This nesting season provided SCCF sea turtle monitors with a unique opportunity to survey Captiva at night while relocating nests from Captiva to Sanibel for the CEPD beach renourishment project. A side perk of this project was that SCCF monitors were able identify previously tagged turtles that would not have otherwise been seen.

“Cookies and Cream,” first tagged in 2017, was located on Captiva—the 11th sighting. She nested four times in 2019 and three times in 2017. Of the four nests “Cookies and Cream” was observed laying this year, two hatched and were inventoried by volunteers and staff.

One of her nests hatched with 78 percent hatch success. Another of her hatched nests is a true example of resilience in these animals, as this nest had partially washed out during Tropical Storm Elsa, and only 55 eggs remained. This nest continued to incubate, and 53 eggs hatched.

Photo by Shane Antalick