Female Diamondback Terrapin #2102
Hurray! The Turtle Journal team released terrapin #2102, a cold-stunned female discovered in Chipman’s Cove in late February by shellfisherman Clint Austin. After two months of rehabilitation at Turtle Journal Central, she appeared eager to resume her place in the wild. So, on Saturday the 18th, we brought #2102 to the Outer Cape and reintroduced her to Chipman’s Cove, a decidedly more welcoming place than when we found her as a winter ice cube. See Frozen Diamondback Terrapin Rescued from Near Certain Death in Wellfleet Harbor.
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Meet Female Terrapin #2102 Up Close and Personal
We measured #2102 at 18.45 centimeters straight-line carapace length and weighed her at 1035 grams before her release. As we completed her final examiniation, Terrapin #2102 inspected us with the same intensity with which we looked over her. We swear she winked at us to let us know she appreciated the long, hard rehabilitative process. How’s that for anthropomorphism!
Terrapin #2102 Impatiently Awaiting Release
As we walked from the parking lot to Chipman’s Cove, she reacted with intense scratching at the sides of her bucket. Her terrapin home was within reach! We waited for a few minutes while shellfishermen finished their low tide harvest in the cove. As you can tell from the photograph above, #2102 proved just a bit impatient to get “on with it.”  And so we did.
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Release of Rehabbed Terrapin into Chipman’s Cove
The tide began to flood the cove’s tidal flats that had baked in the sun since mid-morning. Terrapin #2102 began crawling slowly towards the waterline over beds of ribbed mussels, oyster shells and mud snails. Her pace grew steady, and typical of terrapins returning to the bay, she thrust her head into the wavelets and marched into the shimmering cove. A few feet from shore, she stretched her legs, kicked off and swiftly swam into the deeper channel.Â
So long, #2102. With any luck, we should see her again in mid-May during the mating aggregation that occurs in Chipman’s Cove before nesting season begins in June.