Turtle Journal

Female Terrapin One Year After Near Fatal Injury

On July 18th, 2009 young female terrapin #2728 nearly lost her life.  She came ashore on Lieutenant Island in Wellfleet Bay to return to her natal site to deposit the next generation of threatened diamondback terrapins.  Instead, she was run over, her shell was broken and crushed.  Rather than giving up the quest, she crawled bleeding and dehydrated to the end of Marsh Road and spent the night digging through a compacted gravel driveway to lay her eggs.

Female Terrapin Immediately After Near Fatal Injury

Her epic struggle became a page one story on several Cape Cod newspapers and was documented on Turtle Journal under the posting: Turtle Bests Odds to Win Epic Struggle to Save Offspring.  After assessing her injuries and cleansing her wounds, Turtle Journal’s Don Lewis decided that her best chance of survival was an immediate return to the healthy terrapin habitat surrounding Lieutenant Island.  (You can see her release in a video clip in the July 2009 posting or click here.)  That decision was not universally applauded by others who thought she should have been admitted for long-term medical care and rehabilitation, instead.

Compare Healed Right Side Carapace Today

Fortunately, this afternoon Sue Wieber Nourse of Turtle Journal recaptured Terrapin #2728 in Loagy Bay on the east side of Lieutenant Island.  Her healing and recovery over the last 12 months has been nothing short of miraculous.  Her length increased by only 1.5 millimeters … a mere 1% growth, BUT her weight jumped from 724 grams after her accident and depositing eggs in July 2009 to 925 grams today (nearly 30% improvement).   Her behavior was normal and healthy; her broken shell had sealed and healed.  In the series of before and after images that follow, you can examine the extent of her recovery in almost exactly one year, nearly 7 months of which was spent in deep brumation under the oozy bottom of Wellfleet Harbor.

Left Bridge July 2009

Left Bridge July 2010

Right Bridge July 2009

Right Bridge July 2010

 

Right Bridge July 2009

Right Bridge July 2010

 

 Right Bridge July 2009

Right Bridge July 2010 

Perfect Ending

Tiny Fingertip-Sized Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling

The final activity for the 2010 Turtles of Cape Cod Field School focused on nesting patrols of Lieutenant Island and Indian Neck in South Wellfleet.  Eager participants, despite three days of intense physical activity interspersed with lectures from first light to late in the evening each day, patrolled nesting sites in search of terrapin tracks, female terrapins and nests to protect from predators.  What they found on this final activity of the field school was a real gem: a quarter ounce, one inch long terrapin hatchling that barely covered my fingertip.

Field Schoolers Examine and Document Tiny Hatchling

This hatchling had been born last fall and immediately burrowed into the uplands to snooze through the long, harsh Cape Cod winter and live on the generous yolk sac that mom had given her.  Once late spring and early summer temperatures had heated her winter hibernaculum, she tunneled to the sunlight and began wandering in the random way that terrapins do in search of nursery habitat in the thick salt marsh grasses.

Picture Perfect Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling

Unfortunately, not every hatchling actually finds refuge in nursery habitat.  This little critter had been crawling around parched sandy dunes for perhaps a month or more.  She was dehydrated and had used up her nutrient stores.  Worse still, she had stumbled into the edge of unprotected Cape Cod Bay where she would have quickly been gobbled up by any one of myriad predators.  Luckily for this precious bundle, she was discovered just as she hit the waves and was rescued.

Field Schoolers Learn about Terrapin Hatchlings

The rescued hatchling spent a couple of days rehydrating in warm fresh water and has been released back near her natal nesting site in the thick nursery salt marsh grasses of Herring River at the northernmost habitat for diamondback terrapins in the world.

All’s Well That Ends Well

What better ending could there be for the Turtles of Cape Cod Field School than rescuing one of these threatened turtles from sure death?  For leaders and participants alike, this tiny critter placed an exclamation point on a highly successful field school adventure that had produced great scientific data for both diamondback terrapins and Eastern box turtles, arguably the most successful field school in our ten year history.

Thank you one and all!

Fun in the Run

Female Diamondback Terrapin Netted in the Run

The third morning of field school begins with a search for diamondback terrapins in the Run … the estuary  between Lieutenant Island to the north and the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary to the south.  When low tide drains the estuary, terrapins are forced to flow with the tide into Wellfleet Bay.  As the tide turns, turtles begin to head back into the shallow estuary, affording an opportunity for researchers to net them in relatively clear water.

Low Tide Drained Tidal Flats in the Run

Participants gathered on the low tide drained tidal flats for last minute instructions.  Sue Wieber Nourse led the water search for turtles while Don Lewis and Barbara Brennessel set up a processing and documenting station on the flats.

Out in the Run to Net Diamondback Terrapins

 

Nets at the Ready, The Game’s A-Foot!

Matt (Left) Nets a Male; John Snags a Female

Blown Away by Her Perfect Male Catch

Takes a Big Net to Catch a Small, Fast Turtle

Meet Your Local Reptiles

Bob Prescott Admires This “Golden” Male Terrapin

Turtle Journal Catches the Action

Janet and Male Terrapin Go “Eye-to-Eye”

 

Ann Examines Female Terrapin While Male Gets Photoed

 

Recaptured Headstart Female Creates Sensation

John Snaps a Male Terrapin in Motion

Lunch Break

Terrapin: Algonquin Word for “Edible Turtle”