Turtle Journal

Sue Wieber Nourse Examines Spotted Male Turtle #1

Although today was gray and overcast, Sue Wieber Nourse took the Turtle Journal Turtle Dog (Rufus Retriever) to the abandoned Goldwitz cranberry bog for exercise and to check the spotted turtle mating aggregation for action.  At the bottom of one of the bog channels, Sue discovered mature male Spotted Turtle #1.  He was first captured in late April 2006 on our very first expedition to this abandoned bog with students from her Advanced Marine Science class.  Spotted #1 was the first spotted turtle captured for research on the South Coast of Massachusetts.  He was last seen in April 2010 and that story can be read on Turtle Journal’s Marked Male Spotted Turtle Rediscovered Four Years Later in Mating Aggregation.

Male Spotted Turtle (Clemys guttata) Number #1

Spotted #1 lost his right rear limb below the joint between 2006 and 2010.  Yet, today the remaining limb stump looked healthy and healed.  Spotted #1 shows all the key male identifying characteristics of the species.  He has the drably colored chin and neck, the concavity in the center posterior of his plastron, and the thick, long male tail with anal opening far beyond the edge of the carapace. 

Large Leech Attacking Spotted Turtle #1

A little worrisome is that Spotted #1 has lost five grams of weight since April 2010.  Some of that lost mass may have been caused by the large leech that Sue discovered embedded to his neck.  She obviously removed the leech after quickly documenting its presence.  No apologies for interference.  We’re saving the world one turtle at a time.  Leeches will have to find their own champion.

Adorable Terrapin Couple:  Male Smaller

With a slight break in overcast weather, Sue Wieber Nourse of Turtle Journal ventured to Chipman’s Cove in Wellfleet Bay for the mid-day high tide.  Chipman’s Cove serves as the location of the major diamondback terrapin mating aggregation in the Wellfleet Bay system.  Turtles from throughout the various Wellfleet estuaries paddle to the cove to meet and to court and to mate as water temperatures warm each spring.  The peak of the aggregation usually comes in the third and fourth weeks of May.  It begins to build once terrapins have emerged from winter brumation and have gained enough internal body heat to begin foraging and to contemplate social engagements.

Female Diamondback Terrapin #915

Sue spotted a small number of mating pairs in the cove as the high tide flooded in.  She netted nine turtles, including three courting pairs.   Five of the terrapins were adult females and four were males.  Two of nine were recaptures and seven were seen for the first time today.  One of the recaptures, pictured above, was Female Terrapin #915.  She had first been captured by Jim Quigley on a nesting run near the Blasch cottage on Griffin Island in June 2000.  She was next seen in the Chipman’s Cove mating aggregation in 2002, but she had sustained a crack in her plastron’s femoral scute which was healing.  She was observed once more in the 2004 mating aggregation in the cove before today’s capture.

Female Terrapin #90 (August 2002)

Sue’s other recapture was an old, old friend: Female Terrapin #90.  This lady was originally captured in Chipman’s Cove 22 years ago in June 1989 when she was already a large mature turtle.  In 2002, Don Lewis found her back in Chipman’s Cove in late August, and she had sustained a gouge in the left edge of her carapace (see photo).  Don found her nesting on Indian Neck two years later … the last time she was seen before today.

Female Terrapin #90 (May 2011)

With today’s capture in the Chipman’s Cove mating aggregation, #90 shows a second deep gouge on the right side of her carapace.  She also sports two lovely oyster spats on either side of her rear carapace.  One of the joys of our 32 year longitudinal study of terrapins in Wellfleet Bay is that each recapture hints at an epic story of survival about these magnificent creatures.  Many cracks and chips and gouges come from encounters with vehicles as female terrapins proceed upland each June and July to nest.  A smaller portion come from boat strikes.

Female Terrapin 7086 — Why Is This Girl Smiling?

Yes, SPRINGTIME is finally here for the resident diamondback terrapins of Outer Cape Cod.  On Tuesday, Turtle Journal’s Sue Wieber Nourse ventured to the Fresh Brook Run in South Wellfleet wedged between Lieutenant Island to the north and Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary to the south.  Temperatures finally had risen from the mid 40s to the low 60s with the threat of spring thunderstorms.  As Sue waded into the still chilly waters, she was greeted by pairs of smiling terrapins who were much too occupied with each other to realize a turtle researcher had approached with a large collection net.

 Male Terrapin 9867 — Why is This Boy Smiling?

To slightly amend Alfred Lord Tennyson’s oft-quoted sentiment, “In the Spring a young turtle’s fancy turns to thoughts of love.”  And turtle fancies were turned in a big way on Tuesday afternoon in Fresh Brook Run.  Sue’s first capture was an unmarked mature female terrapin (now #7086) who had been cavorting with previously marked male terrapin #9867, a 10-year-old friend whom we had first seen in the Run in July 2007.

Mating Pair of Diamondback Terrapins

 Male 9270 on the Left; Female 7087 on the Right

Marking a great start to the new research season, Sue captured four pairs of mature diamondback terrapins in the low tide drained Run.  Of the four females, one was a recapture:  terrapin #9268, a 14-year-old female whom we had first netted in May 2009.  The others were first timers who had managed to escape our researchers for the last decade.  Of the four males, we had previously seen three in the Run, and one was a first time capture.  The adorable couple imaged above clearly illustrate “gender dimorphism” in diamondback terrapins.  That’s a fancy way of saying that females are bigger than males, a lot bigger.  In maturity, females are four times the mass and twice the length of males.

Male Terrapin 9083 Plastron

Besides overall body size (dimorphism), we say there are three ways to distinguish males from females.  Male terrapin 9083 demonstrates these characteristics.  I ask that anyone too sensitive to hear unexpurgated truths skip to the video below. 

First, females must have a robust shape to accommodate eggs equal to more than 10% of their body mass.  So, we say that females have depth and males are shallow. 

Secondly, females have distinctly larger heads, while male crania are very small, indeed.  There is some casual talk about whether this cranial difference relates to the challenging role females play, or whether females are just smarter than males.  Some say females need more brainpower to negotiate their way over long distances back to their natal birth site, to confront upland predators along the way, and to locate, shape and disguise viable nests.  Males, on the other hand, have a simpler life; they forage, they bask, they mate.

Finally, female terrapins have very small and thin tails that they tuck in closely to their bodies.  Males, on the other hand, have large, thick tails that are always prominently displayed.  Some less scientific individuals might be tempted to say that males simply have excessive libidos, but you won’t hear that from us.

Terrapins “Going Wild” in Wellfleet Bay

After the brief interlude with Sue, in which they were examined, measured, weighed and marked, these terrapins were released back into the Fresh Brook Run as it rapidly flooded with the incoming tide.  Perhaps it is only the eccentric turtler and inveterate poet in me, but I detect a certain skip in their step as these turtles waddle back into the tidal flats of South Wellfleet to resume what comes naturally to diamondback terrapins in springtime.

Unmarked Mature Female Diamondback Terrapin

Sue Wieber Nourse emailed this snapshot of the first active Cape Cod diamondback terrapin of 2011 that she captured this afternoon in the Run.  The Run is the inlet between Lieutenant Island on the north and the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on the south.  This female terrapin, which Sue captured with a long poled net while wading in the receding tide, was unmarked and therefore had not been previously seen in our 32 year longitudinal study of diamondback terrapins in Wellfleet Bay on Outer Cape Cod.