J. N. "Ding" Darling reserve

Sanibel Island is an island located on the Gulf coast of Florida, just offshore of Fort Myers. Located within Lee County, Sanibel is a barrier island – a collection of sand on the leeward side of the Gulf Stream from the more solid coral-rock of Pine Island. J Ding Darling reserve public domain from USFWS File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... J Ding Darling reserve public domain from USFWS File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Gulf of Mexico in 3D perspective. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... Fort Myers is the county seatGR6 and commercial center of Lee County, Florida. ... Lee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. ... In geography, a bar is a linear shoaling landform feature within a body of water. ... Leeward is the side of a boat away from the direction where the wind is coming (i. ... For the album by Ocean Colour Scene, see North Atlantic Drift (album) The Gulf Stream is orange and yellow in this representation of water temperatures of the Atlantic. ... Pine Island is an island located in Lee County, Florida, on the Gulf coast of southwest Florida. ...

The city of Sanibel incorporates the entire island, with most of the town proper at the east end of the island. The community of Santiva is at the northwestern end of the island. After the causeway was built to replace the ferry in May 1963 the residents fought back against overdevelopment by incorporating the island as a city in 1974. Official seal of the city of Sanibel Sanibel is a city located in Lee County, Florida. ... Official seal of the city of Sanibel Sanibel is a city located in Lee County, Florida. ... The ferryboat Dongan Hills, filled with commuters, about to dock at a New York City pier, ca. ... In local government, incorporation occurs when municipalities such as cities, towns, townships, villages, and boroughs become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located. ...

Ecology

The island's curved shrimp-like shape forms Tarpon Bay on the north side of the island. It is linked to the mainland by the Sanibel Causeway, which runs across two small manmade islets and the Intracoastal Waterway. A short bridge links Sanibel Island to Captiva Island over Blind Pass. The Gulf side beaches are excellent on both islands, and are world renowned for their variety of seashells, which include coquinas, scallops, whelks, sand dollars, and other deeper-water mollusks, both univalve and bivalve. The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to the study of shells. Superfamilies Alpheoidea Atyoidea Bresilioidea Campylonotoidea Crangonoidea Galatheacaridoidea Nematocarcinoidea Oplophoroidea Palaemonoidea Pandaloidea Pasiphaeoidea Procaridoidea Processoidea Psalidopodoidea Stylodactyloidea Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. ... This article is about the geomorphological/geopolitical term; MAINLAND is also a cheese brand owned by Fonterra, a New Zealand dairy company. ... The Sanibel Causeway is a collection of causeways and three bridges, located in Lee County, Florida, USA with a total length of three miles. ... Tug and barge on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Navigation on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), where it intersects with Bayou Perot, in the vicinity of New Orleans The Intracoastal Waterway is a 4,800-km (3,000-mile) recreational and commercial waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the... A flock of skimmers in flight above the western beach of Upper Captiva Island. ... Blind Pass - name of geographical feature that separates Captiva Island from Sanibel Island in Lee County Florida. ... The hard, rigid outer calcium carbonate covering of certain animals is called a shell. ... Categories: Stub ... Genera See text. ... A whelk is a large marine gastropod (snail) found in temperate waters. ... Suborders Laganina Rotulina Scutellina Sand dollars are in the Echinoid (Echinoderms) class of marine animals. ... Classes Caudofoveata Aplacophora Polyplacophora Monoplacophora Bivalvia Scaphopoda Gastropoda Cephalopoda † Rostroconchia The mollusks or molluscs are the large and diverse phylum Mollusca, which includes a variety of familiar creatures well-known for their decorative shells or as seafood. ... Subclass Subclass Eogastropoda     Patellogastropoda Subclass Orthogastropoda   Superorder Cocculiniformia   Superorder Hot Vent Taxa     Neomphaolida   Superorder Vetigastropoda   Superorder Neritaemorphi     Neritopsina   Superorder Caenogastropoda     Architaenioglossa     Sorbeoconcha   Superorder Heterobranchia     Heterostropha     Opisthobranchia     Pulmonata The gastropods, gasteropods, or univalves, are the largest and most successful class of mollusks, with 60,000-75,000 extant species known, comprising... Orders Subclass Protobranchia Solemyoida Nuculoida Subclass Pteriomorphia - oysters Arcoida Mytiloida Pterioida Subclass Paleoheterodonta - mussels Trigoinoida Unionoida Subclass Heterodonta - clams, zebra mussels Veneroida Myoida Subclass Anomalosdesmata Pholadomyoida Animals of the Class Bivalvia are known as bivalves because they typically have two-part shells, with both parts being more or less symmetrical. ... The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum is located in the city of Sanibel, Florida on Sanibel Island on the Gulf coast of Southwest Florida. ...

