{"id":2279,"date":"2009-02-21T11:13:27","date_gmt":"2009-02-21T16:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=2279"},"modified":"2010-01-16T12:56:28","modified_gmt":"2010-01-16T17:56:28","slug":"frozen-diamondback-terrapin-rescued-from-near-certain-death-in-wellfleet-harbor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=2279","title":{"rendered":"Frozen Diamondback Terrapin Rescued from Near Certain Death in Wellfleet Harbor"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Rescued Female Diamondback Terrapin #2102<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tragedy turned into dramatic rescue for a threatened diamondback terrapin yesterday, February 20th, on the Outer Cape.\u00c2\u00a0 Applause goes to a very conscientious Wellfleet shellfisherman who made all the right moves to ensure the animal’s survival and to an extremely responsive Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary<\/a> that kicked into action when the call came.\u00c2\u00a0 In combination, they saved the life of a mature female terrapin from near certain death in the still frigid conditions\u00c2\u00a0of Wellfleet Harbor.\u00c2\u00a0 As a bonus, this turtle was an old friend whose rescue\u00c2\u00a0added significant scientific detail to our three decade longitudinal study of terrapin populations\u00c2\u00a0on Cape Cod.<\/p>\n

The call reached Mass Audubon<\/a>‘s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary around 4 o’clock.\u00c2\u00a0 Clint Austin, a Wellfleet shellfisherman, had been harvesting in low-tide drained Chipman’s Cove\u00c2\u00a0off Wellfleet Harbor.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Emptied of water, the\u00c2\u00a0winter bottom of the cove consists of “black mayonnaise,” an oozy mixture that more than justifies its name, atop a thick, frozen\u00c2\u00a0substrate that has been under ice for more than a month.\u00c2\u00a0 In the summer, it’s hard to find any bottom under the black ooze that\u00c2\u00a0mimics\u00c2\u00a0the sucking\u00c2\u00a0quicksand scenes\u00c2\u00a0from\u00c2\u00a0every Saturday matinee Tarzan adventure.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2102-chipmans-cove-003-fix-840\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Terrapin Under Thin Layer of “Black Mayonnaise”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Terrapins brumate (the reptilian equivalent of hibernating) in Chipman’s Cove, as well as other estuaries throughout Wellfleet Bay.\u00c2\u00a0 As winter\u00c2\u00a0lengthens and the ground freezes, they squirm deeper and deeper into the insulating ooze to avoid freezing.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately, the 15-foot tidal range between lowest low and highest high tide leaves these estuaries and coves exposed and vulnerable to storms and the scraping of icebergs that\u00c2\u00a0drag through the black mayonnaise like ploughs.\u00c2\u00a0 And there’s always the unlucky terrapin that chooses just the wrong spot.\u00c2\u00a0 So,\u00c2\u00a0in February’s thaw\u00c2\u00a0as the ice sheet begins to melt, a few terrapins become unearthed from their hibernacula by these forces and succumb to freezing temperatures.<\/p>\n

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Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Frozen Female Terrapin\u00c2\u00a0Rescued from\u00c2\u00a0Chipman’s Cove<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fortunately, Wellfleet shellfishermen go out to harvest during these breaks in the ice and many keep\u00c2\u00a0a sharp\u00c2\u00a0lookout for the\u00c2\u00a0harbor’s signature reptile as they gather clams and oysters.\u00c2\u00a0 Clint did more than maintain a sharp lookout.\u00c2\u00a0 He found the terrapin just beneath the surface in the oozy middle of Chipman’s Cove.\u00c2\u00a0 Clint had the foresight to mark the spot with a thin white tube before he called into the Sanctuary with the report of his discovery.\u00c2\u00a0 Without that marking, the chance of finding this vulnerable turtle again would have been nil.\u00c2\u00a0 To the contrary, following his directions and locating the marker, we discoverd Terrapin #2102 under a fine layer of black mayonnaise with just her bright rear marginals showing.<\/p>\n

\"rescue-of-cold-stunned-terrapin-2102_0001\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ice-Cold Female Terrapin Unearthed from Brumation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong>How cold was she?\u00c2\u00a0 This turtle was so cold to the touch that my fingers nearly froze through my gloves as I carried her back to the car.\u00c2\u00a0 We instantly recognized her markings and remembered her from her nesting run on Lieutenant Island’s 5th Avenue this last summer.<\/p>\n

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Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Cold-Stunned Terrapin Returning to Life in Rehab<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Back at Turtle Journal Central, the process of gradually returning Terrapin #2102 to life began.\u00c2\u00a0 We slowly raised her body temperature through the night, as we began to clean off layers of frozen ooze.\u00c2\u00a0 When she started to act normally, we took weights and measurements to compare with her last observations on June 22nd, 2008.\u00c2\u00a0 Clearly, she had enjoyed a very good summer because she had gained 90 grams and added about .25 centimeter to all her linear dimensions in just a few short months.<\/p>\n

\"2102-map-840\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Terrapin #2102\u00c2\u00a04.5 Mile Trek\u00c2\u00a0from Brumation to Nesting Site<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Interesting from the standpoint of terrapin movement within Wellfleet Bay was a comparison of her brumation site with her nesting location.\u00c2\u00a0 While Terrapin #2102 brumates in Chipman’s Cove to the north\u00c2\u00a0in the winter and had been observed previously in the Chipman’s Cove mating aggregation in the spring, she nests on the south side of Lieutenant Island, a trek of 4.5 miles one way.\u00c2\u00a0 Observations of terrapins that deposit two clutches annually in Wellfleet Harbor show that they return to their mating aggregation between nests.\u00c2\u00a0 For Terrapin #2102 that would involve 18 miles each year for the two 9-mile roundtrips.\u00c2\u00a0 Not bad for a non-migratory species!<\/p>\n

Cheers to Clint Austin!\u00c2\u00a0 Cheers to Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary!\u00c2\u00a0 And good luck to Terrapin #2102.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rescued Female Diamondback Terrapin #2102 Tragedy turned into dramatic rescue for a threatened diamondback terrapin yesterday, February 20th, on the Outer Cape.\u00c2\u00a0 Applause goes to a very conscientious Wellfleet shellfisherman who made all the right moves to ensure the animal’s survival and to an extremely responsive Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary that kicked into action when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","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\/2279"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2279"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2294,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2279\/revisions\/2294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}