Taurus the loggerhead (Caretta caretta), who was encountered on Sanibel for the first time this year by SCCF’s night-tagging team.

Every summer during peak sea turtle nesting season (May 1 – July 31), SCCF’s sea turtle night-tagging team patrols Sanibel’s beaches each night to intercept, tag, and collect data on nesting sea turtles. Tagging allows us to monitor individual sea turtles’ nesting and movement patterns, providing valuable insight into their reproductive behavior.

If you’d like to learn about our nesting females and their stories, you can join one of SCCF’s new wildlife adoption programs — Adopt a Sea Turtle and Adopt a Sea Turtle (Lifetime).

The 2025 season has already gotten off to an exciting start! As of June 3, our night-tagging team has recorded 120 nesting encounters, 42 of those encounters were with new-to-Sanibel turtles and 78 encounters were with returning turtles. Each year, staff choose a fun theme to name newly tagged turtles. For the 2025 season, the theme is “space.”

“By identifying and monitoring individual females year after year, we’re able to uncover unique stories about each turtle — where she chooses to nest, how often she returns, how successful her nests are, and how certain threats may be impacting individuals,” said SCCF Sea Turtle Biologist Savannah Weber. “These insights are critical for understanding and protecting Sanibel’s nesting population.”

One of Sanibel’s newly tagged loggerheads was named “Taurus” after the zodiac constellation (pictured above).

“Taurus was first encountered nesting during a full moon in mid-May, and the moonlight gave us just enough natural light to capture a clear image of her nesting,” Weber said. “Just 11 nights later, she returned and false crawled twice. We’re hopeful we’ll see her nesting again soon!”

Another standout this season is “Cherry Vanilla,” a fan favorite and longtime nester first tagged in 2017 (the “ice cream flavors” naming year). Cherry Vanilla has returned consistently every two years — laying two nests in 2017, two in 2019, one in 2021, and one in 2023. In total, these nests have produced 474 hatchlings that made it to sea.

“We’ve already seen her twice this season: once nesting in early May and once on a false crawl,” Weber said. “Across 14 total encounters, Cherry Vanilla has exclusively nested on Sanibel’s west end, a spot she clearly favors. We’re excited to see how her nests do this year!”

Adopt a Sea Turtle

Through SCCF’s new Adopt a Sea Turtle program, you have the unique opportunity to follow the journey of an individual nesting female on Sanibel during the 2025 season. Your donation directly supports our sea turtle research and conservation efforts, and in return, you’ll receive an adoption certificate with the name of your turtle, an in-depth summary of her 2025 nesting season, and information about her number of nests, false crawls, hatch success rates, and whether the nests were laid on the east or west end of Sanibel.

This program provides a meaningful way to connect with an individual turtle and learn more about her unique story, all while helping protect this threatened species.

Adopt a Sea Turtle (Lifetime)

For those who want to take their support even further, we’re excited to launch the Adopt a Sea Turtle – Lifetime Edition. This exclusive program allows you to follow a single turtle through the years, offering a deeper connection to her journey. You’ll even have the opportunity to rename your turtle and will receive a full history of her numerous years of nesting activity since she was first tagged. Each year she returns to nest, we’ll send you an update with her latest stats and movements.

As part of this special adoption, you’ll also receive a custom keepsake item featuring your turtle’s unique identification number — something to celebrate your ongoing commitment to her story and to sea turtle conservation.

Whether you’re adopting in honor of a loved one or simply want to be part of something bigger, your support makes a lasting impact. Adopt a sea turtle today and join us in protecting these incredible animals — one turtle at a time.