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Year of the Turtle News No. 5 May 2011 Basking in the Wonder of Turtles www.YearoftheTurtle.org Diamondback Terrapins, Malaclemys World Turtle Day terrapin, by Scott McDaniel Don’t forget – May 23 is World Turtle Day! World Turtle Day, sponsored every year since 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, was established to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises. Turtle Day is celebrated worldwide in a variety of ways, including dressing up as turtles, assisting turtles crossing One Year After the roadways (when conditions are safe), Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and taking part in research activities Taking Stock: (such as citizen science volunteer by Priya Nanjappa, Jim Godwin, and David Dimitrie programs). Do you have plans to The Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill that began on April 20, participate in World Turtle Day? If so, 2010 was an incident of unprecedented magnitude. In its aftermath, attention we encourage you to send information focused on the disastrous effects of oiled marshes, soiled beaches, and to [email protected] devastated economies dependent upon natural resources. As herpetologists, on how you are participating. We many of us and our colleagues were also particularly interested in how the also encourage submission of stories spread of oil would affect sea turtles and Diamondback Terrapins occurring in and pictures of your World Turtle those coastal zones. Although we do not have the full answer yet, as you will Day events and activities after May read below, considerable work is ongoing to monitor turtles in this region and 23 for highlighting in a future issue to maintain those species of greatest conservation concern. of Year of the Turtle News. More info Because of the ongoing investigations and legal matters pertaining to this on World Turtle Day is available at spill, it is difficult to get an unvarnished assessment of how these animals www.tortoise.com. are doing, one year later. As we all Inside: page saw in photos that were on the news Turtle Art, Stories & Poetry 2 and internet, many individual oiled animals were observed and cleaned Year of the Turtle Partners 3 if possible. However, the overall Calendar Photo Contest Update 6 impact is yet to be determined, as Turtles in the News 7 the oiling of habitats and animals Citizen Science Programs 8 continues to occur. We present here An Interview with Whit Gibbons 9 a snapshot of what is happening across the Gulf Coast states, and we SWPARC Regional Spotlight 10 thank our friends and colleagues in Emydoidea blandingii, Blanding’s Turtle, by Ryan Miller Upcoming Meetings 12 Continued on p. 4 “Behold the turtle. He makes progress when his neck is out.” — James Bryant Conant (1893-1978), educator and scientist Year of the Turtle News No. 5, May 2011, p. 2 Brontosaurus Web comic by xkcd. Find more at www.xkcd.com Submit Your Turtle Art, Stories, and Poetry Do you have a turtle story or piece of art that could be highlighted during Get Your May Calendar! the Year of the Turtle? How about poetry, such as this submission by PARC Joint National Steering Committee Co-chair Dede Olson: This month’s calendar photo contest winner is Sara Viernum. Brilliant turtle photos Sara is a herpetologist and enjoys Touch hearts and souls as words can’t working with all kinds of reptiles Take my breath away and amphibians, especially salamanders. She attended school Submit your turtle art (in jpg, tiff, or pdf format) and copies of your in the Southeastern US and studied stories and poems via email to [email protected]. We will the natural history and habitat be including submissions in upcoming newsletters and in other Year of the selection of the green salamander Turtle materials and outreach efforts throughout 2011, and we want your (Aneides aeneus). Sara currently work to be part of it! lives in Portland, Oregon where she is busy learning about the diversity of herpetofauna of the Pacific Northwest. See this month’s winner (above) and runner-up at www.parcplace.org/YOT YearoftheTurtleCalendarMay.pdf Loggerhead Musk Turrtle, Sternotherus minor minor, by Sara Viernum. This Year of the Turtle sculpture was created by Dede Olson and made its debut at the NW PARC and SNVB/WA TWS meetings in Gig Harbor, Washington, in March. Created out of a disk sled, a plastic bowl, a children’s coat rack, and a lot of papier mache, the sculpture comes apart into several pieces, but it still filled up the entire back seat of the car. Year of the Turtle News No. 5, May 2011, p. 3 Year of the Turtle Collaborating Partners The Year of the Turtle Planning Team is pleased to welcome the following organizations to our growing list of collaborating partners: The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) is a state agency whose mission is to conserve, enhance, and restore Arizona’s diverse wildlife resources and habitats through protection and management programs, and to provide wildlife resources and safe watercraft and off-highway vehicle recreation for the enjoyment, appreciation, and