Sanibel Island is home to a good variety of birds, including the Roseate Spoonbill and several nesting pairs of Bald Eagles. Birds can be seen on the beaches, the causeway islands, and the reserves, including J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Common sights include pelicans, herons, egrets, and Anhingas, as well as the more common birds like terns, sandpipers, and seagulls. There is a population of American Alligators, and a lone rare American Crocodile has been seen at the refuge as well. Plants on the island include the native sea grape, sea oats, mangroves, and several types of palm trees. The Australian pines is an introduced species that has spread throughout the island, to some extent overpowering native vegetation and trees. Once mature, the pine blocks sunlight and drops a thick bed of pine needles that affect the soil's pH and prevents new native growth. Binomial name Platalea ajaja (Linnaeus, 1758) Synonyms Ajaja ajaja The Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja, sometimes separated in the monotypic genus Ajaja) is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. ... Binomial name Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766) Subspecies (Linnaeus, 1766) Southern Bald Eagle Audubon, 1827) Northern Bald Eagle or Washingtons Eagle Synonyms Falco leucocephalus Linnaeus, 1766 The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), also known in North America as the American Eagle, is a bird of prey found in North America, most... The J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located in southwestern Florida, on Sanibel Island in the Gulf of Mexico. ... Binomial name Pelecanus occidentalis Linnaeus, 1766 The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis †) is the smallest (42-54) member of the seven species of the pelican family. ... Genera See text. ... Genera Egretta Ardea An egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. ... Binomial name Anhinga anhinga (Linnaeus, 1766) For the bird genus called Anhinga (Darters), see Anhinga The Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), sometimes called Snakebird, Darter, or American Darter, is a water bird of the warmer parts of North America and South America. ... Genera Sterna (Gelochelidon) (Hydroprogne) (Thalasseus) Chlidonias Phaetusa Anous Procelsterna Gygis Larosterna Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily Sterninae of the gull family Laridae. ... Families Charadridae Jacanidae Rostratulidae Ibidorhynchidae Recurvirostridae Haematopodidae Scolopacidae Dromadidae Burhinidae Glareolidae Thinocoridae Waders, called Shorebirds in North America (where wader is used to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons), are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. ... Seagull or Seagulls may refer to: Gull, a family of seabird, members of which are often called seagulls. ... ... Binomial name Crocodylus acutus (Cuvier, 1807) The American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) is one of the 4 species [] of New World crocodile and the most wide-spread in range. ... The name sea grape or seagrape can refer to the tunicates, as well as several different groups of plants: Coccoloba uvifera, a flowering plant native to North and South America. ... Sea oats (Uniola paniculata) are a type of grass that grows along the Atlantic coast of the United States, Mexico, and on islands in the Caribbean. ... Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal. ... Genera Many; see list of Arecaceae genera Arecaceae (also known as Palmae or Palmaceae), the palm family, is a family of flowering plants, belonging to the monocot order Arecales. ... Selected species Casuarina cunninghamiana Casuarina equisetifolia Casuarina glauca Casuarina is a genus of shrubs and trees in the Family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia and islands of the Pacific. ...

History

Sanibel and Captiva formed as one island about 6000 years ago. The first humans in the area were the ancestors to the Calusa, who arrived about 2500 years ago. The Calusa were a powerful Indian nation who came to dominate most of southwest Florida through trade and their elaborate system of canals and waterways. Sanibel remained an important Calusa settlement until the collapse of their empire, soon after the arrival of the Europeans. The Calusa, sometimes spelled Caloosa or Calosa, were a Native American group that lived on the coast and along the inner waterways of Floridas southwest coast. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ...

In 1765 the first known appearance of a harbor on Sanibel is labeled on a map, listed as Puerto de S. Nivel. An official Spanish map from 1768 identifies the island as Puerto de S. Nibel (the "v" and "b" being interchangeable); thus, the name may have evolved from "San Nibel". Alternately, the name may derive, as many believe, from "(Santa) Ybel", which survives in the old placename "Point Ybel", where the Sanibel Island Light is located. How it would have gotten this name, however is a matter of conjecture. One story says it was named by Juan Ponce de León for Queen Ysabel (Isabella) of Castile; the island may indeed be named for this queen or the saint whose name she shares, either by Ponce de León or someone later. Another tale says it was named by Roderigo Lopez, the first mate of José Gaspar (Gasparilla), after his beautiful lover Sanibel whom he had left behind in Spain. Like most of the lore surrounding Gasparilla, however, this story is apocryphal, as the above references to recognizable variants of the name predate the buccaneer's supposed reign. The Sanibel Island Light is the first lighthouse on Floridas Gulf coast north of Key West and the Dry Tortugas. ... Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León (c. ... Isabella of Castile Isabella (April 22, 1451 – November 26, 1504) was Queen regnant of Castile and Leon. ... A former kingdom of Spain, Castile comprises the two regions of Old Castile in north-western Spain, and New Castile in the centre of the country. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Jose Gaspar, known by his nickname Gasparilla, was a Spanish pirate who purportedly raided the west coast of Florida during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. ...

