Sea Turtle Babies!

 

Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation Coastal Wildlife Director Kelly Sloan was on beach patrol last month when she came upon the rare opportunity to see and film baby loggerhead sea turtle emerge from a nest on Captiva Island.

Inventory of the nest three days later showed 90 hatchlings successfully emerged and scurried towards the Gulf of Mexico.

“The screen on top of the nest is to discourage predation,” explained Sloan.  » Read more

Check. Check. Check.

 

A fun article by Kathryn Brintnall, a board member for The International Osprey Foundation:

 

“Notebook and pen, check.”

“Water, check.”

“Smart-phone with map app, check.”

“TIOF uniform T-shirt, check.”

“Put more air in my bike tire, check.”

“I’m ready,” called The International Osprey Foundation’s youngest volunteer to her father as she prepared to help TIOF map all of the osprey nests on Sanibel and Captiva using GPS coordinates.  » Read more

Oh, Baby!

 

What a creative idea from our friends at Ding Darling!

Missing out on much critical financial support as a result of COVID-19, the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge decided to hold an online fundraiser to help support the refuge.

You are cordially invited to attend the Virtual “Ding” Baby Bird Shower, with the funds raised going toward sustaining wildlife,  » Read more

Sands of Time

 

As our island community does its part to help stop the spread of COVID-19, one Captiva group is offering alternative entertainment for when binge watching TV shows gets old.

The Captiva Island Historical Society recently added its latest documentary, titled “Sands of Time: History of Erosion on Captiva,” to Amazon Prime for streaming. It is available for purchase for $19.99 and joins two previous films created by the CIHS,  » Read more

Sweet Indeed!

Chef Melissa Donahue of Sweet Melissa’s Cafe

 

James Beard-nominated Sweet Melissa’s Café has been honored by Wine Spectator’s 2020 Restaurant Awards with the Award of Excellence for their highly-curated wine list.

The annual program recognizes restaurants around the world as the top destinations for wine lovers. Recipients of this award are celebrated for their excellent breadth across multiple wine growing regions and a significant vertical depth of top wines.  » Read more

Right-Handed or Left?

Photo from CNN.com

 

Are you right-handed or left-handed?  Would it surprise you to learn that dolphins also show a clear preference for what scientists call “lateralized behavior”?

Recently, researchers have found that bottlenose dolphins show a strong bias for their right side when it comes to foraging for food on seabeds.  » Read more

It’s really rather interesting!  To learn more about one particular study,

The Spectacular Snowy Egret

Photo by Kyle Sweet

 

This beautiful, graceful bird has quite the survival story!

As a year-round resident to our barrier islands, the Snowy Egret is one that you can now enjoy seeing at the beach, in the wetlands, or in an island freshwater swamp.

Did you know, however, that the plume trade in the late 19th century nearly destroyed the Snowy Egret population?   » Read more

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