use by present and future generations. AGFD’s Turtles Project manages and conserves Arizona’s turtle species through statewide population monitoring, creation and implementation of state conservation agreements, public outreach, and coordination between state, federal, and private agencies. www.azgfd.gov/turtle. The Association of Reptilian & Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV) is a not-for-profit international organization of veterinarians, veterinary technicians and students, and herpetologists. The organization was founded in 1991 with the goal to improve reptile and amphibian husbandry and veterinary care through education, exchange of ideas, and research. ARAV promotes conservation and humane treatment of reptiles and amphibians through education, captive breeding, and habitat preservation. ARAV publishes the Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery, organizes an annual conference, and provides funding for research. www.arav.org Biotopo Rain Forest is a natural reserve that contains habitat with natural formations and very significant flora and fauna species for science and the natural environment. Here, wildlife has been little altered by the actions of man. The reserve has been created with the purpose of providing a protected natural space to conserve a representative sample of the tropical Pacific forests of Nariño in south Colombia. Turtle species here include Chelydra acutirostris and Rhinoclemmys nasuta. www.biotopo.es.vg The Herpetology Group at the University of Quindio (Grupo de Estudio en Herpetologia de la Universidad del Quindio - GEHUQ) is located in Armenia City, Quindio, Colombia, South America. Our mission is to preserve the amphibians, lizards, snakes and turtles present in the coffee region of Colombia through research, and to educate the community to live alongside them so future generations can know and enjoy them. Our area is home to two species of turtles – Kinosternon leucostomum and Chelydra acutirostris. grupoherpetosuniquindio.blogspot.com The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) is responsible for the conservation of the state’s wildlife and the habitats on which wildlife depends for the benefit and enjoyment of citizens and visitors. Year of the Turtle efforts are coordinated through DFW’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (www.nhesp.org) and include agency newsletter articles, training sessions for citizen scientists and utilities staff, technical assistance for property owners, headstarting hatchling programs, production and promotion of turtle events across the state, and creation of turtle publications. www.mass.gov/masswildlife Our full list of partners can be found at www.parcplace.org/yearoftheturtlepartners.htm. If you are interested in contributing to the Year of the Turtle efforts, please send an email to [email protected] with a brief description of your organization and its efforts. Year of the Turtle News No. 5, May 2011, p. 4 Taking Stock, contined from p. 1 Green Sea Turtles, Chelonia mydas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and by Rick Swart. Florida who are working on turtle conservation efforts in the affected areas, and were gracious enough to provide us with the following information. The Louisiana coast was hardest hit due to its proximity to the spill source; for the same reasons, the state is also heavily involved in the current investigations and legal cases. Our colleagues at the Louisiana the recent increase in sea turtle deaths impact assessment in Alabama. This Department of Wildlife and Fisheries occurring along the Mississippi coast. research includes population and provided the following statement: So far there is no evidence this related reproduction assessment of terrapins “Louisiana and other state and to the oil spill. along the Alabama coast. It also federal natural resource trustees are includes the evaluation of polycyclic still collecting ephemeral data and The overall impact is aromatic hydrocarbon contaminants assessing injury. Our shoreline and yet to be determined, and stress hormone levels in this species our resources are still experiencing as the oiling of habitats of highest conservation concern oil and it would be premature at in Alabama. Read more at http:// this point in the assessment to draw and animals continues www.uab.edu/news/reporter/ conclusions regarding the amount of to occur. news/item/1102-wibbels-marion- injury or cumulative effects on our assess-oil-spill%E2%80%99s- resources.” While Alabama beaches and impact-on-terrapin- coastal marshes escaped, for the most turtle?tmpl=component&print=1. part, the devastating oiling seen in The results of the research will many parts of coastal Louisiana, its provide basic information needed impacts on coastal wildlife are still to assess both acute and long-term a concern. Minor oiling occurred in effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil some of the marshes of the Mississippi spill on the Diamondback Terrapin Sound in south Mobile County in Alabama.
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