Sanibel is not the only island in the area to figure prominently in the legends of Gaspar, Captiva, Useppa, and Gasparilla are also connected. Sanibel also appears in another tale, this one involving Gaspar's ally-turned-rival Black Caesar, said to have been a former Haitian slave who escaped during the Haitian Revolution to become a pirate. According to folklore, Black Caesar came to the Gulf of Mexico during the War of 1812 to avoid interference from the British. In the Gulf he became friends with Gasparilla, who allowed him to set up on Sanibel Island. Eventually the old Spaniard discovered Caesar had been stealing from him and chased him off, but not before his loot had been buried. Useppa Island is a barrier island located in Lee County, Florida. ... Gasparilla Island is a barrier island in southwest Florida, on the border of Charlotte and Lee Counties. ... Black Caesar is a 1973 blaxploitation film, starring Fred Williamson and Gloria Hendry. ... The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ... Combatants Haiti France Commanders Toussaint LOuverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines Charles Leclerc, vicomte de Rochambeau, Napoleon Bonaparte Strength Regular army: <55,000, Volunteers: <100,000 Regular army: 60,000, 86 warships and frigates Casualties Military deaths: unknown, Civilian deaths: <100,000 Out of the 60,000 men sent betweeen Feb. ... Gulf of Mexico in 3D perspective. ... Combatants United States Native Americans United Kingdom, Canadian provincial forces First Nations Peoples Commanders James Madison Henry Dearborn Jacob Brown Winfield Scott Andrew Jackson George Prevost Isaac Brock† Tecumseh† Strength •U.S. Regular Army: 35,800 •Rangers: 3,049 •Militia: 458,463* •US Navy & US Marines: (at start of war...

Legendary pirate's dens aside, the first modern settlement on Sanibel was established by the Florida Peninsular Land Company in 1832. The colony never took off, and was abandoned by 1849. It was this first group that first petitioned for a lighthouse on the island. The island was re-populated after the implementation of the Homestead Act in 1862, and again a lighthouse was petitioned. Construction on the Sanibel Island Light was begun in 1883, but the community remained small. In May 1963 the causeway linking Sanibel and Captiva to the mainland was opened, resulting in an explosion of growth. The City of Sanibel passed new restrictions on development after it was incorporated; these were challenged by developers, to no avail. Currently the only buildings on the island taller than two stories date before 1974, and there are no fast food restaurants allowed on the island except a Dairy Queen. Currently a new causeway is under construction and will soon replace the worn out 1963 spans, which were not designed to carry the heavy loads or number of vehicles that history has dictated. The new bridge will feature a "flyover" span tall enough for sailboats to pass under, replacing the current bridge's bascule drawbridge span. The Homestead Act was a United States Federal law that gave freehold title to 160 acres (about 65 hectares) of undeveloped land in the American West. ... Dairy Queen, also known as DQ is a fast-food restaurant franchise and ice-cream shop in the United States and Canada that was founded in 1940. ...

Hurricanes

Southwest Florida rarely takes a direct strike by hurricanes, but every 20 or so years it takes a significant hit, and about every 40 years a major one. Most of these have had an impact on Sanibel. On August 13, 2004, Sanibel Island was hit hard by Hurricane Charley, a category four hurricane and the strongest to hit southwest Florida since Hurricane Donna in September 1960. While much of the vegetation native to the island survived, the stately but non-native Australian pines suffered serious damage, blocking nearly every road. Wildlife officials were also concerned that nests of birds and sea turtles were destroyed. The Sanibel Lighthouse survived with little damage, and the Sanibel Causeway suffered relatively minor damage, save for a toll booth tilted partly over, and erosion of a small seawall. Blind Pass was again cut through, but refilled less than one month later. August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lowest pressure 941 mbar (hPa) Damage $16 billion (2004 USD) $16. ... The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a scale classifying most Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the levels of tropical depression and tropical storm and thereby become hurricanes; the categories it divides hurricanes into are distinguished by the intensities of their respective sustained winds. ... Lowest pressure ≤930 mbar (hPa) Damage $3. ... Sea turtles (Chelonioidea) are turtles found in all the worlds oceans with the exception of the Arctic Ocean, and some species travel between oceans. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. For erosion as understood by materials science, see Erosion (materials science) For erosion as an English analogy, see Erosion (figurative) For erosion as an operation of Mathematical morphology, see Erosion (morphology) Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil... Seawall protecting homes from storm waves and beach erosion. ...

Famous residents

• Clifton Fadiman, author and radio/TV personality
• Porter J. Goss, CIA director
• Helen Ketteman, children's author
• Jean Shepherd, author, screenwriter and radio raconteur
• Janine Stover, film industry script supervisor
• Randy Wayne White, author with restaurant Doc Ford's on Sanibel Island

Clifton Fadiman (1902-1999) was a noted intellectual, author, and radio personality. ... Porter Goss Porter Johnston Goss (born November 26, 1938) is an American politician, who was the last Director of Central Intelligence and the first Director of the Central Intelligence Agency following the passage of the IRPTA 2004 Act, which abolished the DCI position. ... Jean Shepherd posed as Frederick R. Ewing on the back cover of Ballantines I, Libertine (1956). ... Randy Wayne White is a former fishing guide turned novelist. ...

References

• Dormer, Elinore M. (1975). The Sea Shell Islands. Vantage.

External links

• J. N. "Ding" Darling NWR, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
• The "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society