Let’s Go
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation is hosting the screening of an an award-winning documentary that highlights the critical role conservation organizations and volunteers are playing in the recovery of the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle.
“Saving Sea Turtles: Preventing Extinction” will be shown on June 3 at noon at Island Cinema on Sanibel. Screenings of the film will coincide in two different theaters at the cinema.
Narrated by renowned scientist Dr. Sylvia Earle, the feature-length independent documentary tells the larger natural history story of the world’s rarest sea turtle, the Kemp’s ridley, and how humans pushed a healthy population to the precipice of extinction and are now slowly helping it to recover. From the beaches of Massachusetts to Mexico, Texas and Georgia, the film highlights the collaborative work that is being done to save a species from going extinct.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased from www.eventbrite.com.
For more information, contact the SCCF at 239-472-2329 or visit www.sccf.org.
The Island Cinema is at 535 Tarpon Bay Road.
Let’s Go
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation will host an informational program on shorebirds.
SCCF biologists will present “Shorebirds of Sanibel and Captiva” on May 24 from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Nature Center, at 3333 Sanibel Captiva Road, Sanibel.
In the spring and summer, residents and visitors will notice areas of Sanibel and Captiva’s beaches roped off to protect nesting shorebirds, as well as nesting sea turtles. For the program, learn about the shorebird species that nest on the beach, including snowy plovers, least terns and wilson’s plovers.
Also, learn how to safely share the beach and help to protect them.
For more information, contact the SCCF at 239-472-2329 or visit www.sccf.org.
Let’s Go
The 10th annual Ride of Silence will be held today, May 16, from 7 to 9 p.m. on Sanibel.
Hosted by the Sanibel Bicycle Club, Billy’s Bike Shop and Matzaluna, participants will start out at Matzaluna The Italian Kitchen. The route will proceed from the restaurant to the bike shop, then circle back to include the first two bridges of the Sanibel Causeway, before heading back to the restaurant.
“The Ride of Silence is a way to memorialize those people who have been killed or injured while biking on public roads,” Mike Miller, past president of the Sanibel Bicycle Club, said. “And to remind the community and nation that it’s important to share the road between cyclists and motorists.”
The eight-mile ride will be done in silence and at 10 mph to 12 mph.
Those interested in participating should be on site by 6:45 p.m.
Cyclists will be required to wear a helmet and sign a wavier prior to the event.
Matzaluna will provide discounted food and drinks before and after it.
For more information about the Ride for Silence, email Mike Miller at millerlawfl@earthlink.net or any of the other organizers at salli@sanibelbike.com or mblust@prawnbroker.com.
Matzaluna The Italian Kitchen is at 1200 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel.
Let’s Go
Sam Bailey’s Islands Night is marking a milestone anniversary this year as an island tradition.
Hitting 25 years, the Fort Myers Miracle will play the Charlotte Stone Crabs today, May 9, at 7 p.m. at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. The gates open at 6 p.m., with the parade kicking off at 6:15 p.m.
For those who have not picked up their free tickets yet, they are available at Bailey’s, Doc Ford’s and other island businesses and sponsors, including the Island Reporter and Sanibel-Captiva Islander.
The Kiwanis Club of Sanibel and Captiva Islands and the Young Professionals Association of Sanibel and Captiva will be selling beer, with the proceeds to benefit the Islands Night fund. The proceeds from the fund are distributed each year to several local organizations and even help to support scholarships.
Started by Sam Bailey, the Islands Night event was renamed in honor of him in 2004.
The Reporter and Islander office is at 2340 Periwinkle Way, Unit K, Sanibel.
Hammond Stadium is at 14100 6 Mile Cypress Parkway in Fort Myers.
Let’s Go
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation will host the program “Turtle Tracks” on May 3 from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Nature Center, at 3333 Sanibel Captiva Road, Sanibel.
Sanibel had one of the first sea turtle monitoring programs in the country. Learn about the life cycles and habits of the sea turtles and shorebirds that nest on the island’s beaches, SCCF’s monitoring activities and what the organization is doing to protect them.
From now through August, “Turtle Tracks” will be held every Thursday at the same time.
On April 15, SCCF volunteers began monitoring the beaches every morning of the week on Sanibel and Captiva with the kickoff of sea turtle nesting season. Each nest is staked, numbered, recorded and monitored until the eggs hatch. The nests are also screened to keep predators from reaching the eggs.
Loggerheads are the most abundant nesters, with green sea turtles nesting every other year.
The program is free for members and children and $5 for non-members.
For more information, contact the SCCF at 239-472-2329 or visit www.sccf.org.