{"id":11240,"date":"2012-06-17T17:58:28","date_gmt":"2012-06-17T22:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=11240"},"modified":"2012-06-17T17:58:28","modified_gmt":"2012-06-17T22:58:28","slug":"fathers-day-terrapins-reveal-sippican-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=11240","title":{"rendered":"Father’s Day Terrapins Reveal Sippican Secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Lucky Terrapin 777 Survived Massive Trauma<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Patience!\u00c2\u00a0 When you take on turtle research, you intuitively expect that patience will be an important virtue to master.\u00c2\u00a0 When you conduct a longitudinal study of turtles, with the emphasis on “LONG” in longitudinal, the virtue of patience becomes the cornerstone of success.\u00c2\u00a0 So Turtle Journal has learned and relearned through the years … and decades.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, every so often comes a particular turtle and a special\u00c2\u00a0discovery that\u00c2\u00a0drive home the critical importance of observing activities and maintaining meticulous records over long periods to uncover the secret lives of diamondback terrapins.<\/p>\n

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Terrapin #777 Nesting on West Shore of Outer Sippican Harbor<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In correspondence earlier this week, we had restated our most important goal of discovering where turtles from the Sippican Harbor mating aggregation nest.\u00c2\u00a0 We have been following females in this aggregation since 2003; yet, we have been unsuccessful so far in verifying their nesting sites by finding a marked turtle from the aggregation on a nesting beach.\u00c2\u00a0 This Father’s Day morning, Don serendipitously diverted his Sunday run\u00c2\u00a0 to inspect some scattered beaches on the west shore of Outer Sippican Harbor for signs of nesting activity.\u00c2\u00a0 The tide was all wrong, so finding a nesting terrapin was out of the question.\u00c2\u00a0 Except there she was!\u00c2\u00a0 Tucked away in a quiet spot, mostly camouflaged,\u00c2\u00a0lay Terrapin #777 atop her nest.<\/p>\n

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Massive Shell Injury on Terrapin #777<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This lucky lady had sustained massive shell trauma early in her life.\u00c2\u00a0 Turtle Journal had captured her in the Sippican Harbor mating aggregation on June 25th, 2005.\u00c2\u00a0 Her carapace had sustained significant injury; marginal scutes across the entire front were missing, as well as in the rear, making her very vulnerable.\u00c2\u00a0 We marked her “777” largely because those scutes were still present, but also to signify her good fortune to have survived.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, we have been equally blessed by #777, as she is the very first turtle from the Sippican\u00c2\u00a0mating aggregation to have been found on a nesting beach.\u00c2\u00a0 And it only took a decade of observations during our SouthCoast longitudinal study to discover.\u00c2\u00a0 Patience!<\/p>\n

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Tabor Academy Schaefer Lab Terrapin Tracks<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Also serendipitously during today’s run, Don discovered nesting activity at Tenbrook Beach off Tabor Academy’s Schaefer Lab.\u00c2\u00a0 This area had been one of the first nesting sites discovered\u00c2\u00a0on the SouthCoast\u00c2\u00a0by Sue Wieber Nourse when she and her students had confirmed the presence of terrapins in this estuary back in 2003.\u00c2\u00a0 As holder of the Jaeger Chair in Marine Studies, Sue had her students document terrapin nesting at the Schaefer Lab\u00c2\u00a0site with the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately, after Sue left Tabor Academy, the nesting\u00c2\u00a0beach\u00c2\u00a0was converted\u00c2\u00a0to a kayak storage area, blocking access for these threatened critters to their natal nesting site.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Reading the tracks this morning, Don noted the turtle had tried several unviable scrapes around the kayaks and then had returned to the harbor without depositing\u00c2\u00a0their eggs.<\/p>\n

