{"id":10351,"date":"2012-04-15T21:07:45","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T02:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=10351"},"modified":"2012-04-15T21:07:45","modified_gmt":"2012-04-16T02:07:45","slug":"first-captured-diamondback-terrapin-of-2012-lady-with-a-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=10351","title":{"rendered":"First Captured Diamondback Terrapin of 2012 — Lady with a History"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Female Diamondback Terrapin #257 from Sippican Harbor<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A stiff southwesterly breeze warmed temperatures on the SouthCoast of Massachusetts to the low sixties for a couple of hours around noon today, April 15th.\u00c2\u00a0 While Don Lewis took advantage of this fair\u00c2\u00a0weather window to get in a long\u00c2\u00a0training run, Turtle Journal’s Sue Wieber Nourse more conscientiously checked the draining basin at the head of Sippican Harbor for signs of active diamondback terrapins.\u00c2\u00a0 She spotted a few turtle heads snorkeling for air in the murky, choppy\u00c2\u00a0water.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Female Terrapin Snorkeling Buzzards Bay Estuary<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Turtles detest cold, clouds and wind; so, not a single terrapin had climbed up on harbor rocks to bask. Winds were too strong; clouds too frequent; apparent temperature too chilly.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead,\u00c2\u00a0the few terrapins that had already emerged from winter brumation paddled in the gray opaqueness, only visible when they\u00c2\u00a0were forced to\u00c2\u00a0surface for a moment to gulp a breath of air.\u00c2\u00a0 Nevertheless, at least some terrapins were active and it was time for Turtle Journal to\u00c2\u00a0kick off\u00c2\u00a0the annual research season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Don Lewis Kayaking for Terrapins<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The weather was closing\u00c2\u00a0fast and the tide, augmented by\u00c2\u00a0a\u00c2\u00a0strong southwest\u00c2\u00a0breeze,\u00c2\u00a0was filling the basin.\u00c2\u00a0 For any chance of a capture, Turtle Journal would need to move quickly.\u00c2\u00a0 Back from his run, Don loaded the kayak into the Element, collected his trusty long-pole collection net, and launched from Town Landing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Don Lewis Examines Netted Terrapin #257<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Don cruised the shallows of the basin, hoping to detect\u00c2\u00a0the muddy wake of a terrapin crusing the bottom.\u00c2\u00a0 It was the only reasonable chance\u00c2\u00a0for a capture.\u00c2\u00a0 He detected an object moving with the tide and wind, cutting diagonally under the kayak and coming out near the stern.\u00c2\u00a0 With the long pole net, it would have been impossible to snag the critter at such close quarters.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead, Don waited patiently for the turtle to get almost eight feet to starboard, then swept his net in front of the terrapin, letting her momentum\u00c2\u00a0glide her into the netting.<\/p>\n

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Eight Years of Capture History for Female Terrapin #257<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

She proved to be Terrapin #257, first captured in head of harbor on 7 July 2004 when she was a mere prepubescent lass\u00c2\u00a0of 5 years old.\u00c2\u00a0 She measured 11.5 centimeters long and weighed only 255 grams.\u00c2\u00a0 A year later on 5 July 2005, she had grown to 13.0 centimeters and 368 grams.\u00c2\u00a0 By September 2006, #257 had reached 15.4 centimeters and 542 grams, and on August 14th, 2007, she measured 16.7 centimeters long and 710 grams.\u00c2\u00a0 Today, Terrapins #257 has stretched to 18.6 centimeters and 1013 grams, now clearly a fully mature female.\u00c2\u00a0 The pictures above provide snapshots of her plastron in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2012.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sue Wieber Nourse Introduces\u00c2\u00a0#257 to Rufus<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Terrapn #257 has given us great data on the growth of a Sippican female from youth through pubescence to adulthood.\u00c2\u00a0 After collecting her morphometric information and checking her long history, we introduced the first terrapin of 2012 to Rufus the Golden Turtle Dog.\u00c2\u00a0 Eyeball to eyeball, they decided to respect each other’s space.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Female Terrapin #257 Returns to Sippican Harbor<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The weather slammed shut shortly after the capture of #257.\u00c2\u00a0 By the time we released her back into the harbor, the sky was fully overcast and temperatures had dipped back into the mid-50s.\u00c2\u00a0 Still, for Terrapin #257, it was a welcomed homecoming as she swiftly disappeared into the invisible grayness\u00c2\u00a0of Sippican’s opaque waters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Female Diamondback Terrapin #257 from Sippican Harbor A stiff southwesterly breeze warmed temperatures on the SouthCoast of Massachusetts to the low sixties for a couple of hours around noon today, April 15th.\u00c2\u00a0 While Don Lewis took advantage of this fair\u00c2\u00a0weather window to get in a long\u00c2\u00a0training run, Turtle Journal’s Sue Wieber Nourse more conscientiously checked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10351"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10404,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10351\/revisions\/10404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}