Thousands and thousands of menhaden swirled around Sippican Harbor this morning as sun rose in pink and purple hues over Buzzards Bay. They even beat the fishermen who didn’t arrive until after pink had faded to gray. So. for the sole amusement of the Turtle Journal crew and our audience, these critters spun with the perfect synchrony of a jeweled clock, ticking and tocking to the rhythm of the deep blue seas.
Menhaden Circle under Buzzards Bay Sunrise
As September chill grips Cape Cod, terrapins head for winter slumber (brumation). Only a few remain active late into the month and they become extremely difficult to find, less active and spending more of their time underwater, surfacing less frequently for air.
The Run in South Wellfleet
If you’re looking for turtles to sample this late in the month, one of the best places to try is the Run, a wide, shallow inlet south of Lieutenant Island linking many of the salt marsh channels where terrapins are known to brumate. Wednesday’s weather was clear with a brisk northeast wind off the Atlantic Ocean. The air temperature hovered around 60 and the water held in the mid to upper 50s. My legs froze while Sue more intelligently chose waders over bathing attire.
Sue Wieber Nourse Captures Female Terrapin 2149
Low tide came a 2:30 pm. In the Run, low tide marks the best chance to capture terrapins in the shallow, clearer water. Our first capture was an 11-year-old female that Sue spotted as the turtle raced up channel toward the marsh creeks. We had last observed this terrapin during field school on July 10th as she nested on a sandy bank just off Lieutenant Island. Since then she had gained nearly 200 grams for the long winter ahead.
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Sue Wieber Nourse Hand-Netting Terrapins in the Run
Sue found the male terrapin, lazing motionless on the bottom. it was the first time we had captured this male that measured 12 centimeters long and weighed a little under 300 grams; that is, about 3/4 the linear length and 1/3 the mass of the female.
Foul Weather Approaches the Outer Cape
With a meteorological depression heading for the Great White North tomorrow and Saturday forecast to pound the Outer Cape with rain and wind and cold, chances are that this adorable couple will be the last adult terrapins we will capture until field season returns in late April. If history repeats, we will see a few more nests emerge until mid-October, and occasionally we will be confronted in the fall or in very early spring with a cold-stunned adult that didn’t find a particularly safe brumation site. For our active collection program, though, the gavel has sounded for the 2008 field season.
Stepping behind the scenes, we see how skill and luck and patience were aided by technology to produce the best documented dune emergence sequence. The Pentax Optio W30 enabled us to get within inches of the action as tiny hatchling poked through the sand and then scrambled down slope like Olympian skiers.
Pentax Option W30 Documents Hatchling Emergence
Their very first view of the world after more than two months buried under the sand is hampered by the blindingly bright high noon sun. They pause to get bearings which appears for all the world as though they are mugging for the camera.
Hatchling Mugs for the Camera
The clip below documents how we capture these events for the Turtle Journal.
Getting Close to the Action
And finally these ten beautiful little miracles are released into the relative safety of the nursery marsh.
Ten Hatchlings Head into Marsh under the Camera’s Gaze
The Turtle Journal team gets close to the action to bring you inside the critical natural moment with vivid imagery and compelling video clips.Â
Sue Wieber Nourse Snaps Close-Up of Emerging Hatchling
The Sony DSC-F828 serves as our workhorse research camera with a high quality Carl Zeiss lens and a manual zoom ranging from macro to ~ 135 mm telephoto. We have two F828s, one that shows all the signs of several years of salt water and sand dunes, and a second one with only a single research season under its belt. The F828 produces excellent digital stills, but also provides the capability to switch quickly to medium quality video to document important research events.
Terrapin Hatchling Pips through Its Eggshell
If the F828 is our workhorse, the Pentax Optio W30 with its built-in underwater capability is our pocket miracle maker. The underwater housing serves double duty. Surprisingly, not every field day is sunshine and light. More days than we wish to remember are filled instead with rain, wind and storms. For instance, the leatherback necropsy last Sunday was done outdoors (obviously) in a driving rain storm. The only camera present that could document the post mortem was the Optio W30. Â
Don Lewis Zooms In on Emerging Duo for a Close-Up
Having lost three previous digital cameras to salt water, the Optio W30 is perfect to document all action near, above and below the water line. Its compact shape and light mass allow the camera to slip comfortably into field pockets and even bathing suit pockets. This camera takes excellent macro video clips in QuickTime format and good quality stills when the F828 isn’t around.
Close-Up of the Emerging Duo
The one drawback with the Optio W30 is the LCD screen. The camera fell from my swimming suit pocket about 12 inches onto sandy soil during our June field school. The fall appears to have jarred the LCD screen which has dropped to about 10% functionality. In essence, the camera now is a point and guess. Still, the Optio W30 brings home some sweet imagery … when pointed in the right direction and in the right mode of operation.
The most important instrument for capturing the right shot at the right moment has nothing to do with digital anything. If you can’t get yourself to the perfect spot at the perfect time, your top quality camera will capture a whole lot of sea gulls, sand dunes and fiddler crabs.