{"id":5328,"date":"2001-05-27T16:28:29","date_gmt":"2001-05-27T21:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=5328"},"modified":"2010-03-12T16:40:56","modified_gmt":"2010-03-12T21:40:56","slug":"return-of-a-remarkable-friend-%e2%80%94-27-may-2001","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=5328","title":{"rendered":"Return of a Remarkable Friend \u00e2\u20ac\u201d 27 May 2001"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"05-27-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Thunderstorms Pound Wellfleet’s Blackfish Creek<\/em><\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wedged between waves of violent thunderstorms, we managed a few moments of terrapin observation in Blackfish Creek this morning.\u00c2\u00a0 As we arrived on Lieutenant Island and gathered gear for over-dune trek to the rip, the field phone rang with an urgent message from Bob Prescott, director of the local Mass Audubon sanctuary.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just looked at radar and a band of thunderstorms has taken aim on Wellfleet.\u00c2\u00a0 If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the water, get out.\u00c2\u00a0 If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not, stay put.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Sound advice, indeed.\u00c2\u00a0 The raw beauty of thunderstorms skimming across the bay is a sight to die for, but standing knee deep in water on the tidal flats (and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a reason why they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153flats\u00e2\u20ac\u009d), while holding a dip net with a 10-foot metal rod, tempts the fates to extol the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153die for\u00e2\u20ac\u009d price of admission.\u00c2\u00a0 We hunkered down inside the jeep as lightning ricocheted around us.<\/p>\n

\"05-27-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Terrapin Gender Dimorphism Models: <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Female #697 and Male #823<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a lull between bands, we raced across the channel and took position in the rapids.\u00c2\u00a0 The once pristine beach was strewn with slimy algae of all shapes and shades, as the overnight storm churned the bottom.\u00c2\u00a0 Water color and visibility matched the blackened sky.\u00c2\u00a0 But as luck would have it, and it usually does, Terrapin 697 swam right through my legs and into the net.\u00c2\u00a0 She is an old friend with a remarkable story to tell.<\/p>\n

First observed in June of 1997, she had crawled out of Blackfish Creek to nest in an upland dirt road on Old Wharf Point.\u00c2\u00a0 Around 10 years old, she measured 16.70 centimeters carapace length and weighed 806 grams.\u00c2\u00a0 The next time we saw #697 proved traumatic.\u00c2\u00a0 On 1 July 1998, she was hit by a car and left at the side of Route 6.\u00c2\u00a0 The front of her carapace was broken, as was her plastron, and she was ambulanced to Wildcare for emergency treatment.<\/p>\n

Shell plastered, she was released into Blackfish Creek with but faint prayer that she would survive.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, on 13 September 1999, Turtle 697 (on the left) was netted while paired with Male #823 (right).\u00c2\u00a0 Her shell, though looking a bit dinged, had healed quite well.\u00c2\u00a0 And now the picture of this \u00e2\u20ac\u0153adorable couple\u00e2\u20ac\u009d serves as our lecture slide for illustrating gender dimorphism in diamondback terrapins, never mind offering a poignant vignette about the dangers of vehicles during nesting season, the importance of quick and positive intervention, and the incredible resilience of turtles \u00e2\u20ac\u201d all with a nice happy ending.<\/p>\n

\"05-27-3-4<\/a><\/p>\n

Female Terrapin #697 in 1999 (Left) and 2001 (Right)<\/em><\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s observation merely punctuates to the story.\u00c2\u00a0 Number 697, as shown by these carapace photos from 1999 and 2001, has continued to improve.\u00c2\u00a0 It is no surprise that she has not grown much during this traumatic healing period.\u00c2\u00a0 She measures 16.8 centimeters long and weighs 846 grams.\u00c2\u00a0 But, all in all, not a bad outcome for a critter who had been so badly injured.\u00c2\u00a0 It was worth dancing between lightning strikes to meet her once more.<\/p>\n

The (Most) Northern Diamondback Terrapin<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"05-27-5<\/a><\/p>\n

Northernmost Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling Found<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We lucky researchers in Wellfleet Bay let the words \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the northernmost population of diamondback terrapins\u00e2\u20ac\u009d roll glibly off our lips.\u00c2\u00a0 But in any \u00e2\u20ac\u0153northernmost\u00e2\u20ac\u009d habitat, there must be one spot, one location which is north of all the rest.\u00c2\u00a0 So it is in Wellfleet Bay, too, as the dike blocking the mouth of the Herring River defines the most northern accessible latitude in the entire harbor.\u00c2\u00a0 Today a family, driving Chequesset Neck Road to its northwest dead end at Cape Cod Bay, found a hatchling crossing in front of their car (see red turtle on map below).\u00c2\u00a0 They brought it to the Mass Audubon sanctuary to identify its species.\u00c2\u00a0 You guessed it: the Northern(most) Diamondback Terrapin.\u00c2\u00a0 They simply can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get any farther north, as her mother had trekked north up a dune and inland to nest on the far (north) side of the asphalt road.<\/p>\n

\"05-27-6<\/a><\/p>\n

Northernmost Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hatchling 008-01, who pipped in the fall but opted to remain over winter in her underground nest chamber, stretched out to 2.8 centimeters carapace length and weighed 6 grams.\u00c2\u00a0 Far from dehydrated, she was bright-eyed and frisky, in a hurry to get a jumpstart on the season ahead.<\/p>\n

\"05-27-7<\/a><\/p>\n

Northernmost Terrapin Hatchling Released into Herring River Marsh<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I released Hatchling 008 at the head of the National Sea Shore trail to Great Island at the Gut \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a tombolo which now converts the island into a peninsula.\u00c2\u00a0 After enduring waves of weekend walkers who ooh-ed and aah-ed, snapped pictures, and suffered my lecture on conserving terrapins, she ambled eastward into the marsh, crawled under a dense layer of beach grass, and disappeared from sight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thunderstorms Pound Wellfleet’s Blackfish Creek\u00c2\u00a0 Wedged between waves of violent thunderstorms, we managed a few moments of terrapin observation in Blackfish Creek this morning.\u00c2\u00a0 As we arrived on Lieutenant Island and gathered gear for over-dune trek to the rip, the field phone rang with an urgent message from Bob Prescott, director of the local Mass […]<\/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\/5328"}],"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=5328"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5341,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5328\/revisions\/5341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}