On April 27, SCCF staff discovered the first crawl of the season – a loggerhead false crawl – on Sanibel’s west end. It increased the anticipation that maybe she had come up later during the previous night and laid eggs further down the beach. Thankfully, staff did not have to wait long, as not far away, a loggerhead nest and the first nest of SCCF’s 2022 nesting season was marked and protected. Since then, five more nests and seven more false crawls have been documented. READ MORE

The creatures we identify today as our “modern” sea turtles evolved from a common ancestor about 110 million years ago. While these animals have stubbornly persisted in a world that has experienced radical climactic shifts over that period, the current rate of climate change paired with patterns of human development may be casting a shadow of doubt over their future. READ MORE

Community Conversation on Value of Green Energy

Join SCCF and the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce on May 9 for an engaging panel discussion about embracing renewable energy to prepare for the impacts of climate change. Moderated by SCCF CEO James Evans, the goal of the community forum is to involve business owners, homeowners, and city representatives in an open conversation about the opportunities that a greater reliance on green energy can provide. READ MORE

Coastal Watch and the SCCF Marine Lab are looking for volunteers that live on Sanibel's east-end canals to participate in an oyster restoration pilot program this summer. Participants will allow SCCF to suspend vertical oyster gardens (see picture) from their dock or sea wall throughout the summer months. If you live on the east-end canals and would like to know more about the program or sign up to volunteer, please email SCCF Community Conservation Coordinator Kealy McNeal at kmcneal@sccf.org.

Coastal Watch has partnered with the City of Sanibel and Bailey's General Store to install Beach Bucket Stations at a few beach access points on Sanibel. The objective of this project is to provide beach-goers with a vessel to collect trash as they enjoy our wonderful beaches.

We have noticed people stuffing trash into their pockets, tackle boxes, shell bags, etc. and we want to make a more convenient way to collect debris.

We hope to have this program up and running by the end of May, so keep your eyes out for the Coastal Watch Beach Bucket Stations. Thanks for doing your part to keep our beaches safe for wildlife!

The inkwood (Exothea paniculata ) is a large shrub to a small tree. It starts out quite wide and bushy with many upright branches and develops a nice, tall canopy reaching 25 to 35 feet tall. The inkwood is evergreen and has dense foliage making it a nice addition to a home landscape. The small flowers are clustered and have a delightful fragrance, with blooming mostly in the spring. This tree is native to southern Florida. It is drought and salt spray tolerant but cannot handle saltwater inundation. The inkwood is also dioecious, which means like a holly tree, each plant is either a male or a female and only the female produces fruit. The fruit of the inkwood is a great source of food for birds in late spring and summer. The inkwood is in the Sapindaceae family which includes maple, carrotwood, varnish leaf and soapberry. The soapberry tree and varnish Leaf are also dioecious.

The Sanibel School’s fourth and first graders recently went on field trips to SCCF’s Pick Preserve with SCCF Environmental Educator Richard Finkel. Fourth graders extended their science ecosystems unit by documenting the habitats, both large and small (microhabitats), within SCCF’s Pick Preserve while learning how SCCF manages and protects the land, including both its interior freshwater and upland habitats. First graders continued their classroom plant studies with a look at the diversity of plants along the Pick Preserve nature trail and created leaf rubbing collages to learn about leaf shapes and structures. READ MORE

By now, all SCCF members should have received their Spring 2022 issue of Connecting You to Nature in the mail. Receiving a print copy of the magazine is a member benefit. If you'd like to become a member and support SCCF's efforts to protect and care for Southwest Florida's coastal ecosystems, please click here. We invite non-members to read about some of the research our team of dedicated scientists does in this issue, with the cover story devoted to more than six decades of sea turtle monitoring. Click here to read about SCCF's research on shorebirds, terrestrial turtles, water quality, and ways that the Sanibel Sea School is inspiring the next generation of marine scientists and ocean lovers.

Thanks to Bob Miller for sending this shot of a bobcat (Lynx rufus) he took in his neighbor's yard.

info@sccf.org to be featured here in an upcoming issue.