Nighttime tagging documents 167 sea turtles
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) reported that its sea turtle team documented 167 unique turtles this season, marking its 10th year of nighttime research efforts.
From May 1 through July 31, the team conducts nightly beach patrols on Sanibel to intercept, tag and identify, and monitor nesting sea turtles.
When a turtle is encountered, she is first checked for existing tags to determine whether she has been previously identified. If not, new tags are applied.
“Our efforts allow us to track individual turtles’ nesting and movement patterns over time, providing valuable insight into their reproductive behavior,” SCCF sea turtle biologist Savannah Weber said.
Over the course of the 2025 season, the team documented 320 sea turtle encounters with 167 individuals — 163 loggerhead turtles and four green turtles. Of these, 100 turtles — 60% of all individuals — were encountered for the first time.
Since the program’s launch in 2016, the SCCF’s nighttime tagging project has documented a total of 1,293 sea turtles.
“Those are just the turtles we encounter. There are many others that we don’t see,” she said.
KEEPING TRACK OF TURTLES WITH NAMING THEME
The SCCF reported that to help keep track of so many turtles, every individual encountered for the first time receives an honorary name based on the season’s naming theme. This year’s theme was “Space,” inspiring names like Neptune, Big Dipper, Supernova and Galileo.
The team also encountered 67 returning females previously documented, accounting for 40% of all individuals. It marks a notable increase from the previous year, when returning females made up 27% of all individuals.
“While most sea turtles nest every two to three years, several of last year’s nesters returned again this season — including fan favorite Oregano, who was first tagged in 2018 during the spice-themed naming season,” Weber said. “Oregano has now nested on Sanibel for four consecutive years — 2022, 2023, 2024 and now 2025.”
In July, she was observed laying one nest on Sanibel’s west end. Oregano is also one of the largest females that the team has documented, with a shell measuring just over 3.2 feet long.
SHARING DATA REGIONALLY
To help understand the regional sea turtle nesting behaviors of individuals, the SCCF shares its data with: the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, which does nighttime tagging on Keewaydin Island; Mote Marine Laboratory, which does nighttime tagging on Casey Key; and Sarasota County, which does nighttime tagging on Manasota Key.
“It makes all of our efforts more valuable to share data,” she said.
The SCCF reported the following previous numbers of unique individuals encountered:
– 2024: 187
– 2023: 222 (broke record of 188 set in 2020)
– 2022: 125