{"id":5021,"date":"2001-04-23T20:14:24","date_gmt":"2001-04-24T01:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=5021"},"modified":"2010-03-08T20:30:38","modified_gmt":"2010-03-09T01:30:38","slug":"firsts-%e2%80%94-23-april-2001","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=5021","title":{"rendered":"Firsts \u00e2\u20ac\u201d 23 April 2001"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"04-23-1<\/a><\/p>\n

Pre-Dawn Low Tide in Blackfish Creek<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Low tide arrived a little before dawn.\u00c2\u00a0 The first \u00e2\u20ac\u0153workable\u00e2\u20ac\u009d tide of the season.\u00c2\u00a0 Bathed in salmon, Blackfish Creek seemed an impressionist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s canvas as I stumbled bleary eyed to the shoreline and prepared for the morning\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quest.\u00c2\u00a0 Temperatures hung in the low fifties and I could feel the swift, cool bay through my waders as I slogged midway across the channel to reach the rip.<\/p>\n

\"04-23-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The “Rip” Forms as Salt Marshes Drain at Low Tide<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The rip forms as acres of abutting marsh are drained by Wellfleet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 15-foot tidal swing and water gushes through the shrinking \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hose\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of Blackfish Creek.\u00c2\u00a0 At the rip itself, water levels drop to inches when ebb tide approaches and sandbars further constrict the flow.\u00c2\u00a0 Diamondback terrapins, surprised to find their habitat disappeared beneath them, are flushed through the rip with each tidal swing.\u00c2\u00a0 Last evening, I saw the first terrapin of the season paddling through the channel.\u00c2\u00a0 So, this morning might offer the first capture of the year.<\/p>\n

\"04-23-3<\/a><\/p>\n

Mature Female Terrapin #920 Tumbles through the Rip<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Visibility ranged from good to lousy depending on location.\u00c2\u00a0 In the center of the flow, algae and seaweed oozed through the channel as if it were a giant vacuum cleaner sucking out winter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s debris.\u00c2\u00a0 At the edges and in eddies, the water provided enough clarity to see critters flowing by.\u00c2\u00a0 The first big carapace I saw wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a turtle but a large female horseshoe crab that clawed its way onto the rim of the rip and burrowed down.\u00c2\u00a0 Further up channel, I saw four mating pairs of horseshoe crabs, females digging into the soft sand and males hanging on for dear life and flapping wildly in the turbulent current.\u00c2\u00a0 A flounder whooshed by me, and then I caught sight of a mature female (Terrapin 920) zooming out of control, spinning and tumbling as she bounced over the rip.<\/p>\n

\"04-23-4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Eager Male Terrapin #1046\u00c2\u00a0Follows #920 through the Rip<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Number 920 had last been observed on the morning of 30 August as she basked off a nearby sandbar.\u00c2\u00a0 At the time she was plump and ready \u00e2\u20ac\u201d at 1400 grams \u00e2\u20ac\u201d to handle six months of brumation.\u00c2\u00a0 Today, she still seemed in excellent shape, although she had lost 36 grams over winter.\u00c2\u00a0 Immediately following her came Terrapin 1046, an eager 7-year-old male, hot in pursuit and equally out of control in the rapids.<\/p>\n

\"04-23-5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Male Diamondback Terrapin #1047 Streams through the Rip<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And finally, ten minutes later, a dark colored mature male (Terrapin 1047) came streaming through the channel.<\/p>\n

\"04-23-6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mature Female Terrapin #920 Returns to Blackfish Creek<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After getting assessed, measured, weighed, and (for the two males who had not been previously seen) marked, the threesome hot-footed across the beach and, with a swish of the tail and a critical hiss, they disappeared once again into depths of Blackfish Creek … with stories to tell their awakening comrades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pre-Dawn Low Tide in Blackfish Creek Low tide arrived a little before dawn.\u00c2\u00a0 The first \u00e2\u20ac\u0153workable\u00e2\u20ac\u009d tide of the season.\u00c2\u00a0 Bathed in salmon, Blackfish Creek seemed an impressionist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s canvas as I stumbled bleary eyed to the shoreline and prepared for the morning\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quest.\u00c2\u00a0 Temperatures hung in the low fifties and I could feel the swift, […]<\/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\/5021"}],"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=5021"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5035,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5021\/revisions\/5035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}