Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Sanibel, FL

Sanibel is a city in Lee County that covers all of Sanibel Island, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico within the Cape Coral–Fort Myers metropolitan area.

The island's name derives from 'Santa Isybella,' a name attributed to Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León in 1513.

The Sanibel Lighthouse was built in 1884 at the island's eastern end and still stands today.

Unlike most Gulf barrier islands, Sanibel runs roughly east to west — about 12 miles long and 3 miles wide — an orientation that acts like a scoop for shells washing in from the Gulf and has made its beaches world-famous for shelling.

Sanibel was incorporated on November 5, 1974, after 64% of island voters chose cityhood specifically to control development, following the opening of the Sanibel Causeway in May 1963, which replaced the ferry and triggered a building boom.

The Sanibel Comprehensive Land Use Plan, adopted in 1974, still strictly limits development: the city bans billboards and chain restaurants — with only two pre-ban exceptions — and caps building heights.

The J.N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge protects about 6,400 acres, roughly two-thirds of the island, and traces its roots to a 1945 refuge championed by cartoonist and conservationist Jay Norwood 'Ding' Darling.

More than half of Sanibel and neighboring Captiva Island is preserved as wildlife refuges and conservation land.

The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel is the only museum in the United States devoted entirely to shells and mollusks.

Sanibel counted 6,382 residents at the 2020 census, down slightly from 6,469 in 2010, in about 3,170 households, with nearly 90% of its homes owner-occupied.