Monday, June 16th - Diamondback Terrapin found on the beach

 As anxious as we are to find a crawl on the beach, it is also exciting when we encounter new things.

We were having a lovely walk up the beach when Jean found a diamond back terrapin turtle between M 4 & 5. The ladies named it Terry (names covers either sex).  It was quite feisty and wanted to get out of that bucket

Not knowing what to do with him they called Leslie to see if he could go in the ocean.  The answer to that  is really no.  A DBT can tolerate the ocean but they cannot live or survive long in the ocean.  They also are not pond turtles.  DBT  are true brackish aquatic turtles.   Brackish water is a mix of fresh and saltwater, with salinity levels between the two.  So they live around marsh areas and crawl close to sand dunes to nest.  So as they were leaving Terry the Terrapin was released by Donna on the Hog Inlet side of Cherry Grove between the 2 gates, but pretty close to the causeway as directed by Leslie.  

Must have tired himself out, he was in no hurry to get out when he could!

Our first nest of this season was a DBT, which we are allowed to monitor and do an inventory on because they are considered a “Vulnerable” species.

Update on the other nests were as follows.

 Nest 2R - 2 crab holes at the back of the cage which they filled in.

Nest 03 huge crab hole at the reed and one smaller at the back of the cage.  Looked around but found no egg shells anywhere around the cage,  so filled in the holes.  

All other nests ok.

So even though there was  no sea turtle crawls today, it was quite exciting to have a great educational morning!  It is always good to be learning new things.

Text by Sharon , pictures by Jewel

Waties Island performs research and management activities regarding sea turtle conservation in accordance with SCDNR Permit Number MTP500.