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Field School: Hatching Diamondback Terrapins
Sponsored by Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
Class dates and times: Fri, Sep 09, 2011 3:00 pm - 9:00 pm Sat, Sep 10, 2011 8:30 am - 7:30 pm Sun, Sep 11, 2011 8:30 am - 3:00 pm
Location: Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, South Wellfleet Instructors: Barbara Brennessel - Professor, Researcher, Author of Diamonds in the Marsh; Bob Prescott - Sanctuary Director, WBWS Audience: Adult Members: Adult $220.00 Nonmembers: Adult $245.00
Hatching Diamondback Terrapins A Cape Cod Field School - 3-day course
This course is designed to offer unique opportunities to learn more the turtles of Cape Cod with an emphasis on the threatened diamondback terrapin. In early summer, female diamondback terrapins leave the salt marsh to lay eggs in adjacent uplands. Several months later tiny turtles emerge from their eggshells, tunnel to the surface, and head to the marsh.
For over 30 years we have been studying the populations of 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.
During this three-day weekend you will gain first-hand knowledge of turtle biology; monitor nests for hatching activity; weigh, measure, and release hatchlings; and document nesting success at various Outer Cape locations. We will also enjoy a boat trip into Cape Cod Bay to gain an off-shore perspective on terrapin habitat and learn about a project studying the wintering behavior of terrapins, and how that information can be used to guide the management of Wellfleet Harbor.
Indoor presentations will complement our field studies. A lecture on the first evening will provide a good overview of diamondback terrapins and their natural history. On the second afternoon there will be a lecture focusing on research conducted to study hatchling movements using radio tags, and an update on nesting statistics in our region.
Course includes dinner on the first evening. Sanctuary housing is available at $30 per night.
This course is one of several Cape Cod Field Schools offered. Visit www.massaudubon.org/wellfleetbay/fieldschools to download a brochure
