Skidaway Audubon News: Another Turtle Season Comes to an End

Diamondback Terrapin season officially ended in October with the release of our final hatchling. But what a busy season it has been! The 2024 nesting season started on April 30, with our first nesting terrapin and continued until our last nest was found on July 28. During this time, our team of 21 dedicated volunteers collected 757 nests (575 in 2023) containing 6,387 eggs (4,823 in 2023) from 330 individual female terrapins (231 in 2023). Of these individuals, we had 123 new comers (61 in 2023).

 And these females were very busy. From the 6,387 eggs laid, we had a hatch rate of 90.5% releasing 5,781 hatchlings back into the wild. The first hatchling was released on July 18 and the final hatchling was released on October 21.

And don’t think unhatched eggs go to waste. They are turned over to Dr. Kathryn Craven at Georgia Southern University, Armstrong Campus. Her students review each egg trying to determine the stage at which embryonic development stopped or possible causes for problems during development.

DNA samples are collected from some of our turtles, particularly any new comers. These samples are turned over to Dr. Brian Shamblin with the University of Georgia. He has helped us identify three distinct communities of terrapins in our area. Additionally, our data is transmitted to Dr. John Maerz (University of Georgia), local naturalist John “Crawfish” Crawford, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Our project doesn’t stop at working with the turtles and collecting data. We strive to conserve our natural resources on the island and give back to our community. Egg shells from the hatched turtles are composted to support local gardens. Any trash we find in the marshes while releasing the hatchlings is collected and properly disposed of, recycling when possible. In August, an appreciation luncheon for the Terrapin Point Golf Course maintenance crew was hosted to a very happy crew.

• We held 17 Educational Events:
• 5 Landings Community Releases.
• 3 Private Releases.
• 7 local “Show and Tell Presentations” (Skidaway Island State Park, Hess Elementary School Kindergarten Class, Landlovers Reception, CCA Kid’s Fishing Lagoon, Village Library and Marex Aquarium)
• 2 PowerPoint Presentations (The Marshes of Skidaway Island and Thrive Senior Living Center)

We’d like to acknowledge and thank a number of researchers who assisted us in 2024, including Dr. Kathry Craven, Dr. Brian Shamblin, Jordan Gray with Turtle Survival Alliance, Chantal Audran with Tybee Island Marine Science Center, Crawfish Crawford, and, of course, our incredibly supportive community, golfers and non-golfers. Without your support and assistance, we could not accomplish all we do and see the increase in our turtle community.

While the Skidaway Audubon Diamondback Terrapin Rescue Project continues to experience an increase in nests and eggs each year, this is not true for the species as a whole. For this species, found in the coastal marsh waters from Cape Cod, Massachusetts down to the tip of Florida and west to Corpis Cristi, Texas, many researchers are still finding startling reductions in the number of turtles they find. We are excited to report that, in September 2024, a petition was filed with the Secretary of Commerce through NOAA Fisheries to protect the Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin), as an endangered or threatened species at the Federal level. We hope this will provide additional protection for this very special turtle.

As the temperatures get cooler and our days get shorter, rest assured that the Diamondback Terrapins are nestled down in the muddy depths of the marsh waters to winterize. But no worries, they will be back next year beginning in late April for a new season of activity.