Guacamole the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) was encountered for the first time on Sanibel this year.

SCCF’s nighttime sea turtle tagging program had a successful 2024 season, documenting 353 sea turtle encounters and 187 unique sea turtles on Sanibel from May 1 through July 31. Of these, 137 individuals were encountered on Sanibel for the first time.

Each summer, SCCF’s nighttime tagging team conducts nightly, sunset-to-sunrise beach patrols in search of nesting sea turtles. When the team encounters a nesting sea turtle, she is first checked for tags to see if she has been previously identified. 

Sea turtles are tagged two different ways — with an internal Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag (similar to a microchip for pet dogs and cats) and external flipper tags (similar to cattle ear tags). 

“These help us identify the individual turtle, so her nesting behavior and movement patterns can be tracked over time,” said SCCF Sea Turtle Biologist Savannah Weber. 

This year’s 353 total encounters is only slightly less than last year’s record-breaking season of 406 encounters. Last year, 222 unique individuals were encountered, and 125 unique individuals were encountered in 2022. 

Since the program’s start in 2016, SCCF’s nighttime tagging project has documented 1,196 unique sea turtles. 

“Each newly tagged turtle is given an honorary name, which helps keep track of who’s who while analyzing data,” Weber said. “This year’s theme was savory snacks.”

The 137 turtles that were new to Sanibel received nicknames like “Cheez-It,” “Pizza Roll,” and “Ruffles.” 

Of the 187 unique individuals, 75 were encountered more than once on Sanibel. The loggerheads seen the most included new turtle Bugle, who was seen eight times (three times nesting, five times false crawling). Returning loggerhead Bonita was seen six times (nesting five times, and false crawling once). 

“Bonita was first tagged on Sanibel in 2020, and this year was the first time she has been encountered since then!” Weber said.

The night-tagging team also encountered two nesting green turtles this season. The first green turtle was named “Pickles,” and she was originally tagged on Manasota Key in 2022. This was the first time she has been encountered on Sanibel. 

The second green turtle, also never before encountered on Sanibel, did not have any previous tags. She was given the name “Guacamole.” She was encountered nesting twice, and false crawling once. 

“Eight years into the program, we’ve documented nearly 1,200 unique sea turtles,” Weber said. “These numbers illustrate Sanibel Island’s importance as sea turtle nesting habitat.”