2018 Spring

The colorful, welcoming Sanibel-Captiva Chamber Visitor Center is on the right side of Causeway Road as you drive onto Sanibel Island.

Just some of the types of shells you can find while searching.

Way, just past the causeway as you arrive on the island. Moving from east to west across Sanibel, here’s our list of recommendations for best nature-oriented places and activities. The circa 1884 Sanibel Lighthouse at the eastern tip of the island (on Periwinkle Way) marks the convergence of the Gulf of Mexico with San Carlos Bay. The light originally signaled cattle-carrying ships when they sailed from the bay to the Florida Keys or Cuba. Today’s lighthouse visitors can cast a line from the fishing dock, build a sandcastle on the beach, enjoy a picnic, or view coastal wonders from a nature trail. Just west of the lighthouse on Sanibel-Captiva (San- Cap) Road, Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum is the only natural history museum in North American that’s devoted to sea shells. Displays showcase all sizes, shapes, and colors of shells from around the world plus artistic renderings such as a shell bouquet and sailor’s valentines—intricate floral and heart-shaped designs made completely with sea shells. There’s even a special learning lab just for kids. At Tank Talks, led by museum naturalists, you can learn practical shelling tips. And in hands-on craft sessions, you can create shell animals or jewelry.

After departing the museum, continue west on San-Cap Road, turning right at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge(NWR).OnSanibel,where67percentoftheacreage is protected, Ding Darling is the centerpiece of long- standing conservation efforts. The refuge encompasses 7,608 acres of mangroves, sea grass beds, marshes, and hardwood hammocks—safe spaces for migratory birds, land mammals, and marine life. Established in 1945, the original Sanibel Refuge was dedicated to Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling in 1978. Darling, a Pulitzer prize-winning political cartoonist and director of the U.S. Biological Survey, was a winter resident of Sanibel. He was also a steadfast environmentalist during the 1930s, long before most people were concerned with ecology. The walls of the Visitor Center feature lively 3-D murals of sea turtles, manatees, and such. Topics like bird migrations and nesting patterns, the fragile refuge ecosystem, and J.N. Ding Darling’s conservation work are represented through interactive exhibits and films. Ding Darling NWR harbors 272 bird species including ospreys, swooping pelicans, great blue herons, and wood storks. Raccoons and river otters are two of 35 kinds of mammals that live within the refuge. Among 60 types of amphibians and reptiles, you might spot a gopher tortoise digging or an occasional toothy American crocodile.

SANIBEL

COAST TO COAST SPRING MAGAZINE 2018

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