A great article about a project my lab has been part of for the past few years. (Scroll about half way through the article to see my hand in the turtle photo haha).
Category: Western Pond Turtles
Ready, Set, Reintroduce!
Originally posted on the San Francisco Bay Area National Parks Science and Learning Blog
The Presidio’s Mountain Lake restoration is moving forward this year with several native species reintroductions. The Sierran chorus frog (Pseudacris sierra), is slated to be the first species reintroduced. This species was extirpated from the Presidio sometime in the 20th century and, although common throughout its range, has become very rare in the city of San Francisco. The first phase of the reintroduction will take place in February, when chorus frog egg masses will be placed in protective enclosures to keep them safe from predators as they acclimate to Mountain Lake. The tadpoles that hatch in those enclosures will then be released into Mountain Lake in March. Later in the year, threespine stickleback and the Western Pond turtles will also be reintroduced to the lake.
Reintroduction projects offer a wide range of opportunities for scientific exploration and citizen science engagement, so the Presidio Trust has been partnering with several organizations and institutions to broaden impact and expand knowledge in the fields of reintroduction biology and urban ecology. For instance, partners at Stanford University just published research on the potential to achieve improved water quality from the reintroduction of freshwater mussels, and the California Academy of Sciences produced an excellent video on the Mountain Lake restoration, including upcoming species reintroductions. Keep an eye on the Presidio Trust website and social media for more reintroduction-related news and events throughout 2015. It’s an exciting time in the history of Mountain Lake!
Baby Turtles
These are western pond turtles (Emys marmorata), California’s only native freshwater turtle. They are also tiny and adorable right after they hatch (yes I am a scientist I have data to prove this). 😀 These babies were incubated in their nests (at my field site), and the eggs were collected last week, so they could hatch in the lab. They’ll be raised for either one or two years at one of three local zoos, before being released back into the wild.
Western pond turtle. That protrusion on the belly is the turtle’s external yolk; this is normal, and will be absorbed into its body during the next few weeks.
I AM SCIENTIST therefore I record data on paper towels. What, doesn’t everyone do this?
Literally just hatched.
Our incubators. Reasonably low tech, but they get the job done. OH LOOK more paper towels.
Precious babby. They are so tiny when they first hatch. I’d say on average they’re about 4 to 4.5 grams. This one is not even 4 grams (although the one in the first photo was big – almost 6).
End of Field Season
And … as of a few hours ago, my field season for this year has officially ENDED. I didn’t think I was even going to find any turtles today, but then, at the tail end of my last walkthrough, I found this gorgeous lady, JUST after she finished nesting (which is the absolute best time to find them, for a bunch of different reasons). So, YAY Turtle #261! My last turtle of what might be my last official field season on this project. Isn’t she the prettiest princess EVER?
Overall, it was a weird field season. We didn’t find nearly as many nests as in previous years, and we never really had a “peak” – there is usually a week or so when LOADS of turtles are all out on the same days; I think the most we ever had on a single day this year was five. I attribute this mostly to the weather (which alternated between rainy and cold, which they won’t come out to nest in, and EXTREME heat, which they also won’t come out to nest in). But, it was still fun, although I will say I’m glad it’s over. I get a bit tired of camping two or three nights a week.
Turtles!
TURTLES! We found four of them last night. This one is #248. AND SHE IS THE PRETTIEST PRINCESS IN PRINCESS TOWN! She was really adorable, too. She stuck her head out while we were taking photos.
Don’t know if we’ll see any turtles tonight. Weather is all over the place here; we had a MASSIVE thunderstorm last night, and a bit of rain. They won’t come out to nest unless the ground is dry, so if it rained too much at the field site, tonight will be dead up there. But we’ll see. Either way, TURTLES!!!!!!
Graduate Showcase
My presentation at today’s Graduate Showcase went really well! I’m posting the slides here, in case anyone is interested. It only hits on two of my research questions, and all the stats were removed, as this was geared toward a non-scientific audience. Still, it should give an idea about the focus of my research.
Biometry Presentation
Giving a short presentation tomorrow in my biometry class on my turtle research. So here, have some slides! It was actually REALLY cool to have a first stab at analyzing my preliminary data, from three field seasons. I still have one more field season before I’ll be finished with this project. But, it was COOL! I’m not yet able to answer my main question: do these turtles exhibit nest site fidelity? But I’m starting to tease apart the various factors that may influence how they decide where to nest. 
Presentation for Professional Skills
I have managed to complete my Power Point for Monday. I’m pretty sure that it sort of sucka, but my advisor has been so busy lately he hasn’t gotten back to me with feedback on the first draft of my master’s proposal, so this presentation is based on my original draft.. Here are some of the slides, if anyone is interested.
Grumpyface
Another new baby. I call this one “Grumpyface.” (Then again, most of them have the most adorable little grumpy faces, so it’s not like that’s a unique name). 😀
Brand New Babies!
Some western pond turtle photos! Brand new babies, hatched in my lab:
Eventually, they’ll be head-started at a local zoo until they’re about 10 months old, at which time they’ll be released back into the habitat where we collected the eggs. The first picture is of a baby working on getting out of her shell. And the third picture was taken literally seconds after she emerged from her shell. (I was too slow with my camera, or I could have gotten it on video. I’m hoping one of the other babies will oblige; we still have a lot of eggs that have yet to hatch). Also, sorry the photos were so crappy. I need to bring in my real camera and get some better shots.