First Terrapin Hatchling 2011 Emerges

Tiny Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling Emerges

By Don Lewis

The first diamondback terrapin hatchling of 2011 emerged on Friday afternoon after 63 days of incubation under the hot summer sands of Lieutenant Island in South Wellfleet. Terrapins are medium sized coastal turtles found along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. They can be found in Southern New England estuaries and salt marsh ecosystems, and are protected as a threatened species in Massachusetts and an endangered species in Rhode Island. Wellfleet Bay on Outer Cape Cod marks the northernmost habitat in the world for this rare hard-shelled reptile.

In June and July terrapin females crawl ashore from brackish estuaries to lay nests in sandy uplands. They deposit an average of 12-to-13 eggs in each clutch, and usually lay two nests a year. As many as 90% of unprotected nests can be devoured by a host of predators, large and small, from raccoons, skunks, foxes and coyotes to fly larvae, red ants and beach grass roots. Once hatchlings emerge from the nest, they fall prey to these same large predators, augmented by crows, gulls and raptors, as they scramble to the safety of nursery habitat in the salt marsh. As the tide floods in, crabs and fish join the attack on these tiny, yet tasty critters.

"Pipped" Terrapin Egg Nearly Ready to Hatch

When the Turtle Journal team (www.turtlejournal.com) checked a nest that had been laid on 17 June on the south shore of Lieutenant Island, they discovered that one of the top eggs had "pipped." Turtle hatchlings are equipped with a small, sharp egg tooth just below the nostrils. When ready, the hatchling scratches this tool against the egg wall until the shell is pierced. The initial hole quickly oozes albumin (see above), and the baby turtle begins to use its strong, sharp claws to rip and widen the breach. Observations have shown that the whole process can take four to five days from initial "pipping" of the egg until the hatchling emerges, tunnels to the surface and scrambles to the safety of nearby vegetation.

As the team probed deeper into the nest, they discovered an egg that had been "pipped" for several days with a substantial tear in the shell and a hatchling itching for freedom. As soon as sunlight touched the baby's face, it sprang to action and squirmed free of its egg shell. This hatchling had incubated in its egg for 63 days. The average incubation time for mid-June nests ranges between 55 and 75 days, depending on summer temperatures and exposure of the sand atop the nest to direct sunlight.

Terrapin Hatchling Season Begins in Southeastern Massachusetts

Friday's discovery is a harbinger of things to come ... and to come quickly. Once hatchling emergence begins, it kicks instantly into high gear. The beautiful warm sunshine forecast for this weekend will cue hundreds of hatchlings to tunnel to the surface and scramble for safety. Predators will be similarly cued to hatchling emergence, and those few feet from the exposed nest in sandy uplands to camouflage in thick vegetation are the most dangerous passage in the life of a terrapin. As you stroll the shoreline this weekend, look down and keep a sharp watch for tiny babies bubbling to the surface of dunes, coastal banks and dirt paths and roadways. If you discover a baby turtle, give a call to the 24/7 turtle hotline at 508-274-5108.

Mass Audubon and Turtle Journal have been involved in diamondback terrapin conservation from the South Coast of Massachusetts to the Outer Cape for more than three decades to reverse the decline of this threatened species. Hundreds of terrapin nests that were discovered in June and July by researchers and volunteers have been protected with predator excluders (chicken wire cages). If you run across one of these protected nests that dot the Wellfleet coastline, and you detect a baby turtle within the cage, give a holler to the hotline.

Not only diamondback terrapins are hatching. Other Massachusetts turtle species, such as painteds, spotteds, boxes and snappers, are also ready to emerge throughout the Commonwealth.

If you're looking for a nature walk that might offer the chance to spot one of these exquisite hatchlings, the Goose Pond or the Bay View trails at Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary off West Road in South Wellfleet would be a perfect choice.

For more information about this topic, for access to illustrative images or to arrange an interview, contact Don Lewis at (508) 274-5108 or email him at theturtleguy@comcast.net. The embedded images are the sole intellectual property of Don Lewis and Sue Wieber Nourse who authorize the use of these photographs to illustrate this story.

Don Lewis is executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Districts; Sue Wieber Nourse is a marine researcher, textbook author and master educator. Known as the Turtle Guy, Don and his spouse and partner, Sue Wieber Nourse, have led research, rescue and conservation activities on Cape Cod and around the globe for more than a decade. They own and operate Cape Cod Consultants, an environmental solutions company that specializes in wildlife management and habitat assessments that protect nature while enabling dreams. Lewis and Wieber Nourse document the nature of coastal Massachusetts on their web site, Turtle Journal (www.turtlejournal.com).

