July 27, 2020
Hello Chateaux Sur Mer community!
It is time for another sea turtle update! Hatching season is underway, and we are still being visited by adult females laying some of their last nests of the season. Our volunteers have been busy on the beach marking new nests and conducting nest inventories! This is my favorite time of the season, where we get to say goodbye to our nesting moms and welcome thousands of new hatchlings to our beaches! Additionally, the rare leatherback Juniper, that nested on Sanibel and Captiva this year, has made her way down the west coast of Florida and is now on the east coast! You can track Juniper here: https://www.trackturtles.com/juniper/
There are currently 28 nests on Chateaux Sur Mer's beach, and 8 nests have hatched and been inventoried!
One of the newer nests on your beach was laid by a turtle named Fudge Ripple! We met her in 2017, but 202 is the first time our team has seen her nesting. Sometimes the nesting females will crawl onto the beach to nest, but then turn around and go back to the water. This is known as a false crawl and could happen for many reasons, which is why we always make sure to use red light, move beach furniture off of the beach at night, and fill in holes to maximize the chance that our visiting turtle mommas will nest! We were happy to see this petite turtle nest, measuring in at 80 cm long!
The nests that have hatched on your beach so far have contained, in total, nearly 800 eggs! Not all of the eggs will hatch - they may not be fertilized or their incubation could have been altered by high tides, high temperatures, high toxin loads, or any number of reasons. But the nesting turtles lay multiple nests in a season so that even if one of their nests is unsuccessful, there is still a high chance that some of their hatchlings make it out to sea.
The hatchlings leave their nest almost exclusively at night, with some rare exceptions (I've attached a link to an amazing daytime nest hatch that Kelly, our program director, saw a few weeks ago!). The hatchlings that leave Sanibel will swim for nearly 3 days to get to the sargassum seaweed that floats offshore! From there, there is not much known about the turtle life cycle, it is actually known as the 'lost years'. The more we study these awesome animals, the more we can figure out ways to best protect them!
Sea turtle protection on Sanibel would not be possible without the support of communities like yours! Thank you!
I look forward to our next update,
Megan
July 13, 2020
Hello Chateaux Sur Mer community!
It is time for another beach update! Our awesome volunteers have been hard at work surveying the beaches every morning, and our staff have been surveying the beach all night to protect the momma sea turtles and their hatchlings that visit Sanibel and Captiva.
Currently, Chateaux Sur Mer's beaches are home to 25 nests, with 3 nests having hatched and been inventoried since our last update!
One of the mother loggerheads that visited your beach was named Wentletrap, a type of shell, and has been nesting on Sanibel since 2016! She has laid 7 nests since we first met her, and actually came back last year to lay a few! Loggerheads will typically take 2 to 3 years in between their nesting seasons, but this one took only one year between nesting seasons instead!
The nests that hatched on Chateaux Sur Mer's beaches had a total of 179 eggshells within them, meaning that 179 hatchlings broke free from their shells and started their journey to the big blue! Loggerhead hatchlings have an 'egg tooth' or caruncle that they use to open up their egg and climb out of it! Once the hatchlings climb out of their nests, they will make their way to the ocean, using the glow of the sky over the water as their guide. This is why it is super important for us night-time beach goers to turn off lights if we see any hatchlings on the beach!
As always, thank you for your continued support, I am excited for our next update!
Best,
Megan
July 1, 2020
SCCF Coastal Wildlife Director Kelly Sloan was on beach patrol on Captiva Island when she had the rare opportunity to see and film a loggerhead sea turtle nest just beginning to boil, or erupt on June 24, 2020. To see the video, click on the link: https://youtu.be/pvNSqjsAuJM
The screen on the nest is to protect the hatchlings, which have an estimated 1 in 1,000 chance of surviving to maturity. As you can see, the size of the holes allows the hatchlings to climb through and then, traverse the sandy terrain as they scurry to the Gulf of Mexico.
"The screen on top of the nest is to discourage predation. They have been very effective in lowering nest depredation rates on Sanibel and Captiva," said Sloan.
