The Beach is a wild place

The Beach is a wild place. . The coast provides nesting habitat for sea turtles and shorebirds. Sanibel is a rest stop for birds flying thousands of miles and seeking out some time to rest and feed along their way., Snowy Egret , Ghost Crab , Ghost crabs burrow in the sand. Lots of smaller creatures wriggle in the surf. , Black-Bellied Plover , Named for its summer breeding plumage, this plover is light-colored during its Sanibel stay., Loggerhead Sea Turtle Hatchling , Sea turtles nest on Sanibel from May through October. , Gopher tortoises--sometimes mistaken for sea turtles--have short legs and clawed feet. Sea turtles have flatten flippers about half as long as their shells. , Gopher Tortoise , Gopher tortoise often dig sandy dunes near the Gulf. , Snowy Plovers , Snowy Plovers simply scrape a little sand aside to lay their eggs. They are dependent upon camouflage to hide their babies. , Snowy Plover photo by Hugh McLaughlin , Beyond the Beach , Up down, up down and out to the bay, Sanibel's topography shows the subtle variations in elevation between the old dunes and lower wetlands areas. These variations, combined with a subtropical climate, yield a tremendous variety of plant and animals, all built upon tiny grains of sand like the ones between your toes. , Beyond the ridges and swales, the mangroves, mudflats and seagrass stretch out into Pine Island Sound. , Sanibel's mid-summer freshwater wetlands are Everglades-like. , Mangroves help stabilize the bayside shoreline.