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Freshly Laid Diamondback Terrapin Nest<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Finding nests is another turtle secret\u00c2\u00a0that Don oft ascribes to “divination.”\u00c2\u00a0 Reading tracks is a fundamental skill gained through patience and practice\u00c2\u00a0during a decades long longitudinal study.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The photograph above is “as good as it gets” for identifying a terrapin nest.\u00c2\u00a0 Fortunately, we had come across this section of barrier beach shortly after the turtle had concluded her nesting run.\u00c2\u00a0 As all terrapins do, she covered it over and disguised the shaft and egg chamber.\u00c2\u00a0 The last step for the turtle is to tap down the sand atop the nest, and then crawl away without leaving any detectable foot prints.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately for turtles, as they dig and cover the nest,\u00c2\u00a0they\u00c2\u00a0blend top sand with bottom, and moisture\u00c2\u00a0darkens the color of the surface for a few minutes until bay breezes dry the mixture into a common, undistinguishable\u00c2\u00a0hue and pattern.\u00c2\u00a0 Through patience and long pracitce, it becomes easier for a reasearcher\u00c2\u00a0to “read” surface markings like a legendary tracker of old.\u00c2\u00a0 Or as Don might say, a researcher learns the dark art of divination.<\/p>\n

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Top Layer of Freshly Laid Terrapin Eggs Exposed<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Brushing the topsoil with the side of his hand and then probing gently with his fingertips, Don found the “sweet spot,” the shaft that leads to the broader egg chamber.\u00c2\u00a0 The sweet spot\u00c2\u00a0is called\u00c2\u00a0sweet because even though it has been refilled with sand, the shaft feels softer than the surrounding soil.\u00c2\u00a0 Bright pink eggs, still slightly soft to the touch, indicate an extremely fresh nest.<\/p>\n

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Don Lewis Excavates Diamondback Terrapin Nest<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Like excavating a delicate archeological site, Don continues to investigate with his fingertips and removes eggs from the shallow chamber to relocate them to a more viable location.\u00c2\u00a0 This area of barrier beach is regularly patrolled by raccoons, skunks and foxes in search of protein for their young and themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 Nests left to their own are depredated at a rate\u00c2\u00a0greater than\u00c2\u00a090%.<\/p>\n

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Freshly Laid Diamondback Terrapin Eggs<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This particular nest held seven extremely large eggs weighing in the range of\u00c2\u00a010 to 11 grams and measuring between 3.5 and 3.9 centimeters in length.\u00c2\u00a0 In total they weighed 74 grams and should produce very healthy baby hatchlings in another 60 to 75 days of incubation in a safe turtle garden.\u00c2\u00a0 After they hatch, the babies will be brought back to their natal site for release into the abutting nursery salt marsh.<\/p>\n

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Rufus Salutes Terrapin #299 on Completing Her Nest<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Terrapin #299 has recovered from severe trauma to both forelimbs\u00c2\u00a0that \u00c2\u00a0hinders her ability to nest.\u00c2\u00a0 So, we watch her each season with great loving concern to ensure that her offspring get a boost toward survival.\u00c2\u00a0 We’ve been observing #299 since July 2005 when she laid a nest of 16 eggs in an overwash area of the causeway to the barrier beach.\u00c2\u00a0 Those vulnerable eggs were harvested and brought to Tabor Academy’s Schaefer Lab for incubation and study by Sue Wieber Nourse’s advanced marine science class in field studies, an award winning, hands-on science research program now discontinued at the school.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Sue and her students released all 16 babies back in their natal nursery marsh in September 2005.\u00c2\u00a0 This year, Terrapin #299 has been crawling around the barrier beach\u00c2\u00a0at Aucoot Cove since May 31st trying to deposit her first nest of the year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 This morning, she finally completed her nest and Rufus the Turtle Dog saluted #299 for her outstanding work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lucky Terrapin 777 Survived Massive Trauma Patience!\u00c2\u00a0 When you take on turtle research, you intuitively expect that patience will be an important virtue to master.\u00c2\u00a0 When you conduct a longitudinal study of turtles, with the emphasis on “LONG” in longitudinal, the virtue of patience becomes the cornerstone of success.\u00c2\u00a0 So Turtle Journal has learned and […]<\/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\/11240"}],"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=11240"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11310,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11240\/revisions\/11310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}