Predation of sea turtles by crabs, birds, fish, sharks, and mammals is a natural part of the food chain. However, predators may sometimes become so proficient at finding and destroying nests that they threaten all the nests on a beach. Eggs and hatchlings on the beaches of Sanibel and Captiva are victims of coyotes, ghost crabs, fire ants, and birds.
SCCF Sea Turtle Program staff and volunteers help to control mammalian predation by placing a self-releasing screen over threatened nests. The screens are large enough to keep predators out, yet allow hatchlings to escape from the nest without assistance.
Mammalian predation often increases where trash has accumulated on the beach. An easy way to avoid attracting predators is to keep our beaches free of trash.
“Thanks to all of you who help protect our hatchlings by turning off all lights visible from the beach, removing beach furniture, filling in holes, and keeping our beaches free of litter,” said Sloan. “With the 4th of July holiday weekend coming up, it’s especially important to remember that we share the beaches with these ancient animals.”
Learn more at http://www.sccf.org/.
Follow us at https://www.facebook.com/pg/SanibelCaptivaConservationFoundation/ and @sccf_swfl on Instagram.
To report any issues with nests, nesting turtles, or hatchlings on Sanibel or Captiva, please call SCCF's SEA TURTLE HOTLINE: 978-728-3663.
From SCCF's Facebook page on June 28, 2020:
Our first leatherback nest of the season hatched today!
While we don’t have visual confirmation that this nest was laid by Juniper, we are pretty confident these are her offspring.
A total of 56 hatchlings safely emerged from the nest, which was threatened by fire ants when inventoried by SCCF Volunteer Permitee Kerry Salatino.
One of the hatchlings fell in a hole that hadn’t been filled and Kerry was able to rescue it.
Thanks to all of you who help protect our hatchlings by removing beach furniture, filling in holes, and keeping our beaches dark!
#leatherbackturtle #seaturtlehatchlings #sccf
#sanibel #captiva
June 29, 2020
Hello Chateaux Sur Mer Community!
The past two weeks have been busy on the beach, with sea turtle moms visiting Sanibel and Captiva to nest, and hatchlings leaving the egg to make their first ever journey to the big blue! Sanibel has a total of 467 nests, plus a whopping 197 nests on Captiva! The commitment of our staff and volunteers to help protect the turtles is an awesome sight to see! Currently, Chateaux Sur Mer has 20 nests, 5 more nests since the last update.
A turtle named Cali nested on your beaches, this was her second nest of the season! Female loggerhead sea turtles will typically take 10 - 14 days in between nests during the nesting season, and can lay up to 5 nests per season. Hopefully we will see Cali laying a nest again soon!
Hatching season is now started, with 381 hatchlings leaving Sanibel and heading to the big blue! We have many nests that are close to their hatch date that we are watching closely! Sea turtle nests hatch between 40 - 70 days after being laid, and many factors can influence when the hatchlings emerge and make their way to the sea. This is why we keep a close eye on all of our nests!
We would not be able to survey the beaches and protect turtle nests without your support!
I look forward to your next update, Chateaux Sur Mer community!
Have a great week,
Megan
June 15, 2020
Hello!
My name is Megan, I will be keeping you up to date on the sea turtle nesting activity that is occurring on Chateaux Sur Mer's beaches! We have had an explosive season thus far, with plenty of loggerhead sea turtles, and also visits from a rare leatherback sea turtle! Last year, your community ended the nesting season with 34 nests laid. This year, you already have had 15 turtles visit your beach and lay eggs! This year, our new turtle moms are being named after cities. Turtles named Mandalay, Krakow, and the LEATHERBACK named Juniper have laid nests on your beach!! Juniper has only laid on Sanibel a handful of times, so having her nest on Chateaux Sur Mer's beach is pretty amazing for your community! I've attached a photo of her for you! If your community members have any city names that you would like us to give to our new turtles, please let me know and we will try to give any new turtles we see those names. Thank you for your gracious support, I am excited to keep you updated on the activities of our awesome sea turtles.
Best,
Megan