This program is either in progress or already took place. Find more programs.

Turtles of the Outer Cape
Cape Cod Field School - 4-day course

This course is designed to offer unique opportunities to learn more the turtles of Cape Cod with an emphasis on two species--the eastern box turtle, a species of special concern, and the threatened diamondback terrapin--as well as provide a "hands-on" introduction to wildlife research methods. For over 30 years we have been studying the populations of box turtles and terrapins in Wellfleet Bay. Through nesting surveys, mark and recapture studies, radio telemetry, and habitat and prey analysis, we have built a solid foundation of data to begin understanding the life histories of these animals and the human impacts affecting them.

Over the course of the four action-packed days you will become actively involved in adding to this collection of data. We will teach you how to use telemetry equipment to find radio-tagged box turtles on our property. Field walks along the salt marshes and in the uplands are scheduled to search for nesting female diamondback terrapins and record their activities. Using dip nets and canoes, we catch terrapins in the salt marsh creeks. Once caught, they will be weighed, measured, marked and then released. Be prepared to get wet and muddy!

This course consists of some early morning activities and long days in the field. However, indoor presentations will give us a break, and complement our field studies. These lectures will focus on turtle natural history, details on individual species like diamondback terrapins, box turtles, and sea turtles.

Course includes dinner on the first evening. Sanctuary housing is not available; ask us for a list of local accommodations.

Instructors: Bob Prescott is the director of the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary where he has been actively involved in coastal issues and research. Bob has a degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Massachusetts and has studied such diverse topics as whale strandings, harbor seal distribution around Cape Cod, and, most recently, home range of box turtles. Bob also is the Southeastern Massachusetts coordinator for the Northeast Sea Turtle Stranding Network.

Barbara Brennessel is a biologist who teaches at Wheaton College in Norton, MA. She spends her summers in Wellfleet and has developed a strong interest in the organisms that inhabit Cape Cod ecosystems. She has written about diamondback terrapins (Diamonds in the Marsh: A Natural History of the Diamondback Terrapin, 2006) and shellfish aquaculture (Good Tidings: The History and Ecology of Shellfish Farming in the Northeast, 2008)


Don Lewis serves as executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Districts. Also known as "The Turtle Guy," Don's research and rescue efforts have been featured on National Geographic TV and his work has been profiled in books on global animal rescue, endangered wildlife management and habitat preservation. His original stories and wildlife photographs have been published around the globe.

Sue Wieber Nourse, research scientist and master educator, is CEO of Cape Cod Consultants, an environmental solutions company specializing in wildlife management and critical habitat assessments. An intrepid adventurer, Sue has led marine research projects from the depths of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to the tidal flats of Cape Cod Bay, where she now focuses on the elusive diamondback terrapin.


This course is one of several Cape Cod Field Schools offered.
Visitwww.massaudubon.org/wellfleetbay/fieldschools to download a brochure.

Registration is required.

Program already started.
Register by mail: program registration form (PDF 66K)

For your own security, DO NOT send credit card information via email.

For more information, contact:

Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
P.O. Box 236, State Highway Rte. 6
South Wellfleet, MA 02663
wellfleet@massaudubon.org