{"id":16373,"date":"2015-06-08T11:55:15","date_gmt":"2015-06-08T16:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=16373"},"modified":"2015-06-08T13:17:52","modified_gmt":"2015-06-08T18:17:52","slug":"first-over-wintered-terrapin-hatchling-emerges-tabors-schaefer-lab-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=16373","title":{"rendered":"First Over-Wintered Terrapin Hatchling Emerges @ Tabor’s Schaefer Lab Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sue Wieber Nourse Rescues Exhausted Over-Wintered Hatchling\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

While checking for threatened diamondback terrapin nesting at Tabor Academy’s Old Schaefer Lab beach this morning, Turtle Journal’s Sue Wieber Nourse discovered an over-wintered terrapin hatchling meandering in the sand.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Emerged Over-Wintered Terrapin Hatchling Meanders<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The Schaefer Lab beach is a documented terrapin nesting site, and hosts the most critical nursery salt marsh habitat for infants and juveniles in the Inner Sippican Harbor. \u00c2\u00a0(See Rare Turtle Nests at Tabor’s Schaefer Lab<\/a> and Two Rare Terrapin Nests Hatch @ Old Schaefer Oceanology Lab<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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Inaugural Recipient of Jaeger Chair in Marine Studies<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Prior to founding Turtle Journal and becoming CEO of Cape Cod Consultants, Sue Wieber Nourse was honored as the inaugural recipient of the endowed Jaeger Chair in Marine Studies at Tabor Academy. \u00c2\u00a0Sue and her advanced marine science students engaged in highly lauded and original scientific research, funded by a prestigious National Fish & Wildlife Foundation grant, that confirmed the existence of threatened diamondback terrapins in Marion and documented previously unknown nesting sites for these rare turtles. \u00c2\u00a0Once on the brink of extirpation, their continued survival stems from this successful conservation initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sue Rescues Exhausted and Dehydrated Hatchling<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This little baby hatched early last fall and opted to remain buried upland rather than venturing into the great wild world. \u00c2\u00a0Given the brutal winter Massachusetts suffered, the hatchling may have chosen wisely. \u00c2\u00a0This morning, though, the terrapin baby exhausted itself trying to reach the marsh through concrete obstacles exposed on this sand starved beach. \u00c2\u00a0She had collapsed dehydrated and weak when Sue rescued her. \u00c2\u00a0The hatchling is recovering at Turtle Journal headquarters, receiving appropriate TLC before being returned to the wild.<\/p>\n

TERRAPIN NESTING CONTINUES<\/span><\/h2>\n

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Diamondback Terrapin Nesting Run Tracks and Completed Nest<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

With Sue checking Schaefer, East Marion and Wareham nesting beaches, Don Lewis patrolled other SouthCoast nesting sites. \u00c2\u00a0At one Aucoot Cove site, Don found a half dozen diamondback terrapin nesting tracks from the nighttime high tide. \u00c2\u00a0He discovered the clear sign of two completed nests within inches of each other.<\/p>\n

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Eleven Large, Pink, Freshly Laid Eggs<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This first nest contained 11 very large, pink and freshly deposited eggs in a nest chamber four to eight inches under the sand. \u00c2\u00a0Because of their highly vulnerable location, eggs from this site are harvested and relocated in a protected turtle garden. \u00c2\u00a0When hatchlings emerge, they are released back at the site of their natal nest.<\/p>\n

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Another Freshly Complete Diamondback Terrapin Nest<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Within inches of the first nest, Don spotted signs of the second completed nest.<\/p>\n

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Ten Big, Beautiful Pink Eggs Harvested from Second Nest<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This second nest contained ten large, pink and freshly deposited eggs in a nest chamber about three to six inches below the surface.<\/p>\n

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Third Nest Laid on the Overnight High Tide<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A third nest was discovered about ten feet from the first two. \u00c2\u00a0It contained 11 very large and freshly laid eggs in a chamber three to eight inches deep. \u00c2\u00a0In sum, the Turtle Journal team recovered 32 healthy eggs from this site for protecting in our safe turtle garden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sue Wieber Nourse Rescues Exhausted Over-Wintered Hatchling\u00c2\u00a0 While checking for threatened diamondback terrapin nesting at Tabor Academy’s Old Schaefer Lab beach this morning, Turtle Journal’s Sue Wieber Nourse discovered an over-wintered terrapin hatchling meandering in the sand. Emerged Over-Wintered Terrapin Hatchling Meanders The Schaefer Lab beach is a documented terrapin nesting site, and hosts the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[402,827,824,23,826],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16373"}],"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=16373"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16403,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16373\/revisions\/16403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}