making. Our first live stranding (another adult male loggerhead) occurred right on your beach and was successfully rescued with the assistance of Linda Linsmayer and Billy Kirkland of Billy’s Bikes to get the turtle on to land and brought to CROW. He is recovering very well and you can follow his progress here: http://www.crowclinic.org/patient-detail/loggerhead-sea-turtle-18-2170.

Since my last report, you have had 1 additional nest on your beach and luckily our tagging crew encountered her! She did not have any tags on her so her past is a bit of a mystery but hopefully she will return to Sanibel later this season to lay another clutch. And now we will be able to identify her!

In addition to new nests, nest 103 is due to hatch in the next 2 weeks! We are very excited for hatching season to start and I look forward to reporting the inventory report in my next update! Until then, just a friendly reminder to turn off your lights after dark or draw curtains closed to prevent hatchling disorientations!

This is all the news we have on your beach for now but these turtles are keeping us on our toes! I will continue to update you regularly about these and future nests on your adopted beach. Thank you for participating in our Adopt-A-Beach program and I look forward to sharing more turtle news soon!

6-1-18

Hello everyone at Chateaux Sur Mer! 

It is time for your neighborhood sea turtle update! Nesting season has gotten significantly busier in the last 2 weeks with an increase in nesting activity as well as tropical storm Alberto. We were out in the storm trying to save as many nests as we could from the exceptionally high tides and relocating nests on the edges of escarpments to spots higher up on the beach. The good news is that nest 103 that I had previously reported did not get washed out last weekend. That female chose a good spot on the beach!

Since my last report, you have had 2 additional nests on your beach and our tagging crew encountered both females! The female from nest 134 was new to Sanibel and was tagged so that we will be able to identify her in the future. The female from nest 149 is especially exciting because she is a returner who was originally tagged on July 14, 2016 on the East End of Sanibel. She is keeping with normal sea turtle nesting patterns, as females usually lay 3-5 clutches in one season and then take a year off. Therefore, we usually see individuals every other year and we are excited to have her returning to your beach!

This is all the news we have on your beach thus far in the season but June is usually our busiest month for nesting. I will continue to update you regularly about these and future nests on your adopted beach. Thank you for participating in our Adopt-A-Beach program and I look forward to sharing more nesting news soon!

5-21-18

My name is Katie and I am the daytime sea turtle intern at the SCCF here with your first update on your adopted beach. Although it is still very early in the season, we have had some activity that I wanted to share with you. So far on your beach, there has been 1 nest, and luckily that nesting female was encountered by our nighttime tagging crew as she was returning to the ocean after having laid her eggs. Thanks to them, we have a little more information than simply where she nested. This female was new to Sanibel and our tagging team was able to tag her with flipper tags in order for us to identify her when she hopefully returns to Sanibel either later this summer or even in future years. In addition to being new to Sanibel, this female was unique in that she is missing about 1/2 of her front right flipper. However, turtles are resilient and it has not impeded her ability to nest successfully. Aren’t sea turtles amazing??

This is all the news we have on your beach thus far in the season but it is only the beginning of what we predict to be another very busy year. I will continue to update you regularly about these and future nests on your adopted beach. Thank you for participating in our Adopt-A-Beach program and I look forward to sharing more nesting news soon!

Katie