Source: http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2011/08/20/first-diamondback-terrapin-hatchlings-em?blog=53

Ten rescued turtles released off Cape Cod

HARWICHPORT, Mass.—

Workers from the New England Aquarium have released 10 endangered sea turtles back into the wild, months after they were rescued after stranding themselves on Cape Cod.

Aquarium officials say the turtles were released from a lobster boat Friday night in Nantucket Sound.

The turtles were the last group to be released from among those rescued during the 2010 stranding season. The turtles became trapped in Cape Cod Bay as the water chilled through the autumn, before washing up on beaches in November and December.

Aquarium officials say these turtles were among the season's toughest cases. Some had major shell fractures that required surgery, others had pneumonia and exotic infections.

Two of the released turtles had satellite tags attached, so their movements can be tracked.

Source:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/08/13/10_rescued_turtles_released_off_cape_cod/

© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Second Dead Leatherback Turtle Found

Nantucket Sound

By: John H. Hough

Published: 08/02/11

A second leatherback turtle was found dead in Nantucket Sound this week. A 567-pound sea turtle was discovered by a boater off Edgartown floating entangled in a net with a buoy wrapped around its neck.

The creature was found at 7:20 AM on Sunday and towed to the mouth of Falmouth Inner Harbor where it could be picked up by the New England Aquarium and taken to its new Quincy laboratory for a necropsy.

Officials moored the turtle, which was floating, near the entrance of the harbor out of the way of boaters, about 20 feet from the signal light at the harbor’s entrance.

Evan A. Hutker and Anna L. Mihai, who were having dinner near the mouth of Falmouth Inner Harbor at the time of the turtle’s arrival, could not make out what it was with any certainty, but soon noticed that what was being towed was a large, dead animal. “At first I thought it was a big pile of nets” said Mr. Hutker. “When we looked closer it looked like a turtle.”

The turtle came to Falmouth Harbor less than a week after a 440-pound leatherback washed ashore on the beach in front of the Tides Motel. That sea turtle was found upside down with four propeller strikes and hull paint on its back, suggesting it succumbed to one of the Cape’s most common causes of leatherback fatality: being hit by recreational boaters.

After spending the night moored outside of Falmouth Inner Harbor, the turtle found entangled off Edgartown was towed by the Falmouth Harbor Master’s office into the harbor where it could be lifted out of the water and into the bed of the New England Aquarium’s pickup truck.

Assistant Harbor Master Daniel Gould, escorted by the Massachusetts environmental police, motored up the harbor with the carcass in tow. Mr. Gould backed the turtle dockside near a slip at the far end of the parking lot and the town boat ramp while Deputy Harbor Master William Palm maneuvered a forklift into place. The carcass was attached to the forklift and hauled slowly out of the water and onto the pavement while lines were untied on the carcass and the lift’s forks readjusted. Mr. Palm put the forks to the pavement to get under the turtle, and with patient precision, lifted it into the pickup truck.

The law enforcement branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be investigating the entangled line that was still attached to a trap when the turtle was taken into the harbor.

The leatherback hauled out yesterday that was found entangled in gear, New England Aquarium spokesman Anthony LaCasse pointed out, is interesting because in the span of less than a week the two most common causes of death for leatherback sea turtles may have turned up in Falmouth, though he was quick to point out that at this point both turtles may have suffered their respective fates postmortem, and as of yet there is no definitive cause of death.

Fascinated onlookers came down to see the carcass that had formerly been a living juvenile leatherback weighing more than 600 pounds before decomposition took its toll.

The leatherback, which is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as critically endangered, exhibits some unusual qualities for turtles. It holds the title of world’s largest reptile, weighing in around 800 to 900 pounds; the largest on record was over 2,000 pounds. Strikingly different from most sea turtles, their carapace, or shell, is not made of bone. Instead about an inch and a half of tough leathery skin covers their ridged back, hence their name, leatherback.

An unusual characteristic among reptiles is the fact that the leatherback has the ability to regulate its internal temperature.

Mr. LaCasse warned that boaters who find leatherback sea turtles entangled should not attempt to free them. Their size and strength can be a serious danger for people who, despite good intentions, could end up themselves entangled with a leviathan many times their own size. Boaters are advised to report the incident to the Coast Guard and stay on the scene so that trained officials can find the turtle and free it.

The Center for Coastal Studies freed two leatherbacks in the last week, including a 700-pound turtle disentangled off Sesuit harbor in Dennis.

Robert Prescott, director of the Massachusetts Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, noted that a number of dead turtles have been spotted in Vineyard Sound as well as the reports of several dead loggerheads washing ashore.

Several officials noted the increase in the jellyfish population to be an indication of a possible increase in the local leatherback sea turtle population as they follow their food into the area.

