Pine Island Sound Environmental Protection

   North Captiva Island is not an isolated barrier island, but a part of a much larger ecosystem, which includes the habitat of Pine Island Sound. The Sound and the barrier islands are all environmentally protected.

   "Very rarely can you be on the water or stand at the water's edge and see a shoreline as protected as Pine Island Sound. It is rimmed with mangroves and other vegetation that protect both the surrounding land and the water within." 
--Erick Lindblad, Executive Director 
Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation

   Pine Island Sound is located in Lee County, Florida lying between Pine Island and the barrier islands of Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, North Captiva Island and Cayo Costa Island, which separate the Sound from the Gulf of Mexico.

Pine Island Sound Aquatic Preserve

   The Sound connects to Gasparilla Sound and Charlotte Harbor to the north, and to San Carlos Bay and the Caloosahatchee River to the south.  The Sound is conterminous with the Pine Island Sound Aquatic Preserve, which was established in 1970 and consists of 54,000 acres of submerged land. Important habitats in the Sound include mangroves, seagrasses, salt marshes, oyster communities and tidal flats. Pine Island Sound is home to over 100 invertebrate, 200 fish, many shark and over 150 bird species.

   Two local foundaitons that have been instrumental in local conservation efforts are the Randall Research Center at Pineland and The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.

   The Randell Research Center at Pineland is dedicated to a historical, ecological approach that provides valuable long-term information on Florida's changing maritime habitats and the interactions of people with their surroundings.

   A political cartoonist with an eye toward conservation, Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling was instrumental in the effort to block the sale of a parcel of environmentally valuable land to developers on Sanibel Island. At Darling's urging, President Harry S. Truman signed an Executive Order creating the Sanibel National Wildlife Refuge in 1945. Renamed in 1967 in honor of the pioneer conservationist, The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge is part of a larger complex that encompasses the Caloosahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Matlacha Pass National Wildlife Refuge, Pine Island National Wildlife Refuge and Island Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The majority of the lands in these refuges are nesting and roosting islands. The entire complex is approximately 8,000 acres.

History

   The Calusa Indians, who dominated South Florida for more than a millennium, were skilled sailors and fisherman.  Their large canoes of hallowed out cypress logs were capable of reaching Cuba.  They thrived through living in harmony with our Southwest Florida environment.  Pineland on Pine Island contains some of the most extensive Calusa mound sites and canal works. 

   In 1521, Ponce de León, making his last trip to southwest Florida, landed in the vicinity of the Caloosahatchee River or Charlotte Harbor with two ships and some 200 men who were soon attacked by Calusas.  Ponce de León was injured by a poisoned arrow to the shoulder. After this attack, he and the colonists sailed to Havana, Cuba where he soon died of the wound.

   The Calusa Indians fished with nets made from Cabbage Palm fibers.  After the demise of the Calusas from European conquest and the introduction of diseases like smallpox, new settlers became adept at commercial fishing.  Pine Island Sound was peppered with fishing camps and later, ice houses, which eliminated the need to preserve their catch through drying and salting.

   One such ice house was built in 1924 by the Punta Gorda Fish Company at the north shore entrance to Safety Harbor at North Captiva Island.  One story rests on a wooden platform supported by wood pilings. The Ice House is one of few remaining buildings documenting the system of remote, water-based fish industry ice houses.
 

Ice House at Safety Harbor

   The structure was built as an ice house to serve the fishermen and run boats in the loading, unloading and storage of freshly caught fish. The structure is a specialized form designed to function under potentially adverse weather conditions, relative isolation, and the possible requirement to relocate the building to follow the migration of the fish.  Currently owned by a private owner, it was accepted in the National Registry of Historic Places in 1989.

North Captiva

   Originally, North Captiva, Captiva and Sanibel Islands were one island. Captiva was severed from Sanibel by a hurricane's storm surge, North Captiva Island or Upper Captiva in turn severed from Captiva in a 1921 hurricane.

   August 13, 2004, the eastern eyewall of Hurricane Charley struck North Captiva. The storm surge cut a path 400 yards wide across the narrowest part of North Captiva, making it two separate islands. The new pass has not been formally named, but the locals call it "Charley Pass" or "The North Cap Gap."

   North Captiva is privately owned. With about 300 homes built and 300 vacant lots, the island is about half way to build out. The island can be accessed only by boat or small plane.  Golf  carts replace cars for transportation.

   The Island is four and one half miles long and one half mile wide. Of its 700 acres, more than one half is a State of Florida protected Wilderness Park and wild life sanctuary for manatees, loggerhead turtles and over one hundred bird species. The waters around the island are among the most diverse and productive sport fishing grounds available in Florida.

   During the 1960’s about ten homes were constructed on the island and six subdivisions were platted. Three dead end canals were also dredged. By 1975, twenty-five homes had been built and by 1977, fifty.

   Although the homes on the island are afforded the amenities of modern houses, they are nestled in a natural, subtropical environment.  You soon become aware that this is a refuge for birds and wildlife. 

   Beaches, both Gulf and Bay, are rated among the finest white sand beaches in Florida.

   Each of the barrier islands has its own unique atmosphere.  You won't find the tranquility offered by North Captiva anywhere else in Florida.  Here you'll have the opportunity to reunite with nature through an abundance of activities like fishing, swimming, beachcombing, wading, shelling, kayaking, biking, hiking and birding.  

   The island has two restaurants, Mangos (including a small general store) and Barnacle Phils.

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