{"id":12567,"date":"2013-04-09T22:39:05","date_gmt":"2013-04-10T03:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=12567"},"modified":"2013-04-10T08:09:03","modified_gmt":"2013-04-10T13:09:03","slug":"first-terrapin-of-2013-research-season-is-legendary-turtle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=12567","title":{"rendered":"First Terrapin of 2013 Research Season Is Legendary Turtle"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Legendary Terrapin #265 First Capture of 2013 Season<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A warm front moved through New England bringing thunderstorms overnight and morning showers, followed by bright sunshine and temperatures jumping into the 60s.\u00c2\u00a0 With high expectations, the Turtle Journal team scouted Head of (Sippican) Harbor in Marion for the first sign of diamondback terrapin activity.\u00c2\u00a0 Sue Wieber Nourse spotted a large female head snorkeling near some rocks and decided the time was\u00c2\u00a0ripe to capture the first terrapin of the 2013 research season.<\/p>\n

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

Sue Wieber Nourse\u00c2\u00a0Nets Legendary Terrapin #265<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

We drove back to Turtle Journal Headquarters, loaded the kayak and\u00c2\u00a0hauled it\u00c2\u00a0to the town landing to launch.\u00c2\u00a0 Since she saw the first active terrapin, Sue had the privilege of first capture.\u00c2\u00a0 She paddled the half mile to Head of Harbor into a stiff northerly breeze, yet despite challenging conditions, Sue quickly and smootly\u00c2\u00a0netted legendary Terrapin #265, a beautiful and distinctive female terrapin that we have been tracking since May 2005.\u00c2\u00a0 She is immediately recognizable because unlike other terrapins she sports no markings on her skin.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Legendary Terrapin #265 Nesting at Holly Lane Beach<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Over the last eight years, Terrapin #265 has taught us many lessons about how this threatened species uses the fragile salt marsh, coastal and abutting upland habitats of Sippican Harbor and Buzzards Bay.\u00c2\u00a0 Last July, she became the first identified terrapin to nest at a newly discovered nesting beach in Sippican Harbor.\u00c2\u00a0 Since we first observed her in 2005, she has grown 1.5 centimeters in length and width, and she has gained nearly 300 grams in weight.\u00c2\u00a0 You can\u00c2\u00a0read more about the history of this famous Sippican terrapin at Tracking Elusive Terrapin Yields Important Discovery<\/a>, July 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Release of Legendary Terrapin #265 into Sippican Harbor<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

After examining, measuring and weighing Terrapin #265 and documenting her changes since last July, we released her back into Sippican Harbor.\u00c2\u00a0 In the next few weeks she will welcome other terrapins as they emerge from winter brumation.\u00c2\u00a0 As water temperatures rise, she will begin foraging to restore weight lost over winter, and in mid-May she will join the mating aggregation in Head of Harbor.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

Legendary Female Diamondback Terrapin #265<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We will be watching for Terrapin #265’s return to the Holly Lane Beach nesting site in early June and again in early July to deposit her two annual\u00c2\u00a0clutches of eggs.\u00c2\u00a0 As healthy as she appeared today, we have great hope to follow her exploits in Sippican Harbor for many, many more years.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0At an Outer Cape\u00c2\u00a0research site, we have followed one mature female terrapin\u00c2\u00a0for\u00c2\u00a0more than three decades\u00c2\u00a0since she was first tagged in June 1980.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Legendary Terrapin #265 First Capture of 2013 Season A warm front moved through New England bringing thunderstorms overnight and morning showers, followed by bright sunshine and temperatures jumping into the 60s.\u00c2\u00a0 With high expectations, the Turtle Journal team scouted Head of (Sippican) Harbor in Marion for the first sign of diamondback terrapin activity.\u00c2\u00a0 Sue Wieber […]<\/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\/12567"}],"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=12567"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12599,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12567\/revisions\/12599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}