“Ding” Darling
Every day is a new adventure at Sanibel’s national wildlife refuge
Aflock of pink roseate spoonbills backdrops a blur of white pelicans feeding on a sandbar off Wildlife Drive. Baby alligators squeak and squirm along Indigo Trail at the Wildlife Education Boardwalk. On a paddle into Tarpon Bay, a mother manatee and her calf nudge your vessel. Wildlife encounters at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island change with the tides, the time of day, and the seasons. Like hitting the “refresh” button, you get a new experience each time you visit.
In addition to the ever-changing fauna landscape, the refuge and the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge (DDWS) make sure your learning and interactive experience provides new enhancements by regularly adding and updating exhibits, programming, and other engaging learning tools.
WHAT’S NEW AT “DING”
The most over-the-top exciting development at the admission-free “Ding” Darling V isitor & Education center debuted in October 2017. The Learning Lavatories (#LearningLav) make using the restroom a true “nature call,” and in 2018, they were voted America’s Best Restroom in a nationwide contest. As you approach
Wildlife encounters at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island change with the tides, the time of day, and the seasons. Like hitting the “refresh” button, you get a new experience each time you visit.
the restrooms alongside of the center’s main exhibit building, you are virtually immersed in an underwater marine scene. You come eye-to-eye with 3-D manatee sculptures, mangrove prop roots, and the myriad fish that flit around them.
Look up! The underbelly of an alligator, a fishing pelican, and duck feet loom overhead, all lifelike 3-D sculptures mounted against an artistic water tableau. Inside the two restrooms, the underwater motif continues with more murals and 3-D sculptures and a photographic mangrove tile wall. Closeup photographic bird portraits wrap each stall door, delivering educational factoids about each species. Other educational messaging about marine species will further #LearningLav’s educational value.
“It has now been confirmed, our belief that we have the coolest restrooms in the U.S.,” said supervisory refuge ranger Toni Westland, who worked closely with DDWS to bring the project to fruition.
In 2018, the refuge also debuted a restoration project at its Bailey Tract freshwater habitat component. In partnership with other conservation organizations, it returned the tract to its historic marshlands for the benefit of a number of birds that live or frequent the habitat, along with river otters, alligators, and the shy, endangered Sanibel Island rice rat.
“Ding” Darling also oversees one shoreline plot of land near Gulfside City Park called Perry Tract. It recently unveiled an interactive kiosk with
recreated seashell specimens and a cutaway of a sea turtle nest, plus shorebird identification aids and other information. The refuge leads Beach Walk tours from the kiosk, part of its seasonal free programs schedule.
PROGRAMS & TOURS
The schedule of free programs runs through the winter and summer seasons, taking visitors to the different parts of the refuge for birding, biking, hiking, and other learning experiences. Some of the programs take place inside the Visitor & Education Center, where you will also find interpretive, hands-on exhibits about manatees, alligators and crocodiles, ducks, and refuge habitat. Coming in 2019, a new exhibit will monitor the refuge’s 2018 solar energy conversion and educate visitors about the power of the sun.
The schedule of free programs runs through the winter and summer seasons, taking visitors to the different parts of the refuge for birding, biking, hiking, and other learning experiences.
Stop in at the Refuge Nature Store, filled with environmentally related and friendly gifts, profits from which directly support the refuge. If you’re visiting in the winter season, check out the schedule of lectures and films.
More tours happen year-round, including the daily (except Friday, when the drive closes to the public) naturalistnarrated tram tours around Wildlife Drive. At the refuge’s Tarpon Bay Recreation Area, Tarpon Bay Explorers (TBE) concession conducts paddling and nature boat tours daily. TBE also rents kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, and boats and has fishing charters available. The most popular tour takes passengers to the rookery islands at sunset to watch flocks of birds swoop in to roost for the night. It’s just one more wonderful wildlife experience that fills each and every day with new adventure.