Source: http://www.capenews.net/communities/falmouth/news/1239

Wild Cape Cod Lecture Series: THE TURTLE WHISPERER

Turtles and tortoises have existed relatively unchanged for nearly 215 million years, yet the world’s 300 species of chelonians are arguably the most endangered vertebrates on Earth! Herpetologist Ian Ives will focus on the turtles of Cape Cod (with living examples).

DIRECTIONS: Cross the Sagamore Bridge onto Cape Cod. From Route 6, take exit 7 to Yarmouth Port. Go north one mile on Willow Street, and take a left onto Route 6A west. Proceed for approximately one mile, then take a right on Bone Hill Road (where you’ll see a large sign for the Harbor Point Restaurant) and a smaller sign for Long Pasture. Follow Bone Hill Road past the upper trail head parking area to the end of Bone Hill Rd and look for a large white Sanctuary sign on your left. Take this driveway to the Visitor Center parking area. Parking is available in the field to your left, and around the circular drive in front of the Visitor Center.

Event Date

7/27/2011

Cost

Adults: $6 for Members of Mass Audubon, $8 for Non-Members; Children: $4 for Members, $6 for Non-Members

Times

7:30 PM to 9 PM

Location

345 Bone Hill Road, Cummaquid, MA 02637 (view map)

Contact Information

For more information call Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary at (508) 362-7475 x 9355

For more information, visit

http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Long_Pasture/index.php

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Source:

http://www.capeevents.com/event.cfm?Event_ID=9893

Massachusetts wildlife officials seeks top turtle roadkill sites

Massachusetts wildlife officials seek public's help locating top turtle roadkill sites

Question: Why did the turtle cross the road?

Answer: A genetic imperative.

By Stan Freeman for MassLive.com

Photo by Stan Freeman

In recent weeks, turtles have been climbing out of the comfortable confines of ponds, lakes and streams, driven by strong reproductive instincts that have launched them on a search to find a suitable spot on dry land to lay eggs.

However, a huge number of them are killed on roadways as they make the effort, and that worries state wildlife officials who are asking the public’s help in identifying turtle death hot spots.

“Many turtle species in Massachusetts are in decline and a lot of that has to do with road mortality,” said Marion E. Larson, a wildlife biologist for the state Division of Fisheries & Wildlife.

“So we’re asking people to tell us about where they are seeing road-killed turtles to try and identify where there are highway crossings with a lot of mortality,” Larson said. “Then, as roads are repaired by departments of transportation, they may be able to change the design to make it more turtle friendly.”

The Turtle Roadway Mortality Study is a joint multi-year effort by the state Department of Transportation, the state Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program and the Vernal Pool Association. The online citizen reporting page can be found at: http://linkinglandscapes.info.

Massachusetts has 10 native turtles, all of which lay their eggs on land, even though some (including the state’s largest native turtle, the snapping turtle) almost never venture from water at any other time.

The peak time for egg laying is late May to early July. Typically, the eggs, which are laid in holes dug in loose or sandy soil, hatch in two to three months.

Begun in 2010, the turtle study will need several years of data before the researchers “can feel confident that we’ve identified the majority of the significant roadkill sites” in the state, said Michael T. Jones, a biologist at University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Jones is one of the project’s coordinators.

“The worst sites that we currently know of are in eastern Massachusetts, where road density and traffic volume are greatest. At one particularly bad site in Middlesex County, more than 100 turtles of multiple species are killed each spring,” he said.

At that site, along Route 119 in Littleton, the state is putting in a “turtle-friendly” culvert, as part of a scheduled road upgrade, that will act as a tunnel to allow them to cross beneath the road, Larson said.

As road sections throughout the state come up for repair or upgrade, the list of turtle-mortality hot spots will be consulted to see if a change could be made to the project design to lower the mortality, Larson said.

Turtles can live long lives, with some box turtles reaching 100 years. Since some species do not reach reproductive age until they are age 10 or more, early deaths can have a great impact on their population, Jones said.

“Turtle populations appear to be more negatively affected by high levels of roadkill than amphibians and most mammals,” he said.

However, that occurs because of the breaking up of landscapes by roads and development. According to the state Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, the number one reason why turtle populations – as well as those of many animals – are in decline is the fragmentation, degradation and loss of habitat.

Source: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/massachusetts_wildlife_officia.html

© 2011 masslive.com. All rights reserved.

Eel River restoration complete

More than 60 acres of habitat for wildlife and the public have been restored in Plymouth - recreating a white cedar swamp with dramatic improvements to fish passage, water quality, wetlands, bird migration corridors and recreational opportunities.

The $2 million Eel River project team recently won a national Coastal America Partnership Award for its multi-year effort.

The project area, now protected as the Eel River Preserve, is off Long Pond Road in Plymouth. The spring-fed Eel River drains to Plymouth Harbor.

““It is this type of grassroots partnership that will protect and restore sensitive coastal areas for wildlife and people to enjoy,’’ “said Eileen Sobeck, Department of the Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks in a statement.

The award, given to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Massachusetts environmental agencies, the Town of Plymouth and local companies, recognizes collaborations that leverage and combine resources to accomplish coastal restoration, preservation, protection and education projects.

The team restored about 40 acres of retired cranberry bogs and removed a downstream dam. The removal or replacement of six culverts and the placement of hundreds of large wood pieces helped create habitat and passage for aquatic species, as well as reestablish natural water flow, according to an announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

More than 24,000 plants, including 17,000 Atlantic white cedar trees, have been planted to help restore rare wetland plant communities. The area supports one of few New England populations of the federally endangered northern red-bellied cooter turtles, as well as populations of eastern box turtles, bridle shiner fish, barrens buckmoth, adder’s-tongue fern and swamp oats.

The area, now managed by the Town of Plymouth, was historically known as Finney’s Meadow, according to the press release. A series of mills and dams were constructed in the early 1800s, and cranberry farming began in the second half of that century, continuing until 2002, according to a press release on the restoration.

Major financial contributions were provided by the USFWS National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program, NRCS and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Section 319 Grant Program.

Project partners include: Town of Plymouth, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program), U.S. Department of Agriculture (Natural Resources Conservation Service), American Rivers, The Nature Conservancy, Massachusetts Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, Horsley Witten Group, Inter-fluve, Inc., Sumco Eco-Contracting, and the A.D. Makepeace Company.

Photo caption: The Eel River Preserve in Plymouth, Mass., is home to one of the few New England populations of northern red-bellied cooter turtles. (Bill Byrne, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.)

Source: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2011/06/eel_river_restoration_complete.html

Tanks for the National Marine Life Center's efforts

Readying for sea turtle rescues

BUZZARDS BAY —

Though her species is considered “threatened” in Massachusetts, Teanna is a fortunate little Diamond-backed Terrapin.

Luck was not exactly on her side last January, though.

That’s when the salt marsh turtle somehow managed to fall into a basement window well, and became trapped.

No one’s sure how long she was stuck without food or water, but to say she was a shell of her former self when discovered is an understatement.

She was near death and needed emergency medical treatment. That’s when her luck got better.

She was rushed to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in North Grafton, where she was stabilized.

But she needed somewhere to convalesce, and that’s where the National Marine Life Center stepped in, said the NMLC’s Director of Science and associate veterinarian, Dr. Sea Rogers Williams.

Today, a hale and hearty Teanna is due to be released back in her native Wellfleet this week, and shares a front room at the NMLC’s offices at 120 Main St. with a trio of ailing Northern red-bellied cooters, though not the same tank.

Williams said the NMLC is happy to help the state’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife with local turtle travails, but its guiding mission is to rescue and restore stranded sea turtles, seals and larger sea-going aquatic creatures.

The non-profit has recently completed installation of two tanks, fed by the abutting Cape Cod Canal, capable of sustaining Teanna’ larger sea-going cousins, as well as seals. Three more tanks are also being prepared in the NMLC’s hospital facility and work is still underway to install even larger tanks that can be used to aid in the treatment of dolphins and small whales.

As friendly as Cape Cod can be to human tourists, it can be a tough ’hood for visiting aquatic creatures. Each year up to 56 seals, 98 dolphins and 144 sea turtles are stranded on Cape beaches, sick or injured. The NMLC was formed in 1995 to create a treatment facility and began construction of the hospital on Main Street in 2009.

Eventually, the completed hospital will have tanks capable of housing aquatic creatures ranging in size from two-foot-long Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles, considered the smallest of the marine turtle set, to 20-foot-long pilot whales, weighing in at up to three tons, said Kathy Zagzebski, NMLC president and executive director.

She took visitors on a tour of the hospital during the organization’s annual meeting on May 26, starting with the room housing the completed tanks ready for occupancy which will be open for business within the next month or two and ending at the unfinished portion that will be designed for the larger creatures.

“I ask you to close your eyes and use your imagination” to see what will be.

The non-profit NMLC’s fundraising mission is ongoing, for while $3.1 million has gone into the project so far, another $2 million to $3 million will be needed to complete it.

“It’s a tremendous challenge to build,” she said.

Source: Tanks for the National Marine Life Center's efforts - Wareham, MA - Wicked Local Wareham http://www.wickedlocal.com/wareham/archive/x1595579610/Tanks-for-the-National-Marine-Life-Centers-efforts#ixzz1OFQJ97MD

Contact Frank at fmulligan@wickedlocal.com

Copyright 2011 Wicked Local Wareham. Some rights reserved