Loggerheads have always fancied Sanibel and Captiva islands.<\/p>\n
They have no choice. <\/p>\n
Female sea turtles always return to the beach of their birth, which means their mommas favored the two islands, as did their mommas\u2019 mommas, and so on to a time long before it was written down anywhere.<\/p>\n
But 11 years after the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation\u2019s record-keeping began in 1992, the island set a record with a combined 1,177 loggerhead nests.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s loggerhead nesting season continues in full swing. With several more weeks left, if another hundred or so nests are dug, the record from three years ago will fall.<\/p>\n
A female loggerhead sea turtle, named after the 1980s rock icon was found on the beach with her hind end missing after being hit by a boat.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, there is more good news on the loggerhead front: by mid-July the earliest-laid nests have already hatched, sending thousands of hatchlings racing down the beach and into the Gulf.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s 4,640 hatchlings to be exact.<\/p>\n
Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation<\/a>, a non-profit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.<\/p>\n Sign up for WGCU’s monthly environmental newsletter, the Green Flash<\/a>, today.<\/p>\n