Photo-Diary of a Terrapin Researcher Don Lewis, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Fox Island Wildlife Management Area

Finally Breaking — 28 April 2001

Overnight saw temperatures dip to freezing (32°F).  So, I was unsurprised at daybreak readings of 47°F air and 50°F water.  Nor was I surprised that not a single terrapin remained active in Blackfish Creek.  In fact, horseshoe crab mating along the sandbars of the rip has dropped to near nothing.  Only a single pair appeared during the entire span of the morning low tide.

Winds were still gusting out of the north at 25 knots, but by mid-morning the clouds had begun to part, the breeze had moderated to 10 to 15, and sunshine broke through.  Forecasts for Monday through Friday predict highs of 70 degrees and lows dropping only to around 50.  The turtles will awake once more.

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