340-plus sea turtle nests documented on islands
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) reported that its sea turtle team had documented a total of 340 loggerhead and two green sea turtle nests on the islands for this season as of June 3.
It is up from last year’s 264 loggerhead nests to date, with the same number for green sea turtle nests.
The number of nests depredated by coyotes is 53, up from 38 depredations to date in 2025. A recent high tide also took a toll, with 19 nests lost to washouts, compared to one washout to date in 2025.
The breakdown of the data by island, species and other parameters is as follows:
Washouts
2025: 1
— Sanibel: 1
— Captiva: 0
2026: 19
— Sanibel: 15
— Captiva: 4
Coyote depredations
2025: 38
— Sanibel: 30
— Captiva: 8
2026: 53
— Sanibel: 39
— Captiva: 14
FIRST LOGGERHEAD TAGGED FOR TRACKING
The SCCF reported that its sea turtle team encountered Lila, an adult female loggerhead sea turtle, nesting on the west end of Sanibel in the early morning hours of May 19.
It was the first time encountering her on the island, as she had no indication of being previously tagged with forms of identification, such as a PIT or flipper tag. She is the first of the season to be satellite tagged. Lila’s tag is now active on the SCCF’s Sea Turtle Tracking Portal, which launched last nesting season and tracked five loggerheads.
“A lot of the research on sea turtles is conducted while they’re nesting because they’re much easier to access on beaches, but since they spend most of their lives at sea, there is still so much we don’t know,” Coastal Wildlife Director Kelly Sloan said. “Satellite tags provide location data for the turtles even when they aren’t observed again on the nesting beach, which allows us to track their movements at sea.”
Lila’s tag was sponsored by Norman Robertson.
To track Lila, visit https://sccf.hammerhead360.com/.
To report issues related to nests or sea turtles, call the SCCF Sea Turtle Hotline at 978-728-3663.