The Fifth Season on Sanibel is Turtle Season

Though subtle, Sanibel Island has seasonal changes. There's the dry and brilliant sunshine of winter, the breezy days of spring, the heat and humidity of summer, the calm before the storm of early fall. And there's the exiting and iconic loggerhead turtle season.

Perhaps the island itself does not change in turtle season, more often called nesting season, but those who live here definitely do through a bit of morphing. The culture of "do not disturb" permeates the environment from May through October, reaching its peak in the month of July.

Each day during turtle season, the 18 miles of Gulf beaches from the Sanibel Lighthouse to the tip of Captiva are checked beginning at dawn as part of the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation's Sea Turtle Research and Monitoring Program. In some areas, volunteers walk designated zones of beach. On other stretches, the patrol is done by beach vehicle. Nests are identified and marked for monitoring and protection. Later in the season new hatches are evaluated and recorded. The statewide collection of data helps promote programs that improve the chances for sea turtles to survive.

Loggerheads are tough to see but their tracks are easy to spot on the early morning beach. Female turtles will make the long trek back to their nesting area and during the night will crawl to the beach, dig a deep hole with their hind flippers, lay her eggs, cover up the nest, and return to the water. The procedure, once they find their nesting beach, may take as long as three hours. Each nest may contain nearly 100 ping pong ball sized eggs.

Upon hatching, the little turtles make a mad dash for the water, following the light of the horizon. Because this light is so essential to the hatchlings survival, there are no street lights on Sanibel less they distract and disorient the hatchlings. Despite this mandated caution by human beings, this short trip is filled with other hazards including dehydration as well as raccoons, birds and crabs that may snack on them before they hit the water. Once in the water, they are just bite size morsels for larger fish, including sharks. Only about 1 in 100 eggs will become and adult turtle which takes at least 16 years.

Last year, there were more than 330 nests on Sanibel and Captiva, 150 more than the year before. The nesting outcomes were considered a tremendous success over previous years in Southwest Florida and has heightened the excitement and anticipation for this year.

For those interested in a true nature exploration and the opportunity to see a wondrous process of re-population, turtle season offers an up close and personal view of what Sanibel Island is all about.