110 Diamondback Terrapin Hatchlings @ Turtle Point
Diamondback terrapin hatchlings keep emerging from Lieutenant Island nests harvested in advance of Hurricane Irene. One hundred ten eager babies broke out of their eggshells and tunneled to the surface of their sand buckets in the Turtle Journal sunroom incubator on Monday and Tuesday. Sue Wieber Nourse released them at their natal site at the tip of Turtle Point on Wednesday morning.
110 Hatchlings Scramble to Safety
Rarely does one have the opportunity to witness more than a hundred threatened terrapin hatchlings in one place at one time. These healthy babies couldn’t wait for their chance to break for freedom and scramble to the safety of camouflaging vegetation. In typical “drunkard’s walk” randomness we have observed for more than a decade of terrapin hatchling conservation, some hiked upslope into the thick bearberry (hog cranberry) cover. Many slalomed downhill toward the salt marsh’s Spartina patens. A few simply crawled in circles and then dug a temporary hiding spot right in the soft sand of Turtle Point.
Terrapin Hatchlings Released on Lieutenant Island
Hatchlings continue to emerge and Turtle Journal will return another large batch of terrapin babies to Turtle Point on Labor Day Weekend.