SCCF’s sea turtle team documented 167 unique turtles this season, marking its tenth year of nighttime research efforts.

From May 1 through July 31, the team conducts nightly beach patrols on Sanibel Island 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,” said SCCF Sea Turtle Biologist Savannah Weber.

Over the course of the 2025 season, the night team documented 320 sea turtle encounters with 167 unique individuals — 163 unique loggerhead turtles and 4 unique green turtles. Of these, 100 turtles or 60% of all individuals were encountered on Sanibel for the first time.

Since the program’s launch in 2016, SCCF’s nighttime tagging project has documented a total of 1,293 unique sea turtles.

“Those are just the turtles we encounter. There are many others that we don’t see,” she added.

Keeping Track of Turtles with Naming Theme

To help keep track of so many turtles, every individual encountered on Sanibel 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 on Sanibel, accounting for 40% of all individuals. This marks a notable increase from the previous year, when returning females made up just 27% of all individuals.

“While most sea turtles nest every 2-3 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,” said Weber. “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 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, SCCF shares its data with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, which does nighttime tagging on Keewaydin Island, as well as with Mote Marine Laboratory, which does nighttime tagging on Casey Key, and with Sarasota County, which does nighttime tagging on Manasota Key.

“It makes all of our efforts more valuable to share data,” said Weber.

Previous Numbers of Unique Individuals Encountered:

• 2024 – 187
• 2023 – 222 (broke record of 188 set in 2020)
• 2022 – 125

To learn more about our sea turtles from 2025 and their individual stories, it’s not too late to join these two wildlife adoption programs launched this season:

Adopt a Sea Turtle: Follow the journey of a nesting female throughout the 2025 season! Your donation supports sea turtle research and conservation. You’ll receive an adoption certificate, a detailed summary of your turtle’s nesting season, and data on her nests, false crawls, hatch success, and nesting locations across the island.

Adopt a Sea Turtle – Lifetime Edition: Take your support a step further by following one turtle across multiple years. This exclusive program allows you to rename your turtle and receive her full detailed nesting history since she was first tagged. Each year she returns, you’ll get an update with her latest stats and movements. You’ll also receive a custom keepsake featuring her unique ID number — a lasting tribute to your commitment to sea turtle conservation.

Learn more about SCCF’s sea turtle program >>>