Monarch Butterflies Feast on Golden Rod for Long Journey
September on the SouthCoast opens a window into the endless, cyclical, multigenerational migration of monarch butterflies from the Great White North to Mexico and back again. We’re told that it takes two generations each way or four generations for the complete migration cycle. How fortunate we are to witness one end of this epic flight as monarchs feast on milkweed and golden rod in the coastal fields along Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay. Today, as we walked the trail at Mass Audubon’s Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Dartmouth, we came across several monarchs sipping golden nectar to garner strength for the long journey ahead.
Monarch Butterfly at Allen’s Pond Wildlife Sanctuary
This same time last season at Demarest Lloyd State Park also in Dartmouth, we happened upon a large flock of monarchs preparing to kick off their migration southward.
Monarchs Preparing for Migration at Demarest Lloyd State Park (2007)
As we described earlier in the post, “Rescuing Live Hatchlings from Maggot Infested Nests,” fly maggots devastate threatened diamondback terrapin nests on the Outer Cape. They devour tiny, vulnerable hatchlings as they break their eggshells in the secret darkness of their hidden underground nests. When we encounter a nest infested with maggots, and after we suppress our disgust and repulsion, we aggressively excavate the egg chamber in order to save as many hatchlings as we can.
Terrapin Egg Completely Consumed by Fly Maggots
This Thursday we checked on a nest laid late last June in a new turtle garden off Broadmarsh River in Wareham, 60 miles from nests on the Outer Cape and on the other side of the Cape Cod Canal. Still, once we penetrated the egg chamber the sand resembled an Indiana Jones movie scene with maggots playing the role of snakes. “Maggots,” exclaims the Turtle Guy. “Why does it have to be maggots?”
Maggots in Motion
We ignore the stench and dig quickly through the slithering sand to rescue eight live hatchlings among the devoured remains of eggs and embryos of seven might-have-been siblings.Â
Eight Saved, Seven Depredated by Maggots
The rescued hatchlings appeared lethargic as though traumatized by the experience. But after an overnight stay in clean, moist soil, and a leisurely bath in warm fresh water, they were eager for release into the wild. That is, turtle eager which isn’t quite the same thing as mammal eager.
Hatchling Strolls through Wareham Turtle Garden
The background of the previous video clip shows the exquisite nesting habitat that was created by private homeowners abutting the nursery salt marsh of Wareham’s Broadmarsh River off Buzzards Bay. At their own initiative and their own expense, the homeowners petitioned the Town of Wareham Conservation Commission for permission to create a perfect nesting habitat along a beach front that had become sand starved over the years and had lost all upland nesting potential. These generous homeowners ordered 20 tons of perfectly matched beach sand to make a large nesting site at least 10 inches deep for terrapins to place their clutches. Within a couple of weeks of completing this turtle garden, the first female terrapin had scratched and dug her nest. In total, six nests were deposited in the new sandy turtle garden … all of which were protected by predator excluders. As these new babies mature, they too will return to this turtle garden, ensuring a whole new generation of diamondback terrapins in Broadmarsh River; all thanks to an exceptional family who are dedicated to restoring the Wareham coastal ecosystem for future generations.
Leviathans of the sea and giants of the reptile family, leatherback sea turtles define the term superlative. Ranging in weight up to a ton and the size of a small Volkswagen, no one who has encountered one of these living relics in the wild comes away from the experience unchanged. They are simply magnificent beasts that peacefully ply the world’s oceans in search of slurpy jellyfish. The open mouth of a leatherback sea turtle (see below) is perfectly configured for this quest and is the last thing that a jellyfish senses before the lights go out.
Mouth of 650+ Pound Male Leatherback Sea Turtle
Unfortunately, we humans offer them a complex series of lethal obstacles to avoid during their peaceful voyages. Gill nets drown them, longlines hook them, propellers slice them, weirs trap them and lobster buoys entangle them. Especially during the summer months in Cape Cod and Buzzards Bays as they chase plentiful jellyfish, endangered leatherbacks face a host of potential threats.
Male Leatherback Arrives at Wellfleet Sanctuary for Necropsy
A freshly dead 650+ pound male leatherback beached in Provincetown on Sunday and Mass Audubon’s Bob Prescott, the state sea turtle stranding coordinator, conducted a necropsy at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary to determine the cause of death and to gather scientific information to help us conserve this endangered species. In addition to his staff, Bob (with large caliper below) was assisted by Kara Dodge, a PhD candidate at UNH and former NOAA sea turtle coordinator, and the Turtle Journal team.
Bob Prescott (Calipers), Don Lewis (Camera) and Kara Dodge (Scalpel)
Too large for normal scales, the mass of leatherbacks is determined by weighing the Mass Audubon pickup truck at the dump with the turtle inside, and then re-weighing the truck without the turtle. The post revealed that this animal had been very healthy. “It had everything going for it,” stated Bob and Kara. Both flippers showed signs of a recent entanglement, but nothing so severe that these wounds would have caused death. Instead, the cause of death was determined to be drowning. The likely scenario for the death of such an inherently healthy animal is that it got entangled in a buoy line with both flippers wrapped in the rope and perhaps its body trunk as well. With the last series of spring tides, the turtle may not have had sufficient line to reach the surface. Like all turtles, leatherbacks are air breathers and will drown if held under water for a sustained period. How this drowned animal had then become disentangled from the lines that had been wrapped tightly around its flippers is merely a matter of conjecture.
This evening we received a call from Bob Prescott that there had been a report of a dead leatherback on a Westport beach near Horseneck. We drove out to the site and after about 30 minutes of searching, we discovered a badly decomposed and deflated leatherback sea turtle. Talking to a local resident, we learned it had been bouncing along the beach for at least the last three days. We estimated the carapace at approximately 161.3 centimeters, but decomposition and deflation may have altered any accurate rendering of its precise size. Bones were exposed throughout from head to back to flippers.
Decomposed Leatherback Sea Turtle in Wesport, MA
Another decomposed, 600 pound leatherback washed ashore at Pico Beach in Mattapoisett Saturday night (http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080909/NEWS/809090352/-1/NEWS). Dealing with one dead leatherback is serious as population numbers of this critically endangered species continue to plummet. Finding two dead leatherback carcasses in a weekend is a tragedy; but three dead leatherbacks fall beyond emotions and words. Yet, a ray of turtle hope winked through the afternoon when a call came into the Hotline. A woman found a small 1/2 dollar size turtle in Plymouth, Massachusetts as kids were placing it in the ocean and the animal was being forced back to the shore by wave action and its own volition. She thought she had discovered a baby sea turtle, or perhaps a diamondback terrapin hatchling. A few questions cleared up the mystery. Color? Dark, almost black. Long tail? Yes, very long. Bump along the tail? Yes, like an ancient dinosaur. Jagged edge along rear of carapace (top shell)? Yep. Does it have a yellow “button” in the middle of its tummy? Yes. Congratulations! You are the proud holder of a snapping turtle hatchling. With just a few more questions we discovered the local fresh water source from whence the hatchling probably came, either through its own design or more likely with the help of local kids.
Snapping Turtle Hatchling
You’re right. Snapping turtles aren’t endangered and they’re not leatherbacks. But that doesn’t diminish the joy in helping a hatchling find hospitable habitat where it might have a fighting chance of survival. Saving one turtle … even a snapper … isn’t a bad way to close the day.
