The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) nighttime sea turtle tagging program had a successful 2024 season, documenting 353 sea turtle encounters and 187 unique sea turtles on Sanibel.
Of those turtles, 137 individuals were encountered on Sanibel for the first time.
Each Summer, SCCF's nighttime tagging team conducts nightly, sunset to sunrise beach patrols in search of nesting turtles.
When the team encounters a nesting sea turtle, she is first checked for tags to see if she has been previously identified.
Sea turtles are tagged two different ways - with an internal Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag and external flipper tags.
“These help us identify the individual turtle, so her nesting behavior and movement patterns can be tracked over time,” SCCF Sea Turtle Biologist Savannah Weber said.
This year's 353 total encounters is only slightly less than last year's record-breaking season of 406 encounters. Last year, 222 unique individuals were encountered, and 125 unique individuals were encountered in 2022.
“Each newly tagged turtle is given an honorary name, which helps keep track of who’s who while analyzing data,” Weber said. “This year’s theme was savory snacks.”
The 137 turtles that were new to Sanibel received nicknames like “Cheez-It,” “Pizza Roll,” and “Ruffles.”
Of the 187 unique individuals, 75 were encountered more than one on Sanibel. The loggerheads seen the most included new turtle Bugle, who was seen eight times.
Returning loggerhead Bonita was seen six times.
“Bonita was first tagged on Sanibel in 2020, and this year was the first time she has been encountered since then!” Weber said.
The night-tagging team also encountered two nesting green turtles this season. The first green turtle was named "Pickles," and she was originally tagged on Manasota Key in 2022.
The second green turtle was also never encountered on Sanibel before. She was given the name "Guacamole." She was encountered nesting twice and false crawling once.
“Eight years into the program, we’ve documented nearly 1,200 unique sea turtles,” Weber said. “These numbers illustrate Sanibel Island’s importance as sea turtle nesting